
Apple (Pro) Mouse (2014) - miles
http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/apple-pro-mouse
======
jasoneckert
This article was written by someone who clearly values the aesthetic of
Apple's mouse over function.

As a professional Mac user, each time I've purchased a new Mac that came with
a mouse, I've always replaced it with one that fits professional use
(currently, that is the Logitech MX Master series for me).

While the Apple mouse looks nice, it's clearly targeted towards users who
don't use their mouse for long periods of time or for graphical work. Many
non-professional users I know and work with have replaced their Mac mice (of
all generations) with a different one because of hand cramping.

That being said, the black Apple Pro mouse was the nicest looking Mac mouse I
promptly left in the box and never used.

~~~
mumblerino
> it's clearly targeted towards users who don't use their mouse for long
> periods of time or for graphical work.

Speak for yourself. The Magic Mouse fits my hand exactly the way I use it,
which means it doesn’t “fit” it.

Before it, I had a thick Logitech that was perfectly molded to be held; Too
bad that my hand never actually fully touched it because I move the mouse with
my fingers alone while the wrist mostly stays still.

I don’t know any professionals who consciously slide the wrist across the
table, moving anything more than the fingers.

—

Apple mice seem universally hated, and I’m not trying to change anybody’s
mind, but I’ve held the same exact mouse since 2009 for daily work and I
wouldn’t replace it (except for gaming, which I no longer do)

~~~
sdflhasjd
I know a couple of people who suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome - and from
what I understand moving your wrist is one of the things you're supposed to do
to avoid injuring your tendons - anchoring your wrist and moving your mouse
solely with your fingers should be avoided.

In fact, the Magic Mouse seems to be almost antithetical to everything I've
been taught about mouse ergnomics

~~~
wazoox
I think you have it backwards. Ergonomic mouse-pads have a big silicone pillow
to rest your wrist on while you move your mouse with fingers only. Switching
to such a mouse-pad is how my wife got rid of CTS.

~~~
Guest19023892
For another point of comparison, what works for me is what the OP said is the
worst, just moving the mouse with my finger tips. I also tried the mouse pads
you mentioned, and they caused the most issues as they put pressure directly
on my wrist. What I do is...

I line up the armrest of my chair with the top of the desk so they're a level
surface. I adjust the height of my chair so my arm is at a 90 degree angle. My
arm runs flat across the arm rest and the desk, and my palm sits on the flat
mouse pad. Then, I just move my finger tips to flick the mouse 1cm in any
direction for getting to different sides of the screen.

For keyboards it's similar. I use a thin and flat keyboard. This way my elbow
(on the armrest), forearm, palm, and finger tips are all in a straight line.
If I add any type of wrist rest, then the weight all goes to the wrist instead
of being distributed.

Lastly, I dislike keyboards and laptops that raise the backside because they
raise my finger tips and put pressure on my wrist. It feels much more natural
for the fingers to be lower or equal to the wrist and palm.

Anyway, just my experience. I had some discomfort for a few years, and then
nothing for the past decade.

~~~
sdflhasjd
I agree on the topic of mouse pads - What they're supposed to do is stop you
from bending your wrist, but like you said, you end up with pressure on the
very part you're trying to avoid.

Did you ever get a chance to try a vertical ergonomic mouse? They take a while
to get used to, but the idea is that you don't rotate your wrist (i.e your
ulna and radius remain parallel) and keep it in a more neutral orientation.

~~~
Guest19023892
Oh, I never did try a vertical mouse. I remember seeing them for years but I
never had a chance to spend time with one. It does seem like a much more
natural hand position though.

~~~
mxmilkb
Fire me, it's a bit of a chore to mostly grip (apply forces in two ways with
one hand) a vertical mouse for full fine control (rather than a regular mostly
"push down"/hand rest grip).

------
na85
I used one of those mice. It was horrid in almost every way. The worst part is
that the click had such a low activation force that if you rested the weight
of your palm on the mouse it would click, and the side grips were poorly
placed. Classic Bay-area "you're holding it wrong" arrogance in design.

However, I have to say that despite that first extremely unpleasant experience
with Apple peripherals I actually quite enjoy using my Magic Mouse, and the
touch-sensitive surface is one of the more interesting innovations in a field
that's largely been stagnant and where most "innovation" seems to be high-DPI
lasers and RGB LEDs.

The ability to use touch gestures on the mouse itself (i.e. 3-finger swipe on
the mouse's surface to switch workspaces, 2-finger swipes for browser back/fwd
navigation, scrolling, etc.) is pretty awesome and not something I've seen
anywhere else. I'd never depend on it for getting headshots in counterstrike
but for desktop mousing it tracks okay and the battery is quite good.

~~~
rvz
Sometimes, the multi-touch swipe functionality can be quite annoying due to
the sensitivity of the mouse. For example, I could be trying to swipe left to
exit a webpage but instead it is controlling a slider somewhere on the page.
When I am editing text, I can't save the document because the swipe gesture on
the mouse is unintentionally controlling another active window. I can somewhat
live with this, but its annoying.

As for Apple's standard keyboards for Desktop Mac or PCs, I hope you have a
lamp somewhere as they still don't have any keyboard backlight functionality.
Even some third-party USB-C wireless mechanical keyboards have this and are
much cheaper than Apple's keyboards.

Given Apple's typical expensive pricing with their keyboards, and the lack of
a keyboard backlight, you might as well say you're left in the dark.

~~~
na85
>As for Apple's standard keyboards for Desktop Mac or PCs, I hope you have a
lamp somewhere as they still don't have any keyboard backlight functionality.
Even some third-party USB-C wireless mechanical keyboards have this and are
much cheaper than Apple's keyboards.

I learned how to touch-type about 25 years ago. Backlit keyboards are
superfluous if you know where the buttons are.

------
dgellow
They look nice, but OH GODNESS they are awful to use! And I’m not talking
about the buttons, but the general ergonomics. My main issue is that the shape
doesn’t embrace the hand at all which becomes painful quickly if used every
day.

~~~
kumarvvr
Exactly. The height of the mouse is less than typical ones and I had a hard
time gripping the sides.

Regular ones have sides that are curved inwards as they go down to the desk,
this allows you to tilt your hand without actually losing grip.

I just dont get how people like the magic mouse.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
The magic mouse is exactly the right height for my (big) hands. I rest my
forearm and part of my wrist on the desk, rest my index and middle fingers on
the mouse surface, grip very lightly with the other fingers, and it's almost a
perfect fit.

If I turn up the movement sensitivity I can move the pointer anywhere with
almost no hand movement at all. Most of the weight is levered behind the wrist
rather than on it so I'm using forearm muscles more than wrist tendons. The
fingertip touch scrolling is super-intuitive and equally effortless.

I've used all sorts of mice from industrial Logitech blobs to gaming mice to
tiny laptop mice to "ergonomic" designs, and the current magic mouse is far
and away my favourite.

------
Lio
> Regardless of what you may think of the Apple Pro Mouse, I believe that
> there’s something admirable about its stubbornness.

This reminds me of Porsche 911 engine placement.

Famously the 911 engine is at the back of the car which is about the worst
location for it, except that Porsche are good at engineering and have
persisted in making that location work very well for them.

The no button mouse might not be great on its own but it leads to the no
button track pad, which I’d argue is.

~~~
traceroute66
Except there's not much your Porsche engineers can do about fundamental
physics.

The possibility to kill yourself in a Porsche still exists, the only thing
stopping you are the ESC/DSC systems which are, in all likelyhood, not made by
Porsche anyway but OEM from someone like Bosch.

Turn off the ESC and given the opportunity physics will still remind you who's
boss in the Porsche.

~~~
jonplackett
Why were Porsche so stubborn about putting the engine at the back anyway, if
it’s such a bad idea?

I at least understand why Apple want a no-button mouse.

~~~
AmericanChopper
It’s only a bad idea for street cars because it makes them harder to drive.
For performance, it’s an excellent idea. It gives you better rear wheel
traction, and allows you to connect the engine directly to the rear
differential. It also allows you to have a flat floor, which makes the cabin
nicer, which I’m sure is something they care about.

They fact that they go very fast, and require more skill to drive at fast
speeds means they end up killing more people. Porsche used to make incredible,
no-compromise, road-legal track cars, with manual gearboxes and very little
driver assist. But they’ve toned that down recently, and you’ll never see it
from them again. The Porsche Carrera GT was probably the absolute pinnacle of
supercar design. But it was very hard to drive, and got a reputation as one of
the most dangerous production cars ever made. Killing quite a few people,
including Paul Walker. Nobody will ever make anything like that ever again. A
novice could take a Veyron around a track, but they’d probably struggle to
drive a Carrera GT out of a car park.

~~~
zylent
The benefits are primarily from the better weight distribution and engine
location in relation to the rear diff. The myth of fwd having superior
driveability due to better traction is only real when comparing front engine
to front engine, like a civic vs a mustang. With the weight in the rear, it’s
the same thing in reverse. Oversteer is far more easy to correct but rwd is
uncommon so the average joe may be unfamiliar.

WRT Porsche toning things down, a modern 911 turbo S is WAY faster than the
Carrera GT was, and the GT3 / GT3-RS models are literally street legal road
cars with minimal assists.

~~~
AmericanChopper
It’s not about how fast they are, it’s about how easy the car is to drive. A
GT3 is a road car made with road car parts and road car features (even if you
buy the ‘track’ add ons, or whatever they call them). It has ‘Porsche
Stability Management’, a powerful driver assist, which among other things, is
especially good at controlling oversteer. The Carrera GT doesn’t have that, so
controlling oversteer is completely up to the driver. It also had the first
production ceramic clutch, which was notoriously difficult to use. The tires
and breaks of a Carrera GT also really needed to be at proper temperature to
work properly.

I’ve driven both, on the street and around a track. I’m not exaggerating to
say the average stick driver would struggle to start a Carrera GT and driver
it a hundred feet without making the clutch scream. If you try drive fast in
one, whether you drive into a tree or not is completely up to you. In a GR3
however, it’s gonna do a significant amount of that work for you.

------
kevinconroy
The article omitted one of the best "easter eggs" I've seen on a mouse ever:
the Apple Mouse's red laser formed the pattern of a cute mouse head when held
at about a 45 degree angle about 10 inches from the desk surface. And it
wasn't a "oh, I kind of see it" sort of thing - it was clearly designed to
have a cartoon look and was incredible attention to detail for anyone who
found it.

~~~
noja
Photo
[https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2006/03/3272/](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2006/03/3272/)

------
ArmandGrillet
Fun fact: the author of this article now works at Apple in the Design team
[https://www.instagram.com/mnmllymnml/](https://www.instagram.com/mnmllymnml/)

~~~
sbuk
He’s had a really interesting career, working for Microsoft on Hololens, XBox
One S and Windows and worked at Tesla.

------
Angostura
I've been an Apple user since the late 80s and from a usability point of view,
I hate these mice with a passion, when I buy a new Mac, they always go in to a
draw and my cheap old Logitech replaces them.

Apart from the ergonomics of how they feel in the hand, it's literally
impossible for the mouse to register both left and right click simultaneously,
which means if I feel like playing the occasional game, I'm stuffed.

~~~
srtjstjsj
This mouse was discontinued 15 years ago.

~~~
simonh
The mouse that came with my new 27” also can only either click left or right
at any one time, and not both.

-> bin.

------
pixelmonkey
I find every modern Apple mouse super uncomfortable, and I don't think I'm
alone. They are too small/flat and create hand strain.

My favorite mouse to use with a Mac these days is the Logitech G305.

[https://amzn.to/3h0bqiU](https://amzn.to/3h0bqiU)

Also, here's my review:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/B07CMS5Q6P/R1KU320KW6ZI3...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/B07CMS5Q6P/R1KU320KW6ZI35))

I also personally like having the Magic Touchpad around as a second input
device, for silent mouse motions (for calls) and for gesture support. You can
have both connected nicely and if you use the paid app BetterTouchTool it
serves as a nice way to have a rich input experience while retaining the
precision of a high DPI mouse like the above. Another minor gripe of mine is
that the Apple Bluetooth keyboard/touchpad combo from the _last_ generation,
with AA batteries rather than Lightning chargers, are better than the current
generation in lots of subtle ways, so I stick with them.

~~~
srtjstjsj
Please don't abuse HN for affiliate marketing links.

------
gkanai
There has never been a great mouse from Apple, except maybe the old Apple II
mouse. The hockey puck mouse was terrible. This mouse was terrible. How they
were selected to go to production says a lot about Apple's blind sides wrt
usability.

~~~
m463
It's really fun to try to play a FPS game with an apple mouse.

(fun = impossible)

------
blauditore
I try to avoid that term, but this is almost the definition of a fanboy:
Actively ignores obvious shortcomings of a product and argues it should be
loved for a non-functional detail (its marvellous look).

~~~
pzumk
Yeah he’s a fanboy:

> Fun fact: the author of this article now works at Apple in the Design team
> (@ArmandGrillet, 2 hours ago)

------
rienbdj
Who knew The Future would be so unergonomic. I detest that mouse.

~~~
petepete
Beautiful to look at, awful to use - the polar opposite of Microsoft's
Intellimouse Classic.

~~~
p1necone
The current version of the microsoft intellimouse is so nice. I've got the new
"classic intellimouse" at work, and I'm tempted to swap out my steelseries
gaming mouse for the "pro intellimouse" at home so I can have the same feel
everywhere.

~~~
petepete
Yeah I have one at work and one at home. It just looks, well, nondescript, but
it fits my hand so perfectly it feels like it was tailored for me.

------
izacus
It's funny how these pretty, but disastorous from usability perspecive, mice
get this much attention where really excelent products like Logitech's MX
Master series isn't even known by the geeks singing praises to Apple.

~~~
washadjeffmad
My only qualm with the MX Master S2 was poor Linux support. Everything else
grew on me.

I'm not really embarrassed to admit that I didn't know how to use my Magic
Mouse for the first year I had it. The first generation was lighter, and my
skin didn't slide due to the texture of the glass so I didn't even realize it
was touch. I still scroll from the touchpad with my left hand or use hotkeys.

Love your tools. If you don't, find ones you do.

~~~
gen3
My MX does everything I want under KDE. About 2 years ago the ability to tell
me (and warn me) about my mouse battery level just appeared. It was quite nice
to have an update that brought changes you wanted.

~~~
washadjeffmad
You know, the only features it's missing are the thumb "gestures" and the
continuous screen, which are both software provided.

So I guess I don't mean that it's lacking functionality, but that Logitech
doesn't support it's software on Linux.

~~~
gen3
I didn’t know those were features. Good to know though. I have the first
generation, it’s also been a long time since I’ve used it on windows.

------
VonGuard
That stupid little scroll ball was a piece of junk. It was just like an old
mouseball: rollers got all gunked up and stopped working very quickly. Even
faster than a real mouse ball because yer dirty finger was rubbing on it all
the time.

------
smnscu
Ah, Minimally Minimal. I used to read the shit out of his blog, but the posts
became rarer and rarer until he quit it entirely. He (Andrew Kim) worked on
the xbone S and then at Tesla for a while, no idea what he's up to now, but
his blog holds a special place in my heart.

~~~
karlding
He's been working at Apple [0] ever since December 2018.

[0] [https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/17/18144421/apple-
designer-...](https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/17/18144421/apple-designer-
andrew-kim-tesla-microsoft-xbox-one-s-hololens)

------
jsilence
I vividly remember an elderly customer who had the wireless version positioned
upside down and was totally confused by the cursor movement. He thought
something was wrong with the computer and asked me for help. I 180ied the
mouse and he was embarrassed as one can get. We parted silently and we never
shared a word about this with anyone. Good times!

~~~
doctor_eval
HA! Classic!

I once had a support call for a customer whose mouse had stopped working. I
told him that I get a lot of calls and I was sorry to ask but: "is it plugged
in?"

Customer, who was pretty technical, was very embarrassed.

------
lukeh
Apple, great products, terrible mice. Particularly this one. And the hockey
puck one. And the Magic Mouse. Surely there was a good one at some point
(maybe the ADB mouse?) but, I've been using third-party mice for too long
now...

~~~
duskwuff
The Apple Pro Mouse -- the transparent bar of soap -- was basic but
acceptable.

------
wmurmann
I must be an outlier because I love the Magic Mouse. I usually lay my whole
arm flat on my desk. Since the mouse doesn’t cause my wrist to arc I don’t get
carpal tunnel. Big win there.

I also rely heavily on swiping between desktops and I find the mouse works
great for that. My one gripe would be the charging port placement being on the
bottom. Charging up to a days charge doesn’t take very long but it is annoying
to have to stop coding to charge it.

~~~
no_wizard
I too prefer the Magic Mouse, precisely because of it’s integrations with the
operating system.

I’ve also found that for perhaps those who want (most) of those integrations
you can replicate it with a multi button mouse (like those sold from Logitech
or Microsoft) remapping those buttons to actions using either System Settings
or in more advanced cases Hammerspoon[0][1]

[0] [https://www.hammerspoon.org/](https://www.hammerspoon.org/)

[1] Sole reason I learned Lua Initially was hammerspoon

------
futurix
Worst mouse I ever tried. But at least they learned for it and current Magic
Mouse is a delight to use (on macOS).

~~~
emsy
The Magic Mouse is basically an RSI you can buy.

~~~
futurix
You are holding it wrong TM. But seriously, I realised that I need to hold it
in a way that is different from all other mice I ever used.

------
travelbyphone
They are really beautiful mouses. I own all except the Apple pro mouse (which
is identical to Apple mouse). Loved the clack clicking of the Apple mouse and
what a design piece it still is. The Mighty Mouse was an improvement in
usability but looked bland in comparison, and the ball would gunk up. Magic
Mouse is perfect. But it’s very common to see hate for it. I loved that design
era at Apple. White and transparent plastic like the cube, first iPod, lamp
iMac! Iconic.

------
filmgirlcw
I loved the Apple Pro Mouse and the Apple Mouse back in the day because Apple
finally capitulated and supposed a damn right mouse button. I have never
understood the resistance to that — even on Mac trackpads since the 2000s,
control click is still the default option. The first thing I do on any Apple
machine is set it to recognize the lower right corner of the trackpad as the
right pointer button. Or on a Magic Mouse 2, the right top region of the
mouse.

The ergonomics old the Apple Mouse/Pro Mouse never really stood out to me,
though I was a teenager when it was introduced and other than loving my
Microsoft Natural Keyboard (that I sadly killed when a poorly-supported wax
cup from a fast food restaurant leaked all over it...good lesson to 17 year
old me), I was very much form over function as long as the basic function
existed (which means the terrible Apple puck mouse and the Mighty Mouse were
both dead to me).

I don’t know if I could or would want to use an old Apple Pro Mouse today but
I definitely would like one on display next to a G4 iMac.

------
jbverschoor
omg that was the shittiest thing out there. So many accidental clicks.

Also, the magic mouse with it's horizontal gestures are insane. I don't
understand how some people I know like it so much.

Apple trackpads are king :-) And I'd love to have a keyboard+trackpad
combination, basically the bottom case of the macbook. Somehow the positioning
of a separate keyboard and magic trackpad doesn't quite work.

~~~
m0xte
Yeah I bought a Magic Mouse 2 earlier this year and regretted it instantly.
Apple need to stop thinking outside of the box when it comes to mice.

You’re right about the positioning as well. If you have a full size Apple
keyboard the trackpad is too far away always. If you have the compact layout
Apple keyboard it’s too much of a compromise with keys.

Best outcome for me was turfing the lot and the Mac and getting a Logitech
mouse and a TKL layout cherry MX red based keyboard. So much better.

I’m sorry but the Apple input devices are inferior even to the lowest grade no
brand stuff from Aliexpress at this point.

~~~
aikinai
I'm happy with the compact Apple keyboards in general, but when I got an iMac
Pro at work I wanted to try out its full-sized keyboard since it is nice to
have all of those extra keys. To keep the trackpad closer, I decided to put it
on the left.

I normally use my right, so it took a few days to get used to it, but I
quickly became fluent and the arrangement works much better. I also like it
since it balances out my hands a bit more instead of doing absolutely
everything with my right.

~~~
leoc
The standard Model M layout is a left-handed keyboard layout. It was a right-
handed keyboard layout when the Model M came out in 1984 and very few PC users
had a mouse or any kind of pointing device. But for over 25 years it's been a
left-handed layout and no-one has done anything in response, because so much
of computing is now a cargo cult.

------
OzzyB
\- Apple Laptop $3k

\- Apple Monitor $1.5k

\- Microsoft Mouse $5

Doesn't matter how pretty or expensive Mac gear gets, the mouse will always be
a good 'ol fashioned cheapo one.

~~~
discordance
\- Apple Monitor stand $1k

------
caycep
In contrast to the mice, which I've never really felt comfortable using, the
Apple Trackpad has been one of the best input devices I have ever owned.
Perhaps benefitting from all the UI/UX research into laptop inputs, swipes and
gestures...

------
rbg246
Magic mouse 2 is the worst mouse I have used since I stopped using mice with
the ball inside.

It's too shallow for my hands

It has a rough edge around the back when it should be smooth, the cheap
plastic top doesn't line up perfectly with the metallic base.

And does tell you, you are low on battery until the day you need to recharge
and you can't use it and recharge!!

It is the epitomy of bad design.

But that said I like the look of the older mice!

~~~
highmastdon
I honestly don’t see a purpose for a mouse when you have a state of the art,
not yet surpassed trackpad. Of course it is mostly regarding the MacBooks, not
when you’re using an iMac or Mac Pro even though the wireless versions are
also a joy to use, except for the delay you get when you’re used to a built in
trackpad

~~~
aldanor
Are you for serious now?

Ok, try to log in to app.sketchup.com and play around with it. For instance,
try holding the mouse wheel button and move the mouse around while doing it,
to pan.

~~~
ch_sm
on a trackpad you just pan with two fingers.

~~~
aldanor
While holding middle mouse button?

Or panning while scrolling up/down at the same time?

------
ilamont
I always found it funny when watching Jobs' Macworld reveals to hear him gush
about new mouse designs as being the best ever. I believe even one iteration
of the "hockey puck" got this kind of treatment. Everyone knew it was baloney,
but because the other new hardware was usually so interesting/good at these
events, people generally didn't dwell on his mouse claims.

In recent years, the wireless Apple mouse which had to be recharged by
inserting a USB cable into the base (thereby rendering it temporarily useless)
surely takes the cake for form over function craziness.

------
fimdomeio
And after years of using apple mice to the point the cord would eventually
break and where I always had to disable the side buttons because I just kept
pressing them by mistake i just bought a generic two button mouse for 10€ that
is a pleasure to use, a lot more ergonomic and that has already lasted twice
the time any apple mouse I have ever had.

One thing it will never be able to do is to look that good on a photograph.

~~~
oblio
Well, if you're looking for an elegant mouse, this one looks pretty good:
[https://www.amazon.de/Logitech-Gaming-Maus-Hero-Sensor-
progr...](https://www.amazon.de/Logitech-Gaming-Maus-Hero-Sensor-
programmierbare-Akkulaufzeit/dp/B07G5SF48Z)

------
egypturnash
This is kind of making me want to get an old translucent-shell mouse and paint
the inner shell with some iridescent color so I have a pretty little shiny
thing on my desk.

Though really I never use a mouse except when I'm playing some game that's
built around one, and they always want multiple buttons; I'm an artist and I
use my Wacom tablet for everything. Much better on the wrist.

------
lioeters
Recently got myself a Logitech Pebble. I've found it "practically minimal" \-
it does the job, it's cute, better than Apple's mice in some aspects.

[https://www.logitech.com/en-
us/product/pebble-m350-wireless-...](https://www.logitech.com/en-
us/product/pebble-m350-wireless-mouse)

~~~
jherdman
I was burned a lot back in the 90s by Logitech's piss poor drivers. Has the
situation improved much since?

~~~
SaltySolomon
Its generally fine and just works on windows, usually on linux too.

------
peglasaurus
Love their trackpads. But their mice... not so much. I have a tiny travel
mouse that has 4 buttons, scroll mouse and much better acceleration and
surface detection and was bought for likely half the price. That travel mouse
is deadly in games. The apple mice? Not as accurate.

But they look good and that is what Apple were aiming at.

------
b123400
I bought a pro mouse 2 years ago and used it until few months ago. The biggest
reason for giving up this nice looking thing is that, people no longer create
UI that are one-button-friendly, especially when it comes to scrolling.

------
olliej
The follow up mouse with the scroll ball was much better - scrolling is
useful, and it could be configured to have left and right buttons making it
useful for people who know what a mouse is :)

~~~
LIV2
The scroll ball on the Mighty Mouse would always gunk up and was a pain in the
ass to clean

------
blueboo
Good design is the elegant marriage of form and function.

This mouse has a nice form.

------
rcarmo
I have a white one, and even though option-clicking was a pain, I sort of
missed it when I moved to the new Bluetooth Apple Mouse.

The design and aesthetics were just _so_ good, like a sugar drop.

------
marban
I actually quite liked the Puck version that came with the first Bondi Blue
iMac — Not super precise, but great for smaller hands.

~~~
broken_symlink
I agree. I aas a kid around that time and I loved the puck mouse.

------
nxpnsv
Looks aside, I never liked them much, somehow too light. I prefer the external
trackpad, it's also pretty and not flimsy.

------
DHPersonal
I prefer using an Evoluent vertical mouse on the Mac, though the most recent
OS patch broke their software (for now).

------
bcrosby95
Funny so many people seem to like this aesthetic - I think it's ugly. The
clear plastic case doesn't do it any favors. Whatever it gains from not having
visible buttons it loses from the ugly floating grips on the side. It turns it
from a sleek, continuous object with curved lines into a jagged, jarring
device.

------
mschuster91
Of all these mice, the Magic Mouse (1st gen) is the best - but all of them,
without exception, have one flaw: they are designed for people with tiny
hands.

Microsoft's original IntelliMouse however? Just _perfect_ \- but unfortunately
wired...

~~~
iainmerrick
Many of us prefer a wired mouse and keyboard! Faster to wake up, more
reliable, don’t need recharging.

~~~
lolc
The best thing about going wired-only is that it cuts down the selection to
more reliable stuff when looking for a replacement. There's a bitter note to
it because I'd really like to replace my bulky Natural Ergonomic Keybard with
a Sculpt. But there is no wired version of the Sculpt.

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mas3god
I thought this article was satire until I read the comments

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extremeMath
Apple still designs for style and upcharging over usability.

Not sure why people/Apple marketing insist on Apple products making them more
productive. I can't agree on iPhone and I didn't find any speed increases on a
macbook.

~~~
breakfastduck
Just because you haven't been more productive doesn't mean other people
aren't. Trackpad / mouse gestures are so convenient and useful for me that
multitasking is so much more straightforward when I don't have the extra
monitors.

It may surprise you to learn that people are free to use whatever tech they
get the most benefit from...

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jonplackett
> Let go of your hate. Accept what it is, let go of what it was, and embrace
> what it has become.

I particularly like the sign off.

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doublesCs
Almost everything about Apple is driven by style instead of substance. That's
one of the reasons why Apple is so successful - people are shallow.

~~~
doctor_eval
Style is a part of the substance of an object; the two are not in conflict.
Apple is simply one of the few companies that cares about style enough to make
sacrifices in order to achieve it. And that's something I really like about
Apple gear.

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enriquto
> Steve Jobs was shown six different models of mice to evaluate. But Jobs was
> instead drawn to a seventh design, an unfinished model with the buttons yet
> to be built in. Jobs thought the buttonless design was brilliant, and the
> design team played along, pretending that it was their intention from the
> beginning.

Oh my god, what a hopelessly toxic work environment! I just expect these
designers were paid really well, for they had to bear with the assholery of
such a callous boss.

~~~
saagarjha
Is it toxic that Steve Jobs liked the partially completed design they left
out? Or are you just trying to cash in to the "Jobs is toxic" meme by finding
the one mention of him interacting with the design team in the article?

~~~
enriquto
> Is it toxic that Steve Jobs liked the partially completed design they left
> out?

No. But the way that the story is written, it seems that the designers where
terrified of Jobs wrath if they told that he had chosen an unfinished
prototype. Why would have them lied to him, otherwise?

~~~
saagarjha
"Oh, you actually liked, that? Yeah, of course you did, that was my idea all
along, I'm a genius" is a fairly common trope.

