Apple's Magic Mouse, side view
When I first looked at that, I thought the thing was a base for one of the new MacBooks. It turns out that it’s a mouse or an iPhone casing. Here’s how Apple puts it:
It began with iPhone. Then came iPod touch. Then MacBook Pro. Intuitive, smart, dynamic. Multi-Touch technology introduced a remarkably better way to interact with your portable devices — all using gestures. Now we’ve reached another milestone by bringing gestures to the desktop with a mouse that’s unlike anything ever before. It’s called Magic Mouse. It’s the world’s first Multi-Touch mouse. And while it comes standard with every new iMac, you can also add it to any Bluetooth-enabled Mac for a Multi-Touch makeover. (source: http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/)
Obviously, the Magic Mouse’s main goal was to transfer touch technology first developed for the iPhone and iPod Touch to a computer mouse.
It is basically a touch-screen mouse, replacing having to click a button with just tapping the mouse.
Honestly, the only thing I like about this mouse is its futuristic seamless design. However, it looks nothing like a mouse but more like something you would see from Star Trek or a sci-fi movie.
The disadvantages to such a mouse is that people who are fidgety tend to tap their fingers on their mouses while working. On a touch mouse like this, that can cause inadvertent clicks.
I can imagine that the mouse would also look extremely confusing. One possible scenario that derives from it’s perfect symmetricality is that a user could be holding the mouse upside down and not even know it.
I see the fact that buttons are absent as a disadvantage. It’s not all that bad, considering that you aren’t confined to a scroll wheel, but the mouse no longer simulates the clicking that users are used to. Many of us use audio clues to tell if we’ve done something or not. With the Magic Mouse these audio clues are gone.
The Magic mouse also has a lesser curved surface than most mouses. This makes your hand flatter and thus slower at moving the mouse. Piano players, we all know that a curved hand contributes to faster movement of fingers than a flattened hand. But then again, if your hand is too curved, that can cause muscle strain. My opinion: too flat, but it just had to be that way.
Last but not least, the price is 69 dollars. That’s a bit on the pricey side, and you’re paying about 30 dollars more just to get touch features. Apple likes to call all this “life-changing,” but haven’t we lived just fine with regular mouses?
Here’s what Apple needs to do: raise up the curvature, put the buttons back, and make it more clear which side is up or down.
I give the Magic Mouse a 6/10, and I do not recommend it. Stick with the Mighty Mouse. It follows the standards more closely.
Oh, and before you go, I must mention this: I’m basing this knowledge from what I’ve seen, not what I’ve tried. I hope to go out this weekend to test the Magic Mouse to see how Magic it is.
