Could the Mighty Mouse induce Carpal Tunnel?

Sure David, just about any USB mouse. I personally use a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 5 button mouse, as it fits my hand like a glove. *Most* mice, in my experience, don't even need drivers/software to be installed, which is yet another weird thing about the Mighty Mouse; you have to *install software* when you get it, no matter what OS you're using.

Can anyone recommend a better 2-button style mouse to use w/ a Mac?

I agree with the people that have pointed out that getting carpal tunnel's in a few months is pretty unlikely. The points that the mouse is poorly designed are valid, but it's an entirely different topic than a discussion of carpal tunnel's, in my view. The height of the desk the mouse is on is as much of a factor as anything. The author of the post said he was joking and really wanted to just discuss the mouse design in general -- that point would have been better served without the carpal tunnel item as the leading point.

Bollocks. I bought the Mighty Mouse when my trackpad on my iBook died (while it was being fixed under AppleCare). Loved everything about it and found it to be the best mouse Apple has ever made. Would use it more often if I didn't usualy use my iBook on a lapdesk. 9 out or 10 scientic studies show that people with so called "Carpal Tunnel" are just gigantic wussies. Just kiddin.

Oop. In the above, it should have said "...my arm felt strained..." Ah well, that's what I get for not doing a proofread.

I tried the Mighty Mouse out at the Apple Store and, as I noted in a MacInTouch report, after only a few minutes of use my are felt strained and it remained tight until I had left the mall and began to drive home. While at the store I tried to modify my orientation to the mouse by kneeling at the counter to reduce the angle that the wrist had to make to allow operation while standing up. To me this was not Mighty Mouse, but Tighty Mouse.

I've had carpal tunnel for years due to a lot of years punching an old 10 key adding machine and then a numeric keypad. I've made it a habit to switch my mice and trackballs every couple of weeks just to keep my wrist and thumb happy. The only thing I've ever run into that caused immediate (2 hours) pain was a Microsoft Trackball a few years ago. Trackball was just a little too far from the buttons. The Mighty Mouse bothers my wrist occasionally, but then so do my Logitech trackball and my other mice.

I bought a Mighty Mouse shortly after it came out and I haven't noticed that it changed how I used a mouse that much. Every mouse I've ever used took a bit of getting used to, so I applied what I'd learned from the web. I had heard about the lift finger to click thing (which does seem a bit silly, but oh well... I've had plenty of quirky mouses) so I just learned to use it that way. The browser problem I can empathize with- I had that problem, but the beta of Firefox actually addresses it.

Honestly, having used it for almost 2 months, I don't think it could have given me carpal tunnel in such a short time. The real point is that it is an inferior product. Because Apple went for style over functionality. It is not very fun to hold, you have to make sure your index finder isn't touching the left-hand side of the mouse if you want to right-click, and you have to reconfigure most non-safari browsers to not move back/forward in their history wen you move the scroll wheel side to side by accident. The latter--I realize is not a problem with the mouse itself, but adds to the frustration of using it. This is a case of Apple treating its users like infants. We all know how to use a two-button mouse. The functionality is very useful. If Apple wants to deliver that functionality to "Switchers" in a mouse, they need to actually add the functionality and not go for style points so desparately. Its a disappointment. Two months later, I've gonne back to my ugly Logitech mx-310, which by comparison is so much more comfortable and easy to use. I'm being serious here, I wrote a bit more light-heartedly on my site about the demotion of my Mighty Mouse: http://www.robknight.org/2005/10/02/not-so-mighty/

Yea I thought Carpal Tunnel took years to develop. Not months.