What if they release this? and a question

[PaulWog]

The Apple Magic Mouse was released in October 2009. Who's to say that with the release of Lion, they might update the Magic Mouse?

What sells an aging peripheral which isn't needed with laptops? Releasing a new one! If they manage to sell their Magic Mouse more often with new sales of the Macbook Air, that would be more $$$ in their pockets. Who's to say they might not refresh the Magic Mouse with some improvements of some sort?

On a similar note, I'm wondering how many people own an Air and carry the Magic Mouse around with them (ex. in a backpack, briefcase, bag, or something else)? I'm thinking about getting one since I find I can be far more productive with a mouse in many scenarios (ex. editing a word document with a lot of highlighting, etc). I was hoping for it to double-up as a very casual gaming mouse for on-the-go gaming on the Air (very light and not very often)... but I'm reading that there's issues with the right/left click being mixed up sometimes.... sooo not sure about that. It's small enough, though, that I'll probably purchase it anyways just for the productivity part: Since that's what the Air is going to mainly be for (for me). Any suggestions on whether to go for it or not?

 

[Scottsdale]

The trackpad defeats the purpose of a Magic Mouse. I like my Magic Mouse, but I rarely ever use it even at the desk. I doubt Apple will change the Magic Mouse anytime soon, as they seem to keep their mice at a disadvantage for years at a time. It is a nice mouse, but Apple probably will not make much money on it either way... why not spend money developing its next iPhone which it will sell 100 million of this year alone?

I think the future will be trackpads with LCDs built into them and the mouse will become a thing of the past completely. Think trackpad that has multitouch and you can see the entire screen on it and use it many different ways to make the user interaction with the OS simpler like iOS.

 

[PaulWog]

The trackpad defeats the purpose of a Magic Mouse. I like my Magic Mouse, but I rarely ever use it even at the desk. I doubt Apple will change the Magic Mouse anytime soon, as they seem to keep their mice at a disadvantage for years at a time. It is a nice mouse, but Apple probably will not make much money on it either way... why not spend money developing its next iPhone which it will sell 100 million of this year alone?

I think the future will be trackpads with LCDs built into them and the mouse will become a thing of the past completely. Think trackpad that has multitouch and you can see the entire screen on it and use it many different ways to make the user interaction with the OS simpler like iOS.

The one thing I disagree with your notion that mice will be a thing of the past in the near (or relatively near) future. I think they're going to be around for a long time to come as a primary form of communication between the user and the machine.

I simply cannot work with a touchpad as quickly and as precisely as I can with a mouse. I can rework word files much quicker, play games with extreme precision and speed, modify photoshop projects in certain ways quicker (though a touchpad & a tablet such as a Wacom tablet are also useful for certain precision techniques), and really the list can go on. I can see how with a touchpad you don't need a mouse, but nothing is quicker than a mouse when it comes to a vast number of tasks on the computer. Of course the OS can be built to function around touchpad technology in order to reduce the need for a mouse in a multitude of situations, but I still think the mouse remains as a key part of the equation when it comes to getting work done as fast as possible.

I'm not saying this to bash the fact that you and many others use a touchpad. I think touchpads make total sense, and in many cases are all one would need. But with that said, I think the touchpad simply cannot compete with the mouse in many very important situations; vice-versa, the touchpad excels in certain instances as well. Even with optimizations and screen-to-touchpad integration, I don't think either technology will cross into the other's territory enough to extinguish the others' existence as a prevalent input device.

I do agree (unfortunately) with your note about Apple probably not updating their Magic Mouse. I wish they would update it though. Not that there's really much that needs updating... I'd just find it nice to buy the "new 2011 Magic Mouse" with my new Macbook Air I'm about 75% sure I'll buy a Magic Mouse, and 25% unsure right now. Still wondering if anyone uses the Magic Mouse and likes it (particularly on the go with laptops).

Sidenote (putting this in bold since I doubt everyone wants to read the wall of text I set up above): When using the Magic Mouse on a device such as the Macbook Air, does that cause the Macbook Air to use up more battery life? As in, does it turn on bluetooth or whatever wireless technology the mouse uses in the Macbook Air, thusly drastically reducing battery life? Curious... as if it were to drastically effect battery life, then I might as well not touch it.

 

[orfeas0]

The one thing I disagree with your notion that mice will be a thing of the past in the near (or relatively near) future. I think they're going to be around for a long time to come as a primary form of communication between the user and the machine.

I simply cannot work with a touchpad as quickly and as precisely as I can with a mouse. I can rework word files much quicker, play games with extreme precision and speed, modify photoshop projects in certain ways quicker (though a touchpad & a tablet such as a Wacom tablet are also useful for certain precision techniques), and really the list can go on. I can see how with a touchpad you don't need a mouse, but nothing is quicker than a mouse when it comes to a vast number of tasks on the computer. Of course the OS can be built to function around touchpad technology in order to reduce the need for a mouse in a multitude of situations, but I still think the mouse remains as a key part of the equation when it comes to getting work done as fast as possible.

I'm not saying this to bash the fact that you and many others use a touchpad. I think touchpads make total sense, and in many cases are all one would need. But with that said, I think the touchpad simply cannot compete with the mouse in many very important situations; vice-versa, the touchpad excels in certain instances as well. Even with optimizations and screen-to-touchpad integration, I don't think either technology will cross into the other's territory enough to extinguish the others' existence as a prevalent input device.

I do agree (unfortunately) with your note about Apple probably not updating their Magic Mouse. I wish they would update it though. Not that there's really much that needs updating... I'd just find it nice to buy the "new 2011 Magic Mouse" with my new Macbook Air I'm about 75% sure I'll buy a Magic Mouse, and 25% unsure right now. Still wondering if anyone uses the Magic Mouse and likes it (particularly on the go with laptops).

Sidenote (putting this in bold since I doubt everyone wants to read the wall of text I set up above): When using the Magic Mouse on a device such as the Macbook Air, does that cause the Macbook Air to use up more battery life? As in, does it turn on bluetooth or whatever wireless technology the mouse uses in the Macbook Air, thusly drastically reducing battery life? Curious... as if it were to drastically effect battery life, then I might as well not touch it.

Of course, not matter how rare mice become, they will always use them for gaming. I have to say, apple's trackpad is better than a mouse for all tasks except gaming. And especially the magic mouse is a lot worse than the apple trackpad (magic or in laptop)! It moves so weird it's just better to use the trackpad! Any other mouse can be better for productivity tbh but the magic one... Eh... Ain't that good.

Sidenote: The magic mouse works on batteries, but the bluetooth connectivity sure drains some battery, but very little. Maybe around 10 minutes more battery overall, so it isn't that big of a deal.
But if you use a magic mouse over the trackpad at some occasion you're probably on a desk which means you can have the charger plugged, so why worrying about battery? When you go mobile you'll probably use the trackpad.

 

[PaulWog]

Of course, not matter how rare mice become, they will always use them for gaming. I have to say, apple's trackpad is better than a mouse for all tasks except gaming. And especially the magic mouse is a lot worse than the apple trackpad (magic or in laptop)! It moves so weird it's just better to use the trackpad! Any other mouse can be better for productivity tbh but the magic one... Eh... Ain't that good.

Sidenote: The magic mouse works on batteries, but the bluetooth connectivity sure drains some battery, but very little. Maybe around 10 minutes more battery overall, so it isn't that big of a deal.
But if you use a magic mouse over the trackpad at some occasion you're probably on a desk which means you can have the charger plugged, so why worrying about battery? When you go mobile you'll probably use the trackpad.

It's that bad eh? Wow. Maybe I'll rethink this one. I guess if they have one on demo I'll try it at the store.

I still disagree on the note about the trackpad vs. mouse. I get so much done quicker with the mouse when it comes to browsing the web, photoshopping, word editing, etc. Maybe it's because I game a fair bit that I'm quick with the mouse, whereas someone who hasn't spent so much time using a mouse finds the trackpad to be just the same? I don't know. Anyways, that's just me.

Thanks for the help with the mouse decision though. I'm going to be wary as to whether I buy one or not now. I'm simply not sure.

 

[orfeas0]

It's that bad eh? Wow. Maybe I'll rethink this one. I guess if they have one on demo I'll try it at the store.

I still disagree on the note about the trackpad vs. mouse. I get so much done quicker with the mouse when it comes to browsing the web, photoshopping, word editing, etc. Maybe it's because I game a fair bit that I'm quick with the mouse, whereas someone who hasn't spent so much time using a mouse finds the trackpad to be just the same? I don't know. Anyways, that's just me.

Thanks for the help with the mouse decision though. I'm going to be wary as to whether I buy one or not now. I'm simply not sure.

I agree with you. To be more clear, I believe in terms of productivity it goes
Magic Mouse < Trackpad < Normal mouse.
It sounds magic but it ain't. But maybe that's me, go try it and tell us

 

[Poisoned1]

I used to game on pcs for a long time when growing up, but since college i stopped to focus more towards my studies and thats when i bought the mba. i use the mba a lot more than my pc now. i just love the trackpad on the mba. i was also thinking of getting a magic mouse but after trying one out i didnt like how it felt compared to my gaming mouse. after seeing the wireless trackpad though, i was interested in it. i was thinking of connecting my mba to my tv through hdmi cable and getting the wireless keyboard and trackpad, then realized how much i would actually use it and didnt get it lol.

 

[Young Spade]

In terms of the mouse, I find that the trackpad on the MacBooks is superb, the best I have ever used. With that said, I recently sold my MacBook so I've been using my mom's Windows 7 laptop until the payment comes through.

The regular, usb mouse > Trackpad in terms of precision and speed. It requires more muscles to move and you use ALL 5 fingers, which makes it more precise. Because you have a much wider range of motion, you can be more accurate, faster, and also be less fatigued depending on your stature and arm length.

I'm probably going to end up buying a nice, wireless one to use with gaming (I couldn't see myself even playing something like Portal with a trackpad) but for day to day tasks, the trackpad does just fine.

Some would attribute it to length of use; it would be safe to assume most, if not all of us have used a mouse more than a trackpad, however it's naturally a "better" tool in terms of accuracy, speed, and precision. It won't be going anywhere.

And just think about it: what feels more comfortable? Sitting back in a leather chair with your arm up, scrolling around the internet? Or sitting up, over the keyboard/keyboard with your finger and hand positioned in a particular way so you can interact with the screen? Trackpads were built to accommodate the restrained space.

Oh and I hated the magic mouse; way too small to be comfortable (I have long fingers).

 

[NutsNGum]

Of course, not matter how rare mice become, they will always use them for gaming. I have to say, apple's trackpad is better than a mouse for all tasks except gaming. And especially the magic mouse is a lot worse than the apple trackpad (magic or in laptop)! It moves so weird it's just better to use the trackpad! Any other mouse can be better for productivity tbh but the magic one... Eh... Ain't that good.

Sidenote: The magic mouse works on batteries, but the bluetooth connectivity sure drains some battery, but very little. Maybe around 10 minutes more battery overall, so it isn't that big of a deal.
But if you use a magic mouse over the trackpad at some occasion you're probably on a desk which means you can have the charger plugged, so why worrying about battery? When you go mobile you'll probably use the trackpad.

It isn't better for plotting points in auto cad or working with vector graphics in illustrator.