Magic Mouse – First Impressions

Posted on 29 October 2009 by


Magic Mouse

Since the first time I used one of the multi-touch trackpads on the current MacBooks I have wanted to have similar multi-touch abilities when using my iMac. I love using the trackpad on the MacBook. It works beautifully. The buttonless left and right click work great. And the multi-touch capabilities… well I didn’t really understand why I would want such a thing… until three minutes after I first tried it. Now I would never use a notebook without one. (Except the netbook I am using to write this, but that is another story.)

When Apple announced the new Magic Mouse, I was excited; finally Apple was bringing the amazing technology to their desktops. So when Larry IM’d me earlier today that the new Magic Mouse was finally in stock in Apple retails stores, I wanted one… fast.

I called my wife Elana and asked if she was near an Apple Store. “Nope but I can be if you like.” (Now THAT’S a good gadget-freak’s mate!) A short time later she IMed the following to me…

Mouse in hand. $69. Expensive, no?? Nice Style and packaging- shocking for Apple :)

So do I love the new Magic Mouse? Does Apple hit a home run with their new mouse? Yes… and NO!

Magic Mouse

I like the Magic Mouse, and I like its low profile; it feels much more comfortable to use than the Mighty Mouse ever did to me. As someone who deals with inflammatory arthritis, the old mouse was problematic at best.

Magic Mouse

I like the fact that it doesn’t have the ridiculous scroll ball that constantly stopped working. Having the entire surface work as the scroll-wheel is a much better option than that ball-thing ever was. While it is taking some getting used to, the new scroll-surface is a huge improvement.

Magic Mouse

I like the fact that it gets up to four months with one set of batteries rather than sucking a set dry every couple of weeks. And the way it glides on the desk- nice!

So why is it that I am so very disappointed in the new Magic Mouse?

It’s simple, really — I truly believe that Apple missed the boat with the new mouse. I can’t get past the thought that for once Apple was constrained by “old thinking”. It seems to me that they started from the position of “How can we make our Mighty Mouse all over again while using our new multi-touch technology?” when instead they should have scratched the entire concept of the Mighty Mouse and started over.

Magic Mouse

More precisely, Apple should have scrapped the whole mouse idea, and instead they should have used something they already had all but perfected- the multi-touch trackpad.

Seriously, the MacBook trackpad is a thing of beauty. It works beautifully and requires far less finger and wrist movement than any other mouse does – including the Mighty Mouse and the Magic Mouse. So why didn’t Apple just package a Bluetooth version of the trackpad and dump the entire mouse thing? Now THAT would have been an example of “Think Different”.

Magic Mouse

Well they didn’t, so I’ll just have to settle for the Magic Mouse. In comparison to its predecessor it is a huge improvement, so I can’t complain — too much. But I still can’t help but wonder… what if.

The Magic Mouse has an MSRP of $69, and it is available now.

This post was written by:

- who has written 2793 posts on Gear Diary.

Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. +Dan Cohen

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  • http://darkglass.org/ tamaracks

    That’s what I thought! Something more like the old Fingerworks: http://www.fingerworks.com/igesture_tech.html

  • http://ssschmidt.wordpress.com ssschmidt

    I had the chance to try one of these at a best buy (more like an apple store INSIDE of best buy on a smaller scale). I liked the feel of it, though as you mentioned, it would take getting used to the scrolling function. I would have left with one, but they frown on missing display models, and they didn’t have any to sell.
    And you should patent your idea. A blue tooth pad may be next.

  • doogald

    I tried it out in the Apple Store last week before it was on sale (they had them connected to the new iMacs) and I thought it was a great mouse – far better than the old Mighty Mouse (now the Apple Mouse), just for scrolling. It seemed to recognized right-clicks better, and the scrolling was fantastic – that old scroll ball is a pain in the neck.

    I’ve heard others complain about all of the multi-touch gestures being complicated, but, in the end, all I really want from the mouse is to recognize clicks, provide good scrolling, and that’s it. This one would work for me. That said, it’s not worth paying for it – I’ll replace one of our mice if it breaks, but that’s it.

    I agree, though – I love your multi-touch external trackpad idea. I know that there are existing external trackpads out there, but none with multi-touch, none BT, I think, and most of them look small.

  • http://darkglass.org/ tamaracks

    The only one I’m aware of currently is the Wacom Bamboo Touch. We have one, the driver is a bit fussy for the Mac and it’s not as smooth of motion as I’d like. I just want like a bigger version of the glass trackpad in the MacBook Pro. Preferably wired, because who needs to be wireless when it’s not moving? But Steve would probably make it wireless anyway.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

    I’ll have to check this out … my biggest issue with the Mighty Mouse (experiencing now while playing Borderlands) is that I can’t right-click & hold and then left-click.

  • http://darkglass.org/ tamaracks

    I don’t think that will be any different. I tried it out in the store, I think the right/left clicking work the same as the Mighty Mouse.

  • http://www.geardiary.com Michael Anderson

    My assumption is that multi-touch will allow me to hold the right-’button’ down while clicking the left ‘button’ due to multi-touch … otherwise I’ll just have to get a ‘real’ wireless mouse. I hate breaking out my wired mice just to snipe …