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Should Apple include a multi-button mouse with new machines?
1/1: Should Apple include a multi-button mouse with new machines?
Other polls | 2,079 votes | 28 comments
Happy switcher ! ;)
Bought myself a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel for my TiBook this week, as I was tired of the old, small iMac mouse I had. What a difference! Now I can surf the web without having to press keys all the time to open in new tabs and such.
Happy switcher ! ;)
That's precisely why I voted 'no'--for those who want a 2 (or more) button mouse, it's easy and fairly cheap to go get one. In fact, I actually prefer a single button mouse (at least on a laptop), and I am no novice--the keyboard is within easy reach and provides much more control than multiple mouse buttons ever can.
Happy switcher ! ;)
Ashill makes a good point. I'm undecided about what Apple ought to do, but with laptops it makes sense that an option should be there. A button that could sense which side is clicked (this would be disabled/enabled via the trackpad contol panel, perhaps) could let us have it both ways.
Happy switcher ! ;)
I agree. I first hooked up a spare Microsoft 2 button with wheel mouse. It worked first try. I then loaded the MS support software for it to tweak mouse speed and that worked fine. When the MS mouse was needed on another machine I bought a Logitech mouse and replaced it. Again no problems. Worked first try. Recommended.
Happy switcher ! ;)
I have a multi button mouse, but it does not work on starcraft. I enabled multi button mouse on the start up page for starcraft. do i need to do anything else?
Who uses a mouse?
A wacom tablet makes a mouse obsolete.
Who uses a mouse?
Wacom tablets have been around for quite some time now, and haven't yet rendered the mouse obsolete. Tablets are a great product, for certain people. However, they aren't for everyone. Furthermore, they're quite expensive compared to mice.
Who uses a mouse? Use a tablet!
I agree with Peter! I have used the original Mac 512K mouse, MacPortable & Duo trackmarbles, an early 3" diag. ADB trackpad (forgot the manufacturer), Kensington TurboMouse (trackball), and PB G3 trackpad. I now use a Wacom Graphire tablet with pen, and I adore it! It is certainly the most natural pointing system I've ever used, and I love how easily I can get from one corner of my screen to the other, because of the absolute positioning a tablet gives you. Mice are too much work once you've experienced a Wacom. I do wonder about that gesture pad you mention, though!
I voted NO ...
... and I have an 11 button mouse with mouse wheel plus a PowerMate.
I voted NO ...
it's reasoning like this that gives credence to people saying that macs aren't for serious work. why should people who need to be productive need to spend extra $$ on 3rd party hardware because a kid can't handle an extra mouse button in a math blaster game?
I voted NO ...
I'd say that millions of PC kids have gotten used to multi-button mice. The single button mouse is distinctly Mac, and I always enjoy seeing PC users struggle with the single button mouse. But once I went multi-button, I'll never go back.
I voted NO ...
I think that Apple should include multi-button scroll mice with new machines, but in the Mouse preference pane, there could be a simple checkbox to treat any mouse button press as a "left click." That way non-novices could experience the significant time-savings of having a scroll wheel and not having to head for the keyboard to invoke contextual menus, while at the same time keeping things "kid-friendy." It's such a waste to make such a beautiful thing like the Pro Mouse, but to have it so limited that a lot of people don't want to use it. Mine is sitting in my drawer, never used. At the University I attended, they bought Logitech Wheel Mice for all of the machines, old and new. We're talking a couple hundred mice here. I'm sure all the Apple mice are sitting in a box somewhere. It's just a shame. If I'm paying $60 for a mouse, I shouldn't feel the need to replace it right away. And in the case of the University, the money saved would have been enough to buy another Mac.
Get a Kensington.
Warning! Blatant but objective product plug follows.
Check out Kensington. They have well over 10 years of experience making great input devices for Macs (and yes, PCs too). Multi-button mice, trackballs, the works. They can have my TurboMouse Pro when they pry it from my cold, dead -- but happy and uncarpaled -- hand.
Get a Kensington.
And probably can accelR8 your cursor to the speed of light as to zings across your screen :)
Different option
You have not included my favourite: the single button Apple Pro Mouse with an extra scroll wheel. I love its feeling and the whole-mouse-is-a-button idea. With a wheel it would be simply perfect.
yo yo yo
Why not a two-button simulated buttonless mouse (depending on which side you push, the mouse can tell by the angle of push) with a scroll ball (8 way scrolling) button!
Yes and No
apple should only include the current Pro mouse with the iMac, and eMac (but call it the Standard Mouse, or the Basic Mouse) and include BOTH the standard/basic Mouse and a new Pro Mouse with 3 buttons a scroll wheel/button and maybe a 2nd optical sensor (see the Logitech Dual Optical Mouse) :D
oh, and they should make the track pad button on the notebooks modular, you can pop the button out and pop in a tipple button/scroller (or maybe take the toshiba approach and stick an LCD/touch screen there) ---
BTO or Pro
I think multi button mice should be a built to order option on all models and standard on any of the higher end machines, like powermacs, powerbooks and x-serve.
Aren't you all forgetting..?
Surely one of the greatest things about the Mac is that it's easy to use if you've never used a computer. I have to use Wintels at work and the number of times people get confused over <right click> is completely astounding!
Aren't you all forgetting..?
NeXT fixed the two button/one button confusion by making both buttons do the same thing by default - you had to explicitly enable the 'right' button in System Preferences. Not too hard for Apple to come up with a similar approach. I'm not buying another powerbook until they come with two buttons on the trackpad (uControl (www.gnufoo.org) allows you to hold down the Fn key and stroke the pad to simulate a scrollwheel - it's great for reading).
Not undecided but I don't care
I spend most of the time at the keyboard anyways. It is much faster then using a mouse any day.
Two simple options
Simple option One: Make a multi-button mouse available as a BTO option for every Mac. Elsewhere it was suggested that iMacs and eMacs should get one button mice, but I disagree. I own an iMac, use iMacs at work, and wouldn't go back to a one button mouse.
Those mice are bad!
*Glances right to see two black apple pro mice hanging on display, being unusable*
I'll take one button over numbness any day
My arm is aching just thinking about multi-button mice. The more little gizmos you have on your mouse, the more strain you're putting on your arm. I switched my mouse to the left side of the keyboard years ago (I'm right-handed) and have been pain and numbness-free since. I was diagnosed with a mild case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome before the switch, and by taking some of the strain off my right hand, which I use for most everything else, I have cured myself of this condition. I don't even use the right button when I'm using a PC. Let's face it, the Mac way is the better way. It always has been, and always will be. Less truly is more.
ctrl-click is easier??????
Why would anyone prefer ctrl-click to right click?
Who needs two buttons?
When a PC person always insults my Mac for only having one button, I remind them that my computer's software only needs one button. Why on Earth should I have to memorize which button does what? That's crazy! A mouse if for clicking and dragging - not rocket science. And why do I need a scroll wheel? I click the scroll bar and drag it to where I want it. Why do I need a shortcut for something so simple?
---
Sometimes less is better
My parents have an ancient PC that my mom uses for finances and my dad plays various card games on. Due to a spinal injury, my dad's ring finger and pinky on his right hand are numb and don't work too well, so he doesn't notice how much pressure he's putting on that useless right mouse button. He frequently and inadvertently brings up some menu while he's trying to play a game and it does get quite annoying. If they had a Mac and a single-button mouse, I really don't think he'd have this problem (or as much), and I'm sure that many other people with various disabilities would find that using a computer with a single-button mouse is easier.
Sometimes less is better
"He frequently and inadvertently brings up some menu while he's trying to play a game and it does get quite annoying. If they had a Mac and a single-button mouse, I really don't think he'd have this problem (or as much), and I'm sure that many other people with various disabilities would find that using a computer with a single-button mouse is easier."
NOT a Windows user here, but, assuming it's possible, I think it would be better to disable that right mouse button from doing anything if inadvertent right-clicking is the problem. It seems to me that as long as your dad is pressing on the right side of the mouse, he'll still be clicking inadvertently; on a one button mouse, he'll just be regular-clicking. .5¢ --Books |
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