<strong>Don't know if anyone has already thought of this but...
Would it be cost effective enough to make the next generation Keyboard and Mouse to integrate on each, a battery and wireless signal. Have USB cords on both as they do know, but allow the cords to be detached on both ends allowing you to just take your mouse and keyboard within a fair range of the Mac. USB has power in it and so it can recharge the battery's just as you plug your mouse and keyboard back into your computer...?</strong><hr></blockquote>
This is a really great idea. It can be corded or non-corded, so it doesn't matter if you forget to charge it! Promise you won't sue Apple if they do this!
I'd embrace it as an option for BTO, but not as standard. Wireless keyboards and mice are generally a lot less responsive than their corded brethren, thus not suitable for graphics artists, gamers and the like.
one thing i loved about alias running on irix was the way it handled contextual menus. summoning the menu didn't simply give you a list of options...it gave you commands spread out in 360 degrees around a central radius point in the center of the screen. you could add commands to the menu and it was very intuitive. going upper right, for example, could be empty trash. lower left would launch email, etc. the commands showed themselves as transparent floating boxes with the action name inside. mousing to them drew an arrow from the center of the screen so you could accurately get to commands you wanted to access...
dare i say it, but think Microsoft Optical Explorer mouse with 7 buttons...wireless is not essential, but think of all the options with all those lovely buttons. dunno bout a wheel on a trackpad, where would you put it? i find the trackpad a pain as is, i think the addition of a wheel would cramp my hand in no time.
I think that Apple views it's mouse as a design statement -- a kind of signature itam that they aren't likely to change. That said, they could at least add a scroll wheel without mucking up the ergos. Just let it jut out of the top a little. Something with a nice smooth action. Have the rest of the mouse click down around it. Heck, make the wheel clickable and you get a second button (but the weight of the click would need to be very carefully worked out)
As far as the rocking two button action, that may not be so good. There is one out now and early reports that I've read say that the action is rather weird and tiring. A side to side rocking click may be the worst kinda action for your wrist.
Something that could be done without screwing the ergos or the design would be to have the second button around the base. See the two little tabs on the side. The ones that don't move. Make those a little bigger and with a slightly more pronounced lip. They still don't click in my proposal, they're just bigger to provide a more stable reference. In front of these, and on the same level under the smooth upper shell, there is a bumper that clicks independently of the top. You can click it from either side with your thumb. Now you have a second button that doesn't affect the signature design of the upper part at all, yet it is accessible equally whether in right or left handed use.
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<strong>Don't know if anyone has already thought of this but...
Would it be cost effective enough to make the next generation Keyboard and Mouse to integrate on each, a battery and wireless signal. Have USB cords on both as they do know, but allow the cords to be detached on both ends allowing you to just take your mouse and keyboard within a fair range of the Mac. USB has power in it and so it can recharge the battery's just as you plug your mouse and keyboard back into your computer...?</strong><hr></blockquote>
This is a really great idea. It can be corded or non-corded, so it doesn't matter if you forget to charge it! Promise you won't sue Apple if they do this!
G-News
by the way, can anyone tell me how to spell rational?
As far as the rocking two button action, that may not be so good. There is one out now and early reports that I've read say that the action is rather weird and tiring. A side to side rocking click may be the worst kinda action for your wrist.
Something that could be done without screwing the ergos or the design would be to have the second button around the base. See the two little tabs on the side. The ones that don't move. Make those a little bigger and with a slightly more pronounced lip. They still don't click in my proposal, they're just bigger to provide a more stable reference. In front of these, and on the same level under the smooth upper shell, there is a bumper that clicks independently of the top. You can click it from either side with your thumb. Now you have a second button that doesn't affect the signature design of the upper part at all, yet it is accessible equally whether in right or left handed use.