I agree. I'd love to see the multi-touch trackpad that can do as much as easily as my MX518 and steermouse.
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Apple to kill off the mouse!!!
- Thread starter trip1ex
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I agree. I'd love to see the multi-touch trackpad that can do as much as easily as my MX518 and steermouse.
Yeah nice pic. I think there could be something along those lines.
Even farther in the future I bet Apple comes out with a touchless keyboard, but the whole thing is also a trackpad and 1 or 2 big buttons. And the kool thing is you can slide specialized keys around kind of like you can customize the Safari toolbar.
I think you might be right. And it will be a welcomed death. But there well be those change resistant users still hanging on to mouse even unto their own deaths.
But I can totally see this and Apple marketing the mouse as an "option".
It makes sense! It will offer application designers more sophistication while at the same time reducing the amount of gadgetry and clutter.
True or not it's good thinking on your part!
Dude the nail in the coffin for your argument is simple: There's nothing wrong with the mouse.
The disk drive was killed off cause it was useless and CD-R's and Zip drives were larger capacity, faster, more reliable and cheap. The CRT was killed off for many of the same reasons. The CD as well (up to the DVD), Ethernet is slowly dying for some of these reasons (to WiFi). Hard drives will eventually die to SSD's. But the mouse?
There's nothing wrong with the mouse and the trackpad is not an obvious successor. Kool?
The disk drive was killed off cause it was useless and CD-R's and Zip drives were larger capacity, faster, more reliable and cheap. The CRT was killed off for many of the same reasons. The CD as well (up to the DVD), Ethernet is slowly dying for some of these reasons (to WiFi). Hard drives will eventually die to SSD's. But the mouse?
There's nothing wrong with the mouse and the trackpad is not an obvious successor. Kool?
I just wish they would do something about the design of the current mighty mouse. When they updated the keyboards last week i was looking forward to a redesigned mouse but it never happened. The current one is the worst piece of apple equipment i have and its only because im too cheap to buy a microsoft or logitech one that i still use it.
If microsoft or logitech came out with a white one though i might be tempted
If microsoft or logitech came out with a white one though i might be tempted
I agree with this -- multi-touch doesn't belong on screens where you have to lift up your hands awkwardly and balance them in the air. It would be uncomfortable, not to mention it would make your arms tired eventually. Some PC makers are doing it this way, as Windows 7 implements multitouch technology.
Apple is doing it the right way: keeping multitouch where its convenient and comfortable. Having it on a screen you can hold (e.g. iPhone or tablet) would make sense, but not on a Cinema Display or notebook LED screen.
That being said, having an external trackpad is something I very much am hoping to see come out of Cupertino. I simply can't wait!
I work on a couple of Macs. One has a Wacom Cinteq that I use for work - photo restoration and retouch.
On BOTH Macs, I have Kensington Expert Mouse Trackballs.
For years I have opted for Trackballs over any mouse. When placed correctly, they are ergonomically 'more' correct than using a mouse and certainly take up far less desktop real estate than a mouse and presumed mousepad.
Just to be clear - I use the stylus for the Wacom in my LEFT hand and the trackball in my right hand. It doesn't get much better than that. One of the few times being left handed pays off <grin>.
Kensington is or has just released a new trackball that works with MAC and some folks saw it first hand and said it is rather "slick" and will be getting them. I'll have to see it at my local Frys Electronics before I order. It would be nice if it is bluetooth and then I would be one MacHappy camper.
- Phrehdd
Apple's last great input device innovation was moving the keyboard towards the screen on the PowerBook, putting a trackball and palmrest below it.
Otherwise, Apple's input devices are something I mostly suffer with when I have to. Fortunately, I rarely do except occasionally when in the field.
Touch screens are good for kiosks, mobile devices, and in a few specific circumstances with real computers (the cintiq and axiotron modbook are great for design and retouching - though these aren't really touch screens.)
Otherwise, they are less efficient and precise than a keyboard/mouse combo. I wouldn't even use a cintiq without a mouse or trackball by my side.
Apple "getting rid of the mouse" would be exactly the sort of high-handed, user-hateful design for its own sake that brought us the hockey puck mouse, the Apple Display Port (and Mini-DisplayPort), and the glossy, firewire-free unibody macbooks. In other words, it's annoyingly plausible.
Otherwise, Apple's input devices are something I mostly suffer with when I have to. Fortunately, I rarely do except occasionally when in the field.
Touch screens are good for kiosks, mobile devices, and in a few specific circumstances with real computers (the cintiq and axiotron modbook are great for design and retouching - though these aren't really touch screens.)
Otherwise, they are less efficient and precise than a keyboard/mouse combo. I wouldn't even use a cintiq without a mouse or trackball by my side.
Apple "getting rid of the mouse" would be exactly the sort of high-handed, user-hateful design for its own sake that brought us the hockey puck mouse, the Apple Display Port (and Mini-DisplayPort), and the glossy, firewire-free unibody macbooks. In other words, it's annoyingly plausible.
There was nothing wrong with the full-size keyboard with a number pad either. Yet, Apple has tried to kill it multiple times.
I wouldn't put killing the mouse past them.
Apple Mouse
As much as I could see Apple giving in and never making another mouse I don't think it will happen for awhile. The main stream user needs more time.
The mouse will be very hard to eliminate for reasons already posted.
However on another note: I would love to see the Black Chicklet illuminated keyboard to pair with other new products.
As much as I could see Apple giving in and never making another mouse I don't think it will happen for awhile. The main stream user needs more time.
The mouse will be very hard to eliminate for reasons already posted.
However on another note: I would love to see the Black Chicklet illuminated keyboard to pair with other new products.
rather than kill the mouse, I do think Apple will take the multitouch buttonless trackpad and make an additional accessory. This trackpad is not intended to replace the mouse for all use, photoshop and such will still be best utilized by a mouse. But 95% of what I and most other users do, is web browsing, word processing, and email. I would love having a trackpad for that, with my mouse sitting in reserve for photoshop.
I do not see the trackpad replacing the mouse, rather than being an extra.
I've begun my own research in getting a trackpad and soldering on a USB port. I know I can find some help at my university as far as getting the drivers worked out.
I do not see the trackpad replacing the mouse, rather than being an extra.
I've begun my own research in getting a trackpad and soldering on a USB port. I know I can find some help at my university as far as getting the drivers worked out.
2nd usb overdrive, i absolutely love it, plus with expose it makes trackpads seem like a thing of the past.
For Apple to kill the mouse they would need to kill USB. And doing that will raise quite the issue with many people and peripheral companies; how dare they make my USB pop can refrigerator obsolete?
It isn't like the CD-ROM drives that were physically included, it's up to you which peripheral you use.
Not selling Mighty Mice is not the same as killing off the mouse.
OP should get a job being an analyst for new Apple products, bleh!
It isn't like the CD-ROM drives that were physically included, it's up to you which peripheral you use.
Not selling Mighty Mice is not the same as killing off the mouse.
OP should get a job being an analyst for new Apple products, bleh!
I was referring to the fact that the majority of mice are USB, I guess I neglected to address Bluetooth. What I was attempting to describe was the only way to kill the product was to cut off the 'points of access'.
If you can't connect the mouse to the computer, USB or Bluetooth, then it is dead.
If you can't connect the mouse to the computer, USB or Bluetooth, then it is dead.
The eject button is still where it's been: on the far right.
Anyone who edits video or uses any of the Adobe CS products (or anything similar) would laugh at you for suggesting keyboard shortcuts are "arcane." They were, are and will continue to be the fastest way to do things. Hence the word "shortcut."
This is me laughing.
That's ridiculous! What about all the other devices that use USB or Bluetooth? Killing off the mouse isn't going to happen.
Uhh... I'm just going to say it, what the heck is going through your mind.
Do you know how flamed Apple will get for that?
If they do anything of the sort they will release a trackpad as an accessory and/or have it as a BTO option.
Do you know how flamed Apple will get for that?
If they do anything of the sort they will release a trackpad as an accessory and/or have it as a BTO option.
Yeah, but that would be like Apple going back to a one-button mouse again rather than replacing the keyboard with voice dictation only. You know?
I don't think the mouse is going to be dead anytime soon. For one thing, the whole touchscreen aspect has some work to do before it's going to be the best input method. Multi-touch has been a massive step forward towards this, but it still has quite awhile to go. Also, mice are generally removable. If your main input method is an embedded trackpad/touchscreen combo, and something goes wrong (hopefully not with the screen's capacitive display, as that would probably also 86 the visuals...) you'd then need to plug in a USB mouse.
There is an inherrant risk when you start making convergence devices. It's always a good idea on paper to have 21-in-1 so you have less stuff to worry about, but when one piece of the device goes, you very well could be sunk. Hence why even now Stereo equipment is modular.
There is an inherrant risk when you start making convergence devices. It's always a good idea on paper to have 21-in-1 so you have less stuff to worry about, but when one piece of the device goes, you very well could be sunk. Hence why even now Stereo equipment is modular.
Of Mice and Multitouch
I think the original poster is right: A multi-touch trackpad of some sort is going to replace the mouse for desktop computers in the near future, and Apple is going to lead this push for change.
Despite complaints from some that the mouse is a better device for design work and video editing, I have to wonder about how true this is -- I know tons and tons of people that do professional graphic design and video editing on their laptops, using the built-in touchpad instead of an external mouse. Thanks to various trackpad-like input methods being used on laptops for over a decade now, this method of control is very mainstream for just about every computer device EXCEPT for the desktop.
And with the advanced multi-finger/multi-gesture/multi-touch capabilities we're starting to see rolled out on the Macbook Air, Macbooks, iPhones, iPod Touches, and even non-Apple devices, Fingerworks-style control is quickly moving from fringe-tech to consumer-demanded and consumer-expected technology.
And I've got co-workers that aren't even particularly tech-savvy that have switched, on their doctors' orders, from regular mouse usage to stylus-with-touchpad-tablet input devices in lieu of using mice because of the chronic wrist pain that years of using a mouse has caused them.
Not to mention the benefits that a drawing-tablet input device can deliver to artists.
And the fact that iPhone/iPod Touch apps like "Air Mouse" and "Snatch" are causing plenty of excitement just by turning the iPhone into a rudimentary multitouch/navigation device for desktops.
With all of that in mind, how many people are really going to be left using mice five years from now if Apple and other vendors roll out slick little Macbook Air-style clickable multi-touch pads that you can plop down next to your keyboard where your mouse currently sits, and then start swiping, pinching, zooming, twisting, and double-clicking your way to productivity?
And what if they add in the option to be able to use a drawing-stylus with the pad in addition to finger-control?
And what if it's wireless and you can walk around the house with it? (A wireless mouse is fun but you've gotta find a place to put it down in order to use it -- a wireless touchpad you could easily use anywhere.)
To keep it cheap, you simply wouldn't equip it with a display. It'd be more or less just like a laptop trackpad, or maybe a bit more suped up from that and wireless, but nothing crazy.
Then, as an upgrade, you could have the option of getting one of these trackpads with a display -- which could use iPhone/Touch technology for the touch-screen interface and display and connectivity, but would be a bit cheaper than those devices because it wouldn't need much hard drive space, phone capabilities, etc. . .
Or, heck, maybe Apple could just jump ahead of the curve and pull in consumers by launching their own Snatch/Air Mouse type of app that builds in Apple's proprietary Fingerworks-driven Macbook Air-tested multi-touch-and-gesture technology so that we could use our iPhones instead of our mice even if we don't have the cash on hand to buy one of Apple's fancy new Multitouch Pad for Desktops when they initially launch the things (sure to be overpriced for the first year or two). Then I could use my iPhone instead of a mouse at home, bring my iPhone to work and use it there as my mouse replacement as well, go to a friend's house and start controlling his computer too . . .
If only iPhones could accept stylus-input and you could Button Click it like the new Macbook trackpads can be clicked, they'd be near-perfect for this. But even without those options, it'd still work pretty well. I'm not sold on using Snatch/Air Mouse on my iPhone as a mouse replacement, but they're on to something big, and that something is something that Apple could probably do much better themselves.
But, anyway, I'm tired of the Days of Mice. I don't need a full touch-screen monitor, and I'll continue to use keyboard shortcuts forever, but let's stop dragging our collective feet and Kill the Mouse in exchange for a brilliant, easy to use, intuitive multitouch input device that gives users a cohesive experience across desktops, laptops, iPods, and smart-phones/PDAs.
I think the original poster is right: A multi-touch trackpad of some sort is going to replace the mouse for desktop computers in the near future, and Apple is going to lead this push for change.
Despite complaints from some that the mouse is a better device for design work and video editing, I have to wonder about how true this is -- I know tons and tons of people that do professional graphic design and video editing on their laptops, using the built-in touchpad instead of an external mouse. Thanks to various trackpad-like input methods being used on laptops for over a decade now, this method of control is very mainstream for just about every computer device EXCEPT for the desktop.
And with the advanced multi-finger/multi-gesture/multi-touch capabilities we're starting to see rolled out on the Macbook Air, Macbooks, iPhones, iPod Touches, and even non-Apple devices, Fingerworks-style control is quickly moving from fringe-tech to consumer-demanded and consumer-expected technology.
And I've got co-workers that aren't even particularly tech-savvy that have switched, on their doctors' orders, from regular mouse usage to stylus-with-touchpad-tablet input devices in lieu of using mice because of the chronic wrist pain that years of using a mouse has caused them.
Not to mention the benefits that a drawing-tablet input device can deliver to artists.
And the fact that iPhone/iPod Touch apps like "Air Mouse" and "Snatch" are causing plenty of excitement just by turning the iPhone into a rudimentary multitouch/navigation device for desktops.
With all of that in mind, how many people are really going to be left using mice five years from now if Apple and other vendors roll out slick little Macbook Air-style clickable multi-touch pads that you can plop down next to your keyboard where your mouse currently sits, and then start swiping, pinching, zooming, twisting, and double-clicking your way to productivity?
And what if they add in the option to be able to use a drawing-stylus with the pad in addition to finger-control?
And what if it's wireless and you can walk around the house with it? (A wireless mouse is fun but you've gotta find a place to put it down in order to use it -- a wireless touchpad you could easily use anywhere.)
To keep it cheap, you simply wouldn't equip it with a display. It'd be more or less just like a laptop trackpad, or maybe a bit more suped up from that and wireless, but nothing crazy.
Then, as an upgrade, you could have the option of getting one of these trackpads with a display -- which could use iPhone/Touch technology for the touch-screen interface and display and connectivity, but would be a bit cheaper than those devices because it wouldn't need much hard drive space, phone capabilities, etc. . .
Or, heck, maybe Apple could just jump ahead of the curve and pull in consumers by launching their own Snatch/Air Mouse type of app that builds in Apple's proprietary Fingerworks-driven Macbook Air-tested multi-touch-and-gesture technology so that we could use our iPhones instead of our mice even if we don't have the cash on hand to buy one of Apple's fancy new Multitouch Pad for Desktops when they initially launch the things (sure to be overpriced for the first year or two). Then I could use my iPhone instead of a mouse at home, bring my iPhone to work and use it there as my mouse replacement as well, go to a friend's house and start controlling his computer too . . .
If only iPhones could accept stylus-input and you could Button Click it like the new Macbook trackpads can be clicked, they'd be near-perfect for this. But even without those options, it'd still work pretty well. I'm not sold on using Snatch/Air Mouse on my iPhone as a mouse replacement, but they're on to something big, and that something is something that Apple could probably do much better themselves.
But, anyway, I'm tired of the Days of Mice. I don't need a full touch-screen monitor, and I'll continue to use keyboard shortcuts forever, but let's stop dragging our collective feet and Kill the Mouse in exchange for a brilliant, easy to use, intuitive multitouch input device that gives users a cohesive experience across desktops, laptops, iPods, and smart-phones/PDAs.