Filed under: Accessories, Cult of Mac
Mighty Mouse: Multibutton-esque Apple Mouse
OH MY GOD!
Apple finally grew a brain and released a multi-button mouse! Sort of...
I'm overjoyed, I want one, and I'm speechless. It's "single-button looks, multibutton charm." I think this may be one of the signs of the Mac apocalypse...
Is there a bluetooth one?! Doesn't look like it. When the heck are they going to come out with a bluetooth multi-button-esque mouse?!?! ;-)
Thanks, Harry!
ps--
UPDATE: In my excitement, I forgot the details: $49, Mac / PC (WIndows XP / 2000) compatible, USB 1.1 or 2.0. It's a mouse with a scroll ball, button, touch-sensitive top-shell, force-sensing side buttons, and optical tracking.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
narco said 8:57AM on 8-02-2005
Well, on the bottom of the page it does say:
"Mighty Mouse © Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved."
Also, I bought a BT pro mouse last year and absolutely hated it. I'm not going to complain about it, but I sense that I will hear TONS of complaints throughout the day. TONS...
Fishes,
narco.
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hellRaven said 8:58AM on 8-02-2005
> ps--I wonder if Apple will get sued for infringing on the cartoon character.
I guess they made some kind of deal:
"Mighty Mouse © Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved."
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BrianC said 9:01AM on 8-02-2005
note: I had to go to "tech specs" and click on the part # in order to get it in my cart. Browsing store.apple.com didn't seem to have it quite yet?
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Bob said 9:04AM on 8-02-2005
Four button, side scrolling, single nippled mouse ^_^
i love it!
i also want the bluetooth one too :P
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Lee said 4:32PM on 8-02-2005
Hmm... no bluetooth (yet), and the grey Apple logo is curiously abset from the top of the mouse...
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RyAndrew11 said 7:18PM on 8-04-2005
they definitely need a bluetooth version, i just upgraded to a new iMac with wireless kb and mouse, and there's no way i'll switch back to wired.
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JC said 9:07AM on 8-02-2005
Dude! You can squeeze it to pop your widgets! HA Sorry just couldn't help it.
But the squeezing thing definitely sounds interesting. I wonder how long it will be before some games come out to utilize this action
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Ryan said 9:18AM on 8-02-2005
I've still got a few questions about it:
1. Will it now be included with the new macs that people buy at the store?
2. I assume it's the same resolution as the old apple mouse, which was acceptable but not great.
I paid a little less than that $50 for my Logitech MX 1000 mouse, which is not quite as pretty but much more functional. If I could get that for $25 I would jump on it just to try it out, but for that price I'll pass.
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Wai-Tung Leung said 9:20AM on 8-02-2005
Wow I wonder how this completely slipped pass the rumour net?! But then again it was like the last constant anybody ever expected to change!
Taking a quick look I'ld say Apple has come up with the best ever compromise in the Apple Mouse Wars. It's still one button for us one button fans and yet 4 buttons at the same time. Very clever of Apple to appeal to both sides.
What would you have said if last year I said Apple was going to release a headless iMac, a multibutton mouse, a flash based iPod and switch to intel? Honestly? The whole Apple landscape is becoming unrecongniseable! I would not be surprised if they decide to change their logo next!
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Eric B. said 9:41AM on 8-02-2005
What are all of the slashdot Apple haters going to say now? :)
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Dan Siercks said 9:20AM on 8-02-2005
I wonder how this mouse would change the way I use Apple's mice. I regularly use where those side buttons are to pick up the mouse.
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fra said 9:26AM on 8-02-2005
OMG
WTF
BBQ
:-|
/me is speechless
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Shlomo said 1:20PM on 8-02-2005
Since when does apple consider looks before common sense, functionality, and ergonomics? The ipod started the trend of minimalism and touch sensitive interfaces, 2 'features' I think are counterintuitive.
Let me explain:
1. The mac is known for ease of use, but a person who does not know about the mighty mouse will not know by seeing it, that it has 2 top buttons.
2. When using a traditional mouse, ones fingers rest on the buttons. With regular mice, this is fine, since there are actual buttons to be pressed. With touch sensitive buttons, they will be likely to be accidentally pressed.
3. clicking and dragging is difficult on current apple mice due to the button being the top of the whole mouse. this trend seems likely to continue.
4. the trend of apple creating its own design methodology based on aesthetics and tradition (both mac based and NeXt based) is not good for the user. All because the mac always used 1 button before does not mean it needs to hold on to that tradition via 'single button charm'. Apple is trying to hide the fact that it is becoming more like a pc. First there was no context menus, then ctrl click appeared in os 9 and os x, then apple tab task switching like on windows that allowed mouse input, then multi button compatibility in os x out of the box, now a pseudo 2 button mouse that looks like a 1 button mouse. Just admit it apple! Give users 2 buttons that are unambiguous.
5. This may very well be a great peripheral. I will try it out and if I like it, will by it. I'm just sick of the reasoning behind the design, and see apple's ergonomic choices putting users 2nd, which should never be the case.
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Shlomo said 10:13AM on 8-02-2005
Since when does apple consider looks before common sense, functionality, and ergonomics? The ipod started the trend of minimalism and touch sensitive interfaces, 2 'features' I think are counterintuitive.
Let me explain:
1. The mac is known for ease of use, but a person who does not know about the mighty mouse will not know by seeing it, that it has 2 top buttons.
2. When using a traditional mouse, ones fingers rest on the buttons. With regular mice, this is fine, since there are actual buttons to be pressed. With touch sensitive buttons, they will be likely to be accidentally pressed.
3. clicking and dragging is difficult on current apple mice due to the button being the top of the whole mouse. this trend seems likely to continue.
4. the trend of apple creating its own design methodology based on aesthetics and tradition (both mac based and NeXt based) is not good for the user. All because the mac always used 1 button before does not mean it needs to hold on to that tradition via 'single button charm'. Apple is trying to hide the fact that it is becoming more like a pc. First there was no context menus, then ctrl click appeared in os 9 and os x, then apple tab task switching like on windows that allowed mouse input, then multi button compatibility in os x out of the box, now a pseudo 2 button mouse that looks like a 1 button mouse. Just admit it apple! Give users 2 buttons that are unambiguous.
5. This may very well be a great peripheral. I will try it out and if I like it, will by it. I'm just sick of the reasoning behind the design, and see apple's ergonomic choices putting users 2nd, which should never be the case.
Reply
vqv said 9:39AM on 8-02-2005
Wow. Gotta love Apple's attention to details:
Mighty Mouse even sounds as good as it feels. The audio feedback built into Mighty Mouse provides an aural sensation that responds to your movements. A tiny speaker inside Mighty Mouse produces button-clicking and Scroll Ball-rolling sound effects.
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vqv said 9:39AM on 8-02-2005
Wow. Gotta love Apple's attention to details:
Mighty Mouse even sounds as good as it feels. The audio feedback built into Mighty Mouse provides an aural sensation that responds to your movements. A tiny speaker inside Mighty Mouse produces button-clicking and Scroll Ball-rolling sound effects.
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kt said 9:41AM on 8-02-2005
Fra, I LOVE your reaction!
I may have to pick one up in SF!
OMG, I'm going on a vacation, and the high-point is playing with a new Apple Mouse?
..Sounds about right.
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earthdog said 8:35AM on 8-17-2005
On the Design page (http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/design.html) the top image label read "See Houdini in Quicktime VR" but now it reads "See Mighty Mouse in Quicktime VR".
Was Houdini the code name for the project?
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Pedro said 9:52AM on 8-02-2005
wireless next please apple!
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Thomas said 2:32PM on 9-09-2005
I want one. They look so nice and the scroll ball looks awesome! I'll have to put it on my XMas list. That is if I can resist buying one before then.
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