Filed under: Hardware, Apple History
Happy birthday, mouse!
It was 40 years ago this week that Douglas Engelbart gave the first public demonstration of what would become the modern computer mouse, affectionately called "The mother of all demos." With that in mind, we've decided to take a look at the evolution of the Apple Mouse.
The current version is the Mighty Mouse, of course. With its scroll wheel and touch sensitive clicking surfaces, it's loved by some and despised by others. I'll admit that a wired Mighty Mouse is my main mouse, which will undoubtedly make some of you gasp. Still, we can't fully appreciate the Mighty Mouse without acknowledging its predecessors.
When you think of old Apple mice, you probably think of the ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) variety. But even those were preceded by the DB-9 connector mice that shipped with the Apple Lisa. In fact, those were the first commercially available mice. They were clunky, square-ish affairs that featured a single button -- a design decision that Apple has refused to abandon all these years (yes, the Mighty Mouse isn't a single-button mouse, but certainly looks it from an overhead perspective).
The boxy shape was kept largely intact until 1993, when Apple released the Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II. I can remember using one of these with a Performa and being amazed by it. "it's not square! It fits in my hand! This is incredible!"
Also "incredible" was the amount of time I spent removing the ball and scraping the gunk off of the rollers.
The design stayed pretty much the same until the "hockey puck" was released with the iMac in 1998. Apple's first USB mouse, the hockey puck divided the Mac community. Some declared it the best thing since copy and paste. Others, like me, considered it an abomination.
Just two years later, Apple got the message, retired the hockey puck and introduced the Pro Mouse. The lozenge-shaped device was the immediate predecessor to the Mighty Mouse we all know and love (or despise) today.
There are Apple mouse fanboys, and those who'd never touch one. In fact, even your favorite TUAW bloggers are divided. Below is a gallery of our favorite and current mice, plus a few vintage examples. Finally, we threw in a few alternate input devices as well.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
josh said 8:25PM on 12-10-2008
man no one with the good ol' apple pro mouse that came with the PowerMac G5. It was and still is my favorite mouse. Simple, clear, and crisp.
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rizzy said 8:40PM on 12-10-2008
Happy Birthday Mouse :]
Regards: rizzy
http://twitter.com/rizzy81
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eric said 8:42PM on 12-10-2008
i dislike the mighty mouse. Wacom. have not touched a mouse in years. ok, i DID try a mighty mouse. did not like. Wacom.
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Matthew Hillyer said 9:07PM on 12-10-2008
pretty cool video - anyone knoe the name of the mini "keyboard" he was using on the left to punch in commands.
Kinda looked like a steno recorder to me, cept no tape and plugged into his terminal.
JD said 12:12AM on 12-11-2008
Yeah, I was also wondering what that thing was on his left. It looked like it might have been dedicated cut/copy/paste commands, and perhaps a few others. Anyone know?
Think Adrian said 1:56AM on 12-11-2008
Don't remember the name of it, but Wikipedia should ;)
I do remember that you could invoke saved commands by hitting combinations of keys, like on a piano.
Macca said 4:36AM on 12-11-2008
For everyone wondering, what he was using on his left is called a "Chorded Keyset":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_keyset
Mike said 9:40PM on 12-10-2008
My favorite design of a mouse was the white Apple Pro Mouse that came with the iMac G4. My favorite functional mouse is the mighty mouse. Love the scroll ball and expose sensors
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spug said 10:40PM on 12-10-2008
that console had COPY AND PASTE - lol
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VanillaSpice said 10:48PM on 12-10-2008
The one-button mouse, or more specifically the design philosophy that mandated it, was THE reason I started using Macs and THE reason I have loved using them in the years since.
It was a simple question that Apple asked itself - do we allow our input device to look complex and scare people away because they have no idea which button does what, OR do we mandate a one-button mouse, and say to developers, no matter how powerful and complex your application, you have to find a way to make that power accessible to people in a simple way, so they don't have to have the manual constantly at hand just to use the interface.
Ease of use. Three words, three powerful words that have kept MacOS the only real-world OS (all the rest are toys for geeks, for people who want to just use their computer, rather than use their computer to actually achieve things). It makes an application's power come to you, not force you to fight and struggle your way towards the power and capability.
It is evident in all aspects of MacOS, not just the mouse, and it is a philosophy that I admire and respect and appreciate. When people disparage the one-button mouse, I think, "you just don't get it."
Happy birthday, computer mouse. I honestly don't know where I would be or what I would be doing right now, were it not for you. But please don't ever take that puck shape again.
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Fuzzmanmatt said 11:27PM on 12-10-2008
I love my trackballs and trackpads. I use a keyboard with an integrated trackpad at work, and I come home and pick up a mouse, and it's just not as smooth an experience for me. And trackballs are just cool.
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Luigi193 said 11:43PM on 12-10-2008
I've gotta say, the Mighty Mouse MAY JUST BE the worst piece of Apple Product I own. It is an anathema to me, and the bane of my existence.
THE LOGITECH MX series of mice on the other hand...
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Think Adrian said 1:58AM on 12-11-2008
Apple tried to fix the puck; when the graphite one came out, it had a little... uhm.. slot in the front so you "could feel" which way was forward...
Logitech's MX Revolution is the best mouse I've ever had!
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Conor Winders said 7:27AM on 12-11-2008
+1 on the MX, best mouse ever. I don't actually use any of the extra functions except the 'fast scroll' but the feel and precision make it second to none
Maggie said 2:27AM on 12-11-2008
Happy Birthday Mouse。。
I love this Apple Bluetooth Wireless Mighty Mouse..
http://www.dealstudio.com/deallink.php?deal_id=157363&ru=283
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Macca said 4:32AM on 12-11-2008
For everyone wondering, what he was using on his left is called a "Chorded Keyset":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chord_keyset
I must have that NeXT mouse! I want it! Please, can I have it?
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Conor Winders said 7:25AM on 12-11-2008
On the 40th birthday of the mouse I would like to bring up a seemingly forgotten nugget of information.
The plural of computer mouse is mouses not mice.
Really bugs me that everyone calls them mice. It bugs me even more when people look at me odd for calling them mouses
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Richard said 7:49AM on 12-11-2008
Is it possible to make a Chorded Keyset application for the iPhone?
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Bob said 10:32AM on 12-11-2008
A year or so ago, I lined up all the mice I've used over the years and took a picture to see how much (or how little) they've changed during that time.
http://flickr.com/photos/wqoq/567852004/
I'm still searching for the perfect mouse...
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John said 2:00PM on 12-11-2008
I gotta say - I love that Google ads puts a Psystar ad in my Google reader under this post.
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