Mice have come a long way since they were originally conceived as a box with wheels, and now Apple aims to extend the trend of improvement and push the mouse forward into the future by incorporating its multi-touch technology to make a mouse that’s more than just buttons.
And all things considered it makes a change Apple making a nice mouse, because for the last decade anyone wanting to use a Mac (or being forced to) has had to put up with the stupid one button excuse for a mouse that Apple have produced which sacrifices ergonomics for looks in a horrible ‘brand image’ pay-off…
But hopefully not only will the ‘Magic Mouse’ (previously known as the ‘Mighty Mouse’ but forced to change for legal reasons) mean a new era for Apple mice, but also for mice in general as the Magic Mouse incorporates technology not really seen on any other mice before — which we could soon see jumping across into everyday use.
So what makes it so special? Well it’s essentially one big button underneath a touch-sensitive surface, and the mouse combines the two pieces of information to work out what you want to do: this means not only can you do your standard clicking (and yes you can have it set to have two buttons [can I hear a hallelujah?]), but also it supports a host of gestures which make using your Mac even easier.
Obviously, the standard right and left click are fairly self-explanatory (and the areas for the buttons can be reversed for left-handed users), but it is the others that are similar to those found on Apple ‘trackpads’ that are more interesting. For example, you are able to brush your finger along the surface to scroll in any direction or pan around 360 degrees.
Moving on from the previous Apple mouse the ‘Magic Mouse’ uses laser technology which should make it a lot more accurate and reliable than its predecessor, and it also uses wireless Bluetooth via allowing you to easily use it up to 33 ft from your machine keeping your desktop free of wires — the bane of most of our lives. Unfortunately this means you won’t be able to get the really quick reaction times needed for things like gaming (if so then you might prefer the rather cool looking World of Warcraft Mouse instead), but I suppose gaming is not going to be the foremost of your worries if using a Mac as they are far from famous for their gaming potential. However, if you do still prefer using wired mice unfortunately you’ll just have to live with the ‘old’ one as the Magic Mouse will not be available in a wired model.
So that’s the Magic Mouse. Yes, you may have picked up that I am instantly sceptical of anything that comes from the hands of Apple (irritating habit I’m afraid) but even I can admit that this is an idea that could well grow and become the next step along the timeline of the mouse. It will come as standard with the new range of iMacs, but will set you back £55 if you plan to buy it separately — a lot you may think for a mouse, but boy will it look nice!
