Nothing was stirring, not even these mice

Wired's Gadget Lab points to this great Flickr gallery by raneko of Apple mice throughout the years, from the blocky one-button behemoths of years past up to the smooth and slick Mighty and Magic mice of today. Laid all in a row like that, it's interesting to see just how much care went into the look of these things, and how the different iterations, across years of work, built upon the basic idea. Wired says that Apple mice have never been its strong point, and they're pretty right about that -- even the current mouse, while beautiful and well-designed, doesn't have the functionality or ergonomic design that you'll find in most other brands of mice.

But nevertheless, these still look great, and for the Apple fan, they'll probably bring back a flood of memories all the way back to the Macintosh. Great gallery.

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Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/raneko/archives/date-posted/200…

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Wired's Gadget Lab points to this great Flickr gallery by raneko of Apple mice throughout the years, from the blocky one-button behemoths...

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deej

Worst. Mice. Ever.

December 28 2009 at 2:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Seth Amott

I can't believe I have all of these mice in my basement... Lol.

December 26 2009 at 2:16 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mark

Oh no...the hockey puck mouse! Just looking at that things gives my right hand cramps. Worst. Mouse. Ever.

December 25 2009 at 7:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

frogbat

i just got a magic mouse and i can say that i'm waiting for v 2.0.

The design is great and quite comfortable as is the weight (the wireless mighty mouse was heavier) The lack of the ball to get clogged is great. However at work depend on the extra buttons of the mighty mouse for expose. maybe there'll be some update which will allow me to assign the tips of the mouse some command...

i too have a long relationship with computers and mice - the apple imac puck was bad however, the all time worse for me was the amiga 500 one. It was big and square (not too dissimilar from apple's early bricks) I was a kid and i recall the square corners annoying my small hands.

December 25 2009 at 3:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to frogbat's comment

Dave D

I'm always surprised at how quickly people dismiss the Magic Mouse -- first, for the ergonomics. Mice aren't meant meant to support the weight of your hand, or your wrist, or your arm. In the same way that a keyboard is not meant to support your wrists. Second, the functionality can quickly and easily be increased exponentially if you just take a few seconds to do a search online. BetterTouchTool turns the "1-button" mouse into one with more than 20 customizable gestures, from 1-, 2-, 3-finger taps, swipes, and clicks, to zoom in and out.

It provides an elegant, extremely functional interface that also LOOKS much better than some ridiculous clunky 47-button mouse. Of course it's not going to suit everyone, but that is true of any mouse.

December 25 2009 at 7:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

frogbat

thanks for the tip dave - hadn't come across that sw before

will check it out - though i'd like to see apple implement something themselves either through sw like this or physically

December 26 2009 at 2:58 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

sonic the plumber

As basic as it is, the original bluetooth wireless Apple mouse feels great in the hand, just a shame it eats batteries like they're going out of fashion.

Currently using a Logitech laser optical mouse that feels very similar in the hand, but has the benefit of two buttons and a scroll wheel to boot. I read that Logitech builds Apple's mice for them? (see the Wikipedia entry for Logitech). My keyboard is the current Apple design, but with the numeric keypad and a wire.

December 25 2009 at 1:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Lee

Logitech MX Revolution - Wouldn't use my Laptop without it...
Microsoft Egonomic Keyboard - Wouldn't use my Laptop with it...

Now if only apple could grasp the idea that I need both extra buttons and ergonomics to make me better and faster at both work and games, and that after 30 years of computer/console use (zx 81 Spectrum Atari ST Atari Falcon PC MAC Xbox 360) my joints are starting to hurt so I really do need the extra comfort that ergonomic devices give me... Then they might make a mouse and keyboard for me to use and that would be a good day...

December 25 2009 at 11:40 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Lee's comment

Scott F

Yes, Apple will make one just for you.

December 25 2009 at 1:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply