Interesting Imported Sony Wireless Mouse
USB connect/wireless basestation, two-buttons, scrollwheel, multiple colors. $89 from Dynamism.com
http://www.dynamism.com/wr1/
http://www.dynamism.com/wr1/
Comments
If you held the mouse correctcly, it encouraged holding the mouse properly. Only since i got my logitech mouse have i had discomfort in my wrist and forearm.
If apple made a two-button scroll wheel optical mouse in teh same form factor as the hockey puck i would ditch my logitech in a second. That will never happen, of course.
but then I got 2 button/scroll spoiled and now I can't stand the one-button dealie
A "no button" hybrid of the current mouse and the puck would rule. Probably not gonna happen, though.
Originally posted by Amorph
The puck was a basically sound design ergonomically.
Maybe ergonomically. NOT for usability -- there's very little feedback to indicate whether you're holding it right, which means you have to pay attention to putting your hand on the mouse. That's just bad design.
[EDIT: Better, close-up picture of the DEC Workstation mouse.]
Old image: http://members.aol.com/lfessen106/dec5125.jpg
It's at least respectable to be the first one to make a big mistake... but the second?!?
Originally posted by jginsbu
Maybe ergonomically. NOT for usability -- there's very little feedback to indicate whether you're holding it right, which means you have to pay attention to putting your hand on the mouse. That's just bad design.
Did you ever use the hockey puck mouse? when held correctly, your middle and index finger rested in a groove that was on the button. If you didn't feel the groove, it wasn't facing the right way. Not to mention that the cord goes at the top.
Edit: i miss my puck, the ball and such got all gummed up with dust and such though, so it was barely useable. She gave me a good run.
Originally posted by Cosmo
Did you ever use the hockey puck mouse? when held correctly, your middle and index finger rested in a groove that was on the button. If you didn't feel the groove, it wasn't facing the right way. Not to mention that the cord goes at the top.
Yes. I used it frequently in my university's computer cluster, although I didn't own one (had a 7600 at the time).
You're absolutely right that there is a way to tell if you're holding the mouse the right way by feel, but the problem is that it's not just possible but easy to grab it at some other angle. People want to reach for the mouse without looking, feeling, or thinking about it, and that is made possible by designing a mouse to direct and guide your hand to hold it correctly. A round mouse cannot do that. You basically point this out yourself by starting with "when held correctly..." -- that's already too late! The problem is getting to hold it correctly in the first place. The fact that if you hold it wrong there is some cue available can't make up for the fact that the mouse failed to direct your hard to hold it right from the outset.
In any case, if it was such a great design, why did Apple switch to an oval mouse? And why did so many people buy those snap-on covers to make the round mouse not-round?
Originally posted by jginsbu
Maybe ergonomically. NOT for usability -- there's very little feedback to indicate whether you're holding it right, which means you have to pay attention to putting your hand on the mouse.
This is of course quite false since my fingers can feel the difference between the rubber sides and the front and back. They can also feel the edges of the button. There's the cord too...
Of course there's also INSTANT visual feedback on the screen. I never once needed to look at my mouse other than to locate it.
Originally posted by Eugene
This is of course quite false since my fingers can feel the difference between the rubber sides and the front and back. They can also feel the edges of the button. There's the cord too...
Of course there's also INSTANT visual feedback on the screen. I never once needed to look at my mouse other than to locate it.
As I noted in my second post: all the feedback you mention comes too late: you only find out after you've grabbed the mouse wrong. A good design should direct your hand in such a way as to make it very difficult to grab to mouse wrong in the first place. Most mouse designs do an adequate job of this (although they have many other faults); round mice are uniquely susceptible.
You say you "never once needed to look at my mouse other than to locate it", but how often did you need to adjust in response to the feedback? If "never once" there too, then you do indeed have exceptional talents!
Originally posted by jginsbu
A good design should direct your hand in such a way as to make it very difficult to grab to mouse wrong in the first place. Most mouse designs do an adequate job of this (although they have many other faults); round mice are uniquely susceptible.
*Cough* What about the CORD that's sticking out right under the button?! *Cough* *Cough*.
Basically, if you know how to use it right, it was a good mouse. But most people didn't use it right. Most people are used to laying their hand on top of their mouse and keeping their wrist in the same place. The way most mice are designed, it's easier to do that, but I don't think it's as good ergonomically. The puck is comfortable when gripped by only the fingertips, but people aren't used to that so they don't like it. Conversely, it's uncomfortable to grip a conventional mouse by the fingertips.
I'd use a puck except it's a ball mouse, and it only has one button.
Originally posted by Luca Rescigno
Basically, if you know how to use it right, it was a good mouse. But most people didn't use it right. Most people are used to laying their hand on top of their mouse and keeping their wrist in the same place. The way most mice are designed, it's easier to do that, but I don't think it's as good ergonomically. The puck is comfortable when gripped by only the fingertips, but people aren't used to that so they don't like it. Conversely, it's uncomfortable to grip a conventional mouse by the fingertips.
I have to disagree here: I think all Apple mice (at least of recent vintage) are designed to be held with the fingertips: unlike Microsoft's mice which have a high palm-shaped arc to them, Apple's are fairly low profile and don't encourage you to 'palm' the mouse -- neither is the Kensington Studio Mouse I'm using now. But even for these low-profile designs, the oblong shape keeps you from grabbing it crooked -- your hand only fits over it one way (well, two ways really, but the likelihood of grabbing it cord-down are pretty slim). As far as I'm concerned, comfort was never an issue with the puck, it was grabbing the mouse and then having to adjust so that I was holding it right -- I never have to do that with an oblong design.
It's correct that the puck was intuitive and ergonomically nice when held correctly. The downside is that in reality, the majority of people are idiots.