I think this is an amazing device. It will take a bit of time, but if they do offer it either/or as a mouse replacement with new systems, it might take off faster. There have been times when I use my MBP that i with my desktop did as well, like pinch/zoom, scroll, forward and back swiping.
That being said, here's a couple things they need to have done better:
1. click and drag, still better with a mouse
2. highlighting text, much faster with a mouse
3. not a Waacom Replacement, yet...no stylus use...not holding my breath, but do wish Apple made a stylus.
4. Gaming still better with a mouse, scratch that, still better with an Xbox USB controller.
Of course they'll probably improve it over the coming years, since it seems to be entirely controlled through it's software and the hardware seems to do very little work. I can definitely see a revolution here.
Now if they could take the forward/back swipe and put that in the iOS4, that would be great!
I wonder how popular this device will become. There will be some people who find it useful, but I can't help but think there are a lot more people who won't find a need for it.
I hope it works better than the magic mouse. Mine only kept it's 'magic' capabilities for a week or so. This is a common issue with the iMac + magic mouse.
I think you're generalizing your experience.
I've found it to be a great mouse (for what its designed to do), and I don't see any evidence of general problems on the Mac Forums.
Hmmm... quite tempted, but I do object to paying more than for a keyboard or magic mouse (silly me - if you live in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, France, Germany, US, Mexico, Japan or Australia you will pay exactly the same for any of them... just not here)
Swings & roundabouts; the trackpad is £1.32 more in the UK than it is in the Eurozone countries but the Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard are £1.68 cheaper here; none of these differences are exactly life changing
Even still, this would have to be a lot larger to even begin to think about replacing my Wacom.
yeah, i've read on many accounts that Steve hate's the stylus. And, it is a bit small for a Wacom Replacement, and artists and designers are a niche industry for Apple to develop a technology specifically for them...but there are other uses for a stylus that could be very handy, like handwriting and sketching for architects, engineers, graphic designers, students. A stylus would be very handy for making mark-ups in Acrobat and MS Word, etc...
That's it? Fingerworks' iGesture pad from almost ten years ago did a heck of a lot more than that. ... Damn you, Apple, how could you buy such a powerful portfolio of technology and water it down so much?
Because they are Apple. This trackpad is pretty lame. They make the worst input devices.
WTF? an overpriced Apple charger. More "eco" than everyone else's? That's idiotic. Good/ cheap battery chargers have been around for at least 10 years as well. A $30 AA battery only charger? Color me unimpressed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jacob1varghese
I think this could actually be the perfect remote for couch surfing/navigating of your mac or apple tv.
It depends on if/when Apple will build onscreen keyboards that will work with this trackpad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iGuessSo
Apple TV running iOS4 + Magic Trackpad. Sign me up.
How is a smooth trackpad with no touch feedback or visual information going to work as a remote? Have you ever bothered to observe how remotes are used? By touch and sight. I don't see how this could possibly be a good remote. Even Apple's own remote app requires some visual input, even if it has no touch feedback. What if the monitor isn't on and you want to change music? Or you're in another room and need to change libraries or turn off something you don't want the kids to watch? How are you going to use a trackpad then? Obviously these are comments by people who have never used a central home entertainment system. Stupid idea to use a trackpad.
I would prefer the remote be an ipad or ipod or iphone device any day. Think about it, for the same price as a harmony remote you could have a killer remote out of an Ipod touch + remote app. If they upgrade the remote app all the better. personally I'd like to see cover flow for starters and I'd like to see it work as a game controller should the TV ever support games, add a web browser or Apps and the virtual keyboard becomes even more useful than just entering search parameters.
The limitations of the magic mouse are not hardware but apple software based. There are a number of 3rd party apps that allow you to extend the magic mouse gestures extensively. I agree that the apparent loss of the 3rd button function from the mighty mouse was almost painful, but once I found Better Touch Tool, I added it and several other gestures that I felt I could use. After trying out several gestures for expose, I settled on a tap just forward of the apple logo. I also added gestures to close a window, minimize a window, and activate dashboard. I could still add dozens more, but there is a point where remembering the gesture, especially if seldom used, is not worth the effort.
Also, as Better Touch Tool allows new gestures for the MBP multitouch pad, I suspect that it will do the same for the new magic touch pad. BTW, I have not connection to the author of BBT other than a user.
This thing is begging to be the "remote" for a next-gen iOS-based Apple TV, and I find it unlikely that Apple would release a device like this without it fitting into some larger strategy. I mean, are there ANY iMac/Mac Pro owners who have been clamoring for something like this? On the other hand, I can already picture sitting back on the couch with this in my lap, using it to quickly navigate through an Apple TV interface... though text-based search would still be a pain - they should follow Boxee's lead and make an iOS app for that.
yeah, i've read on many accounts that Steve hate's the stylus. And, it is a bit small for a Wacom Replacement, and artists and designers are a niche industry for Apple to develop a technology specifically for them...but there are other uses for a stylus that could be very handy, like handwriting and sketching for architects, engineers, graphic designers, students. A stylus would be very handy for making mark-ups in Acrobat and MS Word, etc...
Oh, I don't disagree with you. But that's why I finally broke down and bought an intuos4. And there are lesser priced/lesser featured options from Wacom that also work well with Macs. As much as it might make sense for Apple to move into that space, I finally figured I might as well just buy a solution from the company that makes these as their main business. (And it looks like I guessed right.)
Still, I'm definitely buying the new trackpad, for normal "mousing".
Oh, I don't disagree with you. But that's why I finally broke down and bought an intuos4. And there are lesser priced/lesser featured options from Wacom that also work well with Macs. As much as it might make sense for Apple to move into that space, I finally figured I might as well just buy a solution from the company that makes these as their main business. (And it looks like I guessed right.)
Still, I'm definitely buying the new trackpad, for normal "mousing".
Agreed. I was so excited when i saw this leaked a few months ago, and i really want to buy one, but i'm still a lowly PC user and the website specifically states you must be running a Mac with OSX.
I'm glad I held off on purchasing a Mac Mini. I'll get this instead of the Magic Mouse and comlete my HDTV set up. With a wireless keyboard and trackpad using an HDTV set up is now ideal.
WTF? an overpriced Apple charger. More "eco" than everyone else's? That's idiotic. Good/ cheap battery chargers have been around for at least 10 years as well. A $30 AA battery only charger? Color me unimpressed.
Typical Apple, they are trying to capture a niche (i.e. "green" AA batteries) for the people who care about "green" issues. And, no surprise, there's a good bit of margin there despite there being some competition in that space. This isn't just about the batteries, but about the power draw when a charger is left plugged in after the batteries are charged.
Everyone else will buy AA batteries in 24-packs or the "good/cheap" rechargeables that die after a dozen or two charge cycles and draw vampire power as they are left plugged in for days/weeks/months. Apple knows that, they aren't after total marketshare, they want niche marketshare where margins are good and the marketing story is compelling, esp. combined with other green initiatives in the product line.
At the end of the day, this is more about about PR and selling themselves as an eco-friendly company than it is about "batteries". IMO, It's a pretty smart move even if they only sell a dozen of these chargers (and I predict they'll sell a million of these chargers).
Comments
That being said, here's a couple things they need to have done better:
1. click and drag, still better with a mouse
2. highlighting text, much faster with a mouse
3. not a Waacom Replacement, yet...no stylus use...not holding my breath, but do wish Apple made a stylus.
4. Gaming still better with a mouse, scratch that, still better with an Xbox USB controller.
Of course they'll probably improve it over the coming years, since it seems to be entirely controlled through it's software and the hardware seems to do very little work. I can definitely see a revolution here.
Now if they could take the forward/back swipe and put that in the iOS4, that would be great!
3. not a Waacom Replacement, yet...no stylus use...not holding my breath, but do wish Apple made a stylus.
Teh Steve hates styluses (stylii?)...
Even still, this would have to be a lot larger to even begin to think about replacing my Wacom.
Was hoping this came out with the revamped Apple TV with iOS. This would be perfect for controlling that from the couch.
If they do release a new aTV with iOS4, it will be during the typical September iPod event. They seem to lump the aTV in with the iPods.
I wonder how popular this device will become. There will be some people who find it useful, but I can't help but think there are a lot more people who won't find a need for it.
Then I guess they won't buy it?
Are you talking about for the AppleTV? Why not just use the remote app for the iPhone?
Not everyone has an iPhone/Touch.
I hope it works better than the magic mouse. Mine only kept it's 'magic' capabilities for a week or so. This is a common issue with the iMac + magic mouse.
I think you're generalizing your experience.
I've found it to be a great mouse (for what its designed to do), and I don't see any evidence of general problems on the Mac Forums.
Hmmm... quite tempted, but I do object to paying more than for a keyboard or magic mouse (silly me - if you live in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, France, Germany, US, Mexico, Japan or Australia you will pay exactly the same for any of them... just not here)
Swings & roundabouts; the trackpad is £1.32 more in the UK than it is in the Eurozone countries but the Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard are £1.68 cheaper here; none of these differences are exactly life changing
Teh Steve hates styluses (stylii?)...
Even still, this would have to be a lot larger to even begin to think about replacing my Wacom.
yeah, i've read on many accounts that Steve hate's the stylus. And, it is a bit small for a Wacom Replacement, and artists and designers are a niche industry for Apple to develop a technology specifically for them...but there are other uses for a stylus that could be very handy, like handwriting and sketching for architects, engineers, graphic designers, students. A stylus would be very handy for making mark-ups in Acrobat and MS Word, etc...
That's it? Fingerworks' iGesture pad from almost ten years ago did a heck of a lot more than that. ... Damn you, Apple, how could you buy such a powerful portfolio of technology and water it down so much?
Because they are Apple. This trackpad is pretty lame. They make the worst input devices.
they also brought out this accessory http://www.apple.com/battery-charger/
WTF? an overpriced Apple charger. More "eco" than everyone else's? That's idiotic. Good/ cheap battery chargers have been around for at least 10 years as well. A $30 AA battery only charger? Color me unimpressed.
I think this could actually be the perfect remote for couch surfing/navigating of your mac or apple tv.
It depends on if/when Apple will build onscreen keyboards that will work with this trackpad.
Apple TV running iOS4 + Magic Trackpad. Sign me up.
How is a smooth trackpad with no touch feedback or visual information going to work as a remote? Have you ever bothered to observe how remotes are used? By touch and sight. I don't see how this could possibly be a good remote. Even Apple's own remote app requires some visual input, even if it has no touch feedback. What if the monitor isn't on and you want to change music? Or you're in another room and need to change libraries or turn off something you don't want the kids to watch? How are you going to use a trackpad then? Obviously these are comments by people who have never used a central home entertainment system. Stupid idea to use a trackpad.
I would prefer the remote be an ipad or ipod or iphone device any day. Think about it, for the same price as a harmony remote you could have a killer remote out of an Ipod touch + remote app. If they upgrade the remote app all the better. personally I'd like to see cover flow for starters and I'd like to see it work as a game controller should the TV ever support games, add a web browser or Apps and the virtual keyboard becomes even more useful than just entering search parameters.
Bottom line, A trackpad remote is USELESS!
Also, as Better Touch Tool allows new gestures for the MBP multitouch pad, I suspect that it will do the same for the new magic touch pad. BTW, I have not connection to the author of BBT other than a user.
dt
yeah, i've read on many accounts that Steve hate's the stylus. And, it is a bit small for a Wacom Replacement, and artists and designers are a niche industry for Apple to develop a technology specifically for them...but there are other uses for a stylus that could be very handy, like handwriting and sketching for architects, engineers, graphic designers, students. A stylus would be very handy for making mark-ups in Acrobat and MS Word, etc...
Oh, I don't disagree with you. But that's why I finally broke down and bought an intuos4. And there are lesser priced/lesser featured options from Wacom that also work well with Macs. As much as it might make sense for Apple to move into that space, I finally figured I might as well just buy a solution from the company that makes these as their main business. (And it looks like I guessed right.)
Still, I'm definitely buying the new trackpad, for normal "mousing".
This isn't impressive at all. What would be impressive is a way to track the movements without even having to touch the surface.
Why don't you design, then make one, and sell it?
Oh, I don't disagree with you. But that's why I finally broke down and bought an intuos4. And there are lesser priced/lesser featured options from Wacom that also work well with Macs. As much as it might make sense for Apple to move into that space, I finally figured I might as well just buy a solution from the company that makes these as their main business. (And it looks like I guessed right.)
Still, I'm definitely buying the new trackpad, for normal "mousing".
Agreed. I was so excited when i saw this leaked a few months ago, and i really want to buy one, but i'm still a lowly PC user and the website specifically states you must be running a Mac with OSX.
Why don't you design, then make one, and sell it?
Well, if he could do it, it wouldn't be impressive.
WTF? an overpriced Apple charger. More "eco" than everyone else's? That's idiotic. Good/ cheap battery chargers have been around for at least 10 years as well. A $30 AA battery only charger? Color me unimpressed.
Typical Apple, they are trying to capture a niche (i.e. "green" AA batteries) for the people who care about "green" issues. And, no surprise, there's a good bit of margin there despite there being some competition in that space. This isn't just about the batteries, but about the power draw when a charger is left plugged in after the batteries are charged.
Everyone else will buy AA batteries in 24-packs or the "good/cheap" rechargeables that die after a dozen or two charge cycles and draw vampire power as they are left plugged in for days/weeks/months. Apple knows that, they aren't after total marketshare, they want niche marketshare where margins are good and the marketing story is compelling, esp. combined with other green initiatives in the product line.
At the end of the day, this is more about about PR and selling themselves as an eco-friendly company than it is about "batteries". IMO, It's a pretty smart move even if they only sell a dozen of these chargers (and I predict they'll sell a million of these chargers).