Thursday, August 18, 2005

Apple has released a new mouse that acts like it has more than one button. It's called Mighty Mouse and you're going to love it or hate it, depending on the way your hand feels as you try to make it work. As far as I am concerned, due to the way they developed this device, I'll pass. Here's why: the top of the mouse is touch-sensitive, and is supposed to detect a right and left click. The problem is that if your left finger is too close to the mouse, it can mistake a right click as a left click. This tends to cause the user to lift that finger farther off the mouse, creating stress. This is not something you want from your mousing experience. Let's move on to the the scroll ball on the front top. I hate the feel-sort of rough-and if you press it too hard, it does a mouse click. Still talking about the scoll ball: what happens when it gets dirty? I ask this because there does not appear to be a way to clean the darn thing. Last, but not least, the force-sensing side buttons only do one thing (you choose to program what that will be) and are not easy to activate unless you move your hand back and grab them. So here's my rating for the Mighty Mouse from Apple: C-. I suggest you wait for Version 2 or buy a good two button mouse from a third party like Logitech or, shudder, Microsoft. This is a case where form over function does not pay off for the end user. Keep in mind that I am rather picky about input devices for my Macs. You may love the new mouse, and you should always try it yourself before deciding. 1:38:29 PM    comment []