I find a mouse to be annoying. I dislike having to move it around. I also like having more buttons available. The MS model, which had been discontinued a while ago, has an optical thumb ball, like the logitech's. But it also has four buttons, and a clickable scrollwheel.
When I use my graphics tablet, it's much easier using a trackball with the other hand, than also moving the mouse around. I can spin the ball with my thumb, so that the cursor shoots across the screen, then stop it with my thumb when it's almost there and edge it to where I need it. It's also in the same place at all times, so I don't need to fish around for it, or turn my head to find it.
USB Overdrive allows me to program every button differently for each program if I need to. Cleaning is very easy. You don't have to remove a ring around the ball. Just turn it on its side, and pop the ball out with a finger from the hole in the bottom, then just pop the ball back in.
I haven't tried the latest Logitech models, so I don't know what they have these days.
I just did a quick search on Newegg and TigerDirect and it looks like Logitech and Kensington still make trackball mice.
Now I just need to figure out whether I want one where the trackball is placed to be operated by just the thumb or the more traditional kind operated by the fingers.
The thumb ones seem to have more buttons, in addition to scroll wheels.
This is actually the Apple Tax that Steve Balmer goes on and on about. You purchase a Mac and you have to immediately go out and buy a replacement keyboard and mouse - because Apple has no clue how to build one.
To my mind, the mouse was perfected decades ago with the Microsoft Wheeled Mouse. Everything since then has just screwed it up. Apple's current no-real-button mouse is laughable. Apple themselves had an excellent keyboard way back when. They've since screwed that up.
Apple should just take some of their untold billions and buy Logitech and be done with it.
The scrollball is a really good idea, and works so well, it's a shame it wasn't done without clearly thinking of the consequences of people having oil on their fingers, that mixes with the omnipresent dust in the environment, to result in a sludge that looks like felt.
The problem is that this is one of those times where esthetics has precluded the simple idea of a removable ring to enable the easy removal of the ball, and the cleaning process that follows.
If Apple had allowed for that, there would be no complaints about cleaning, as it's otherwise easy.
How can it be a really good idea and a bad design? Two don't mix at all. It was a bad idea from the get-go, so now - they are supposedly fixing it. If this was a MS product Mac users would be laughing on top the hills.
My second MM just died with same problem as first?all buttons insist they are set to Expose. Apple replaced it the first time but that was 14 months ago. It's sitting here looking at me begging to be replaced but now I have to wait to see the next generation. Never had a problem with cleaning the ball?just turned it over and ran across a sheet of clean copy paper once a week.
Despite hating the Mighty Mouse I do agree that sounds exactly like Dvorak. It's uncanny if you read it in his voice, LOL! Apple can make keyboards though, they are some of the best around.
I happen to think the Logitech MX Revolution is the best mouse on the market, but I don't think Apple's solution should be to buy the company. Why buy them when they can just "borrow" their good ideas. The new MM should have an elegant dock, a Lithium-Polymar battery, rubber banding software (although this would also need an OS update), and a "clearly-marked" touch area on top (different color), with a line down the whole mouse to separate the left and right click, and they should be physical clicks. All the things they have to do are obvious, the question remains, are they too stubborn to do them? I think so.
To be clear: the touch area needs to be a different color than white (if the mouse is white), perhaps light-gray. Then any user can look at it automatically say: "so this is where you scroll from".
Apple, stop sitting on your hands, and open your ears. Everone knows the issues with this mouse, this design fixes them. Making an "invisible" touch-area is NOT the solution. Forget about fancy and think "useable". Adding rubber-banding to Snow Leopard, just like the iPhone - that is enabled when this touch mouse is plugged in (paired) would be a nice addition. The spring would mirror the kenetic speed used when scrolling on the touch area.
The touch pad on this would be great if it was able to measure kenetic scroll speed, i.e. so one could flick to sort-of free-wheel down a web page like on an iPhone (or using the wheel on an MX REV.)
I just did a quick search on Newegg and TigerDirect and it looks like Logitech and Kensington still make trackball mice.
Now I just need to figure out whether I want one where the trackball is placed to be operated by just the thumb or the more traditional kind operated by the fingers.
The thumb ones seem to have more buttons, in addition to scroll wheels.
I like the thumb models much better, because you don't have to move your hand around on the device. You're fingers always rest on the buttons and scrollwheel, if you need that. With the other models, you need to move your hand around to use the big, central ball.
How can it be a really good idea and a bad design? Two don't mix at all. It was a bad idea from the get-go, so now - they are supposedly fixing it. If this was a MS product Mac users would be laughing on top the hills.
I explained that already.
Look, cleaning this would be a snap, and would only be required once every couple of weeks, unless you've got oily, sweaty hands. It takes about a minute to clean this stuff. No big deal.
The reason why it's a good idea is because the ball makes scrolling in all directions easier than any other method. It's great!
The problem is that Apple has left no effective way to clean it.
Look, cleaning this would be a snap, and would only be required once every couple of weeks, unless you've got oily, sweaty hands. It takes about a minute to clean this stuff. No big deal.
The reason why it's a good idea is because the ball makes scrolling in all directions easier than any other method. It's great!
The problem is that Apple has left no effective way to clean it.
You seem like you are serious with that comment, but it should be a joke. The real problem: it shouldn't need cleaning to work. You know, like every other mouse. The problem is the drawing board was in storage when they needed it.
You seem like you are serious with that comment, but it should be a joke. The real problem: it shouldn't need cleaning to work. You know, like every other mouse. The problem is the drawing board was in storage when they needed it.
Idon't agree. The ball offers several advantages over the scrollwheel. You don't see that, so you aren't happy about the rest.
Mice use optical on the bottom instead of a ball these days, but this is different. It wan't just the cleaning that was why they switched over. Poor tracking on different surfaces was the biggest problem.
Anyone seriously saying that a one minute cleaning for something that does offer a much better method of doing something is someone that is not thinking about what it's doing, but just about the design defect which doesn't allow that cleaning.
Trackballs are very popular, and they are esp so in the professional world.
Guess what? They ALL need cleaning from time to time.
Professional world? Mighty Mouse? One minute clean? (every two weeks?) Oily hands. This "is" a joke.
The Mighty Mouse is a terrible excuse for a mouse, coming from a company that 'usually' gets design right. The Mighty Mouse is one of those designs that's great on the drawing board but ultimatally fails the human usage test.
Professional world? Mighty Mouse? One minute clean? (every two weeks?) Oily hands. This "is" a joke.
The Mighty Mouse is a terrible excuse for a mouse, coming from a company that 'usually' gets design right. The Mighty Mouse is one of those designs that's great on the drawing board but ultimatally fails the human usage test.
Oh please Ireland. There are plenty of people who like this, including people here. Don't make it out as though you're the arbiter of what 's good and bad.
Idon't agree. The ball offers several advantages over the scrollwheel. You don't see that, so you aren't happy about the rest.
Mice use optical on the bottom instead of a ball these days, but this is different. It wan't just the cleaning that was why they switched over. Poor tracking on different surfaces was the biggest problem.
Anyone seriously saying that a one minute cleaning for something that does offer a much better method of doing something is someone that is not thinking about what it's doing, but just about the design defect which doesn't allow that cleaning.
Trackballs are very popular, and they are esp so in the professional world.
Guess what? They ALL need cleaning from time to time.
Not near to the level of cleaning what the mighty mouse needs. The mighty mouse is good when it works. Problem is that isn't all that often.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
Oh please Ireland. There are plenty of people who like this, including people here. Don't make it out as though you're the arbiter of what 's good and bad.
Not near to the level of cleaning what the mighty mouse needs. The mighty mouse is good when it works. Problem is that isn't all that often.
That's because it can't easily be cleaned, so it fails to work after, usually several months.
Quote:
That falls to you and Apple right?
Not to me. I'm just asserting that the one feature is good, just as a number of other people on this very thread have said that they liked the mouse. But I'm also acknowledging the failure, which Ireland isn't doing.
Ireland is condemning the entire thing, the functionality, the cleaning, etc. I'm just talking about that one thing, and it's problems.
Both you and he are failing to address the situation with trackballs which I brought up, that they are popular, and that all of them must be cleaned.
...The touch pad on this would be great if it was able to measure kenetic scroll speed, i.e. so one could flick to sort-of free-wheel down a web page like on an iPhone (or using the wheel on an MX REV.)
It would be massive fail if the touch scroll area could only detect one particular speed. You gotta have the flick. Flick = good. Helps me skip through all the rubbish on AI real fast when flick scrolling (on Macbook trackpad or Logitech mice) through these forums.
...Both you and he are failing to address the situation with trackballs which I brought up, that they are popular, and that all of them must be cleaned.
Hi Mel no trackballs just scrollwheels on at least 3 Logitech mice I've been using (G3, traveller, something else - usb wireless one) and no cleaning necessary for the past few years. Of course, there are differences between trackballs and scrollwheels.
Comments
I find a mouse to be annoying. I dislike having to move it around. I also like having more buttons available. The MS model, which had been discontinued a while ago, has an optical thumb ball, like the logitech's. But it also has four buttons, and a clickable scrollwheel.
When I use my graphics tablet, it's much easier using a trackball with the other hand, than also moving the mouse around. I can spin the ball with my thumb, so that the cursor shoots across the screen, then stop it with my thumb when it's almost there and edge it to where I need it. It's also in the same place at all times, so I don't need to fish around for it, or turn my head to find it.
USB Overdrive allows me to program every button differently for each program if I need to. Cleaning is very easy. You don't have to remove a ring around the ball. Just turn it on its side, and pop the ball out with a finger from the hole in the bottom, then just pop the ball back in.
I haven't tried the latest Logitech models, so I don't know what they have these days.
I just did a quick search on Newegg and TigerDirect and it looks like Logitech and Kensington still make trackball mice.
Now I just need to figure out whether I want one where the trackball is placed to be operated by just the thumb or the more traditional kind operated by the fingers.
The thumb ones seem to have more buttons, in addition to scroll wheels.
This is actually the Apple Tax that Steve Balmer goes on and on about. You purchase a Mac and you have to immediately go out and buy a replacement keyboard and mouse - because Apple has no clue how to build one.
To my mind, the mouse was perfected decades ago with the Microsoft Wheeled Mouse. Everything since then has just screwed it up. Apple's current no-real-button mouse is laughable. Apple themselves had an excellent keyboard way back when. They've since screwed that up.
Apple should just take some of their untold billions and buy Logitech and be done with it.
Dvorak is that you??
The scrollball is a really good idea, and works so well, it's a shame it wasn't done without clearly thinking of the consequences of people having oil on their fingers, that mixes with the omnipresent dust in the environment, to result in a sludge that looks like felt.
The problem is that this is one of those times where esthetics has precluded the simple idea of a removable ring to enable the easy removal of the ball, and the cleaning process that follows.
If Apple had allowed for that, there would be no complaints about cleaning, as it's otherwise easy.
How can it be a really good idea and a bad design? Two don't mix at all. It was a bad idea from the get-go, so now - they are supposedly fixing it. If this was a MS product Mac users would be laughing on top the hills.
Dvorak is that you??
Despite hating the Mighty Mouse I do agree that sounds exactly like Dvorak. It's uncanny if you read it in his voice, LOL! Apple can make keyboards though, they are some of the best around.
I happen to think the Logitech MX Revolution is the best mouse on the market, but I don't think Apple's solution should be to buy the company. Why buy them when they can just "borrow"
To be clear: the touch area needs to be a different color than white (if the mouse is white), perhaps light-gray. Then any user can look at it automatically say: "so this is where you scroll from".
I like the bluetooth keyboard too.
Apple would have a tough time improving either of them, IMO.
Apple, stop sitting on your hands, and open your ears. Everone knows the issues with this mouse, this design fixes them. Making an "invisible" touch-area is NOT the solution. Forget about fancy and think "useable". Adding rubber-banding to Snow Leopard, just like the iPhone - that is enabled when this touch mouse is plugged in (paired) would be a nice addition. The spring would mirror the kenetic speed used when scrolling on the touch area.
The touch pad on this would be great if it was able to measure kenetic scroll speed, i.e. so one could flick to sort-of free-wheel down a web page like on an iPhone (or using the wheel on an MX REV.)
Which business is Apple really in?!?
I just did a quick search on Newegg and TigerDirect and it looks like Logitech and Kensington still make trackball mice.
Now I just need to figure out whether I want one where the trackball is placed to be operated by just the thumb or the more traditional kind operated by the fingers.
The thumb ones seem to have more buttons, in addition to scroll wheels.
I like the thumb models much better, because you don't have to move your hand around on the device. You're fingers always rest on the buttons and scrollwheel, if you need that. With the other models, you need to move your hand around to use the big, central ball.
How can it be a really good idea and a bad design? Two don't mix at all. It was a bad idea from the get-go, so now - they are supposedly fixing it. If this was a MS product Mac users would be laughing on top the hills.
I explained that already.
Look, cleaning this would be a snap, and would only be required once every couple of weeks, unless you've got oily, sweaty hands. It takes about a minute to clean this stuff. No big deal.
The reason why it's a good idea is because the ball makes scrolling in all directions easier than any other method. It's great!
The problem is that Apple has left no effective way to clean it.
I explained that already.
Look, cleaning this would be a snap, and would only be required once every couple of weeks, unless you've got oily, sweaty hands. It takes about a minute to clean this stuff. No big deal.
The reason why it's a good idea is because the ball makes scrolling in all directions easier than any other method. It's great!
The problem is that Apple has left no effective way to clean it.
You seem like you are serious with that comment, but it should be a joke. The real problem: it shouldn't need cleaning to work. You know, like every other mouse. The problem is the drawing board was in storage when they needed it.
You seem like you are serious with that comment, but it should be a joke. The real problem: it shouldn't need cleaning to work. You know, like every other mouse. The problem is the drawing board was in storage when they needed it.
Idon't agree. The ball offers several advantages over the scrollwheel. You don't see that, so you aren't happy about the rest.
Mice use optical on the bottom instead of a ball these days, but this is different. It wan't just the cleaning that was why they switched over. Poor tracking on different surfaces was the biggest problem.
Anyone seriously saying that a one minute cleaning for something that does offer a much better method of doing something is someone that is not thinking about what it's doing, but just about the design defect which doesn't allow that cleaning.
Trackballs are very popular, and they are esp so in the professional world.
Guess what? They ALL need cleaning from time to time.
The Mighty Mouse is a terrible excuse for a mouse, coming from a company that 'usually' gets design right. The Mighty Mouse is one of those designs that's great on the drawing board but ultimatally fails the human usage test.
Apple presented a fake mobile phone even to its employees before releasing the iphone (i think i've read that on a blog, unreliable source of course)
Professional world? Mighty Mouse? One minute clean? (every two weeks?) Oily hands. This "is" a joke.
The Mighty Mouse is a terrible excuse for a mouse, coming from a company that 'usually' gets design right. The Mighty Mouse is one of those designs that's great on the drawing board but ultimatally fails the human usage test.
Oh please Ireland. There are plenty of people who like this, including people here. Don't make it out as though you're the arbiter of what 's good and bad.
Idon't agree. The ball offers several advantages over the scrollwheel. You don't see that, so you aren't happy about the rest.
Mice use optical on the bottom instead of a ball these days, but this is different. It wan't just the cleaning that was why they switched over. Poor tracking on different surfaces was the biggest problem.
Anyone seriously saying that a one minute cleaning for something that does offer a much better method of doing something is someone that is not thinking about what it's doing, but just about the design defect which doesn't allow that cleaning.
Trackballs are very popular, and they are esp so in the professional world.
Guess what? They ALL need cleaning from time to time.
Not near to the level of cleaning what the mighty mouse needs. The mighty mouse is good when it works. Problem is that isn't all that often.
Oh please Ireland. There are plenty of people who like this, including people here. Don't make it out as though you're the arbiter of what 's good and bad.
That falls to you and Apple right?
Not near to the level of cleaning what the mighty mouse needs. The mighty mouse is good when it works. Problem is that isn't all that often.
That's because it can't easily be cleaned, so it fails to work after, usually several months.
That falls to you and Apple right?
Not to me. I'm just asserting that the one feature is good, just as a number of other people on this very thread have said that they liked the mouse. But I'm also acknowledging the failure, which Ireland isn't doing.
Ireland is condemning the entire thing, the functionality, the cleaning, etc. I'm just talking about that one thing, and it's problems.
Both you and he are failing to address the situation with trackballs which I brought up, that they are popular, and that all of them must be cleaned.
...The touch pad on this would be great if it was able to measure kenetic scroll speed, i.e. so one could flick to sort-of free-wheel down a web page like on an iPhone (or using the wheel on an MX REV.)
It would be massive fail if the touch scroll area could only detect one particular speed. You gotta have the flick. Flick = good. Helps me skip through all the rubbish on AI real fast when flick scrolling (on Macbook trackpad or Logitech mice) through these forums.
...Both you and he are failing to address the situation with trackballs which I brought up, that they are popular, and that all of them must be cleaned.
Hi Mel no trackballs just scrollwheels on at least 3 Logitech mice I've been using (G3, traveller, something else - usb wireless one) and no cleaning necessary for the past few years. Of course, there are differences between trackballs and scrollwheels.
Interesting.... a mouse with a g-spot.
Which business is Apple really in?!?
At least its bl**dy obvious where it is...!