Apple Mouse
Until Steve Jobs came back, Apple could design a mouse. After that, form over function, and they suck.
~ Aristotle Sabouni
Created: 2022-10-05 |
The keys to a good mouse include:
- A nice hand feel (rounded edged, comfortable to rest on)
- Texture, so they don't slip
- Affordances so you know without looking at it, which way to hold it
- Controls/feedback -- positive click, maybe a wheel, stuff with tactile feedback
Apple's first few mice had that (like the Mac Mouse). It was a little box with a button. Good enough. It worked, and they really put function over form. They worked on mechanics, reliability, and feel -- and they outperformed anyone's mice.
Then Steve Jobs came back, and NeXT designers took over. And after that, Apple blows it on all the basic requirements. But they look purty. But it's like which tractor wins the beauty contest. I don't want something that looks sexy, if it can't do work. It's a blob on the desk -- that should feel good -- and that's too much for Apple designers since ≈1998.
Apple Disasters[edit | edit source]
(1998) Apple iMac "hockey puck", where you couldn't figure out which side was up by feel (since it was round) -- you had to use the cable as a guide. It was universally hated.
(2000) Glass/plastic/frictionless surface to increase slippage, no way to know which side was up, no good button (pressed on the whole thing, which makes right button really funky). Barely usable.
(2005) was the Mighty Mouse (or Apple Mouse since they got into a trademark dispute with a cartoon character) -- which while not mighty. Annoyingly smooth, whole button thing, but it also had a little clitoris/ball on top that at least told you which way to orient the thing -- but the ball was so small that it clogged or broke easily and stopped working, and was jumpy or didn't give you good control when it did work.
(2009) The latest disaster, with sharp edges, lousy button feel, overly heavy, no indicators for which side is up, and a frictionless surface to slip -- but if you touch the top wrong, it adds secondary control to scroll windows when you don't want them to.
Not one of them is worth owning.
Steve and NeXT did a lot good for Apple. But we did take a lot of steps back in human factors and User Interface design. (Usually putting graphic design and style over utilitarian functionality). So Apple can design computers and computers... but keyboards and mice? Those seem to be the second string teams at Apple, that often fuck it up.
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