I waited on purchasing the Magic Mouse knowing that the device’s multitouch technology could recognize up to three fingers. New gestures were bound to be released. One could imagine two and three-finger clicks, not to mention pinches and taps of all sorts! The paltry two buttons the device currently ships with is a poor offering.
Sure enough, within a few days a developer released MiddleClick. This app runs silently on your menubar, watching for a three-finger tap (not a click), which it translates into a third click. Excellent excuse to go down to the Apple Store the next day and pick up the mouse.
An even more sparse desktop
Still, I should like to maintain my hunch that Apple will release a number of gestures in the future. Better yet, they should release a framework that would allow us to customize our own gestures.
My corded Mighty Mouse had long worn out its welcome. Flaky right click response and the inability to track on my hardwood desk had me disappointed the day my iMac arrived. Funny enough, the trackball never gave me any problems (I know the paper trick). I was seriously considering one of Logitech’s new line of Darkfield Laser mice. However, having been frustrated with Logitech’s flaky mouse drivers in the past, I waited for an alternative. I was happy to see that the Magic Mouse’s laser tracking worked well on reflective surfaces.
I have been using the mouse for more than 24 hours and it has worked brilliantly for me so far. Great input response, and great tracking response. Being accustomed to the Mighty Mouse and iPhone, I quickly adjusted to the Magic Mouse. The gestures are easily mastered and it scrolls like butter.
Complaints are often raised about the lack of ergonomic design in Apple’s mice. Yet it must be realized that Apple does not make mice that should be gripped. Apple’s mice are operated by gently pushing them around with your fingertips. With the Magic Mouse’s surface being a multitouch device, this concept is even more pronounced.
Which brings me to a design quibble. If you look at the vertical profile of the mouse (see A below) you will see the sides of the mouse swooping inwards, underneath the mouse. This is conducive of gripping, which makes operating the mouse more difficult than necessary. If you simply push the mouse around with your fingertips you only have contact with the very edge of the plastic surface. I would rather see a sweeping out of the sides of the mouse (as per in B below) to increase the surface area used for pushing, to balance the surface area used for gestures.
Click for larger version
All in all, I think it is a good mouse, with some intriguing potential. Though not for everyone, I would especially recommend it to those still suffering with the old Mighty Mouse.
