Apple lost something big when they lost Jef Raskin.
The genius behind his one-button mouse was not that it looked simple, but that it was simple. You could do one thing. Click. And it was easy to see that that was all you could do.
Looking at the Magic Mouse, it's entirely unclear what operations are afforded to the user. Can I click? double-click? scroll? swipe? Without prior knowledge of Apple products, one is forced to read an instruction manual to determine the sundry operations this device is capable of. (Has the design team misplaced their copy of Psychology of Everyday Things? This violates rule #1.)
Visibilty of affordances was the reason Apple pioneered the GUI to begin with. Hiding the affordances of what is arguably the main input device on a computer is more than a step backward.
I agree with you that good UI should have affordances that are easy to use. But, you are missing a bit point in why this mouse is good for UI; The single button is still there in primary action without any need for tutelage. The things that people may need help on is the advanced features that most people will not use. I agree with PoET in things that you don't use everyday should be easy to grok without a minimum of effort but I think that with something so essential to the modern computing experience that we are OK with making some features harder to understand to for the novice in making the device that more valuable to the advanced user. (But really, other than moving the cursor, the mouse only has 5 things it can do if you count the swipe gesture as two operations.)
Good point. I think you nailed my problem, that I am not an every-day user of OS X :) but I expect there to be affordances for "advanced" features. This is really no different from their current trackpad offerings -- when I use a friend's MacBook, I'm usually befuddled enough by the trackpad that I stick to basic point+click+keyboard.
There needs to be some balance between discoverability and usability. The most discoverable interface, after all, is a black screen that does nothing. It doesn't do anything, so it's easy to learn. It's also completely useless.
Remember mice before they had scroll wheels? Neither do I -- my brain has blocked out that painful memory. (It may have been "hard to learn to use", but once you learn a simple motion it makes every day significantly easier. Multi-touch may be similar, or it may not be... I can't say since I avoid the mouse now.)
I really hope that is not the case because I think this mouse could be excellent if it actually knew where the rmb was.
I have a suspicion that the video did this just to emphasize the right mouse click for video and not because it was a physical limitation of the device. Or at least that is my wishful thinking because I really like the MBP multitouch trackpad.
I can't wait to try this out. I've been hooked on the multi-touch on my MBP and can't stand having to go back to an old mouse when I connect the laptop to to my 24" monitor.
Like the mighty mouse before, this mouse too is unusable for Unreal Tournament 2004 (and probably other games, but for me, only UT matters these days) as it does not allow the user to press both mouse buttons at once.
Keep that in mind.
Also: Why wireless only? I never felt hindered by the wire and I certainly don't see a reason to waste even more batteries.
Also, I feel much more accurate and comfortable using a trackball, but this certainly is a very personal point.
Very interesting. I don't think I would ever enjoy using a keyboard like this, but I kept reading their site because they had a section about Emacs commands. (I have found enough keys to do everything they advertise in one key sequence... but at least they are trying. Much better than "hurr, you can zoom Google Maps more easily.")
I'm a vi user, but only use when I ssh to a shell. When I'm in vi I usually switch to my laptop keyboard unless it's just a few keys :) Have never bothered learning the vi (or emacs) gestures.
I never timed, but it never felt like I was typing very slowly once I got used to it. The gestures like opening/closing a window, exiting an app, copy and paste etc is really handy. Especially as they apply across all apps, not just within a specific editor. The gestures are also configurable, and supports different OS modes. Most importantly, it reduced the pain in my wrists and fingers (might just have been a side effect of typing slower).
Bought it about 6 years ago, have been using it since. Was pretty disappointed when I heard the company has closed down. And a few years later when I heard about the iPhone pinch gestures, my first thought was - this must be the reason!
ha! just watched a video demonstration. the phrase "oops I didn't mean to do that" was heard a few times in less than 5 minutes. Of course with any new tech you have a period of adjustment...
Because you have to hold it (likely between thumb and ring finger) while you do the gestures. You'd have to use both hands to pull off a four-finger gesture.
Apple is personally responsible, they bought out the company that created the original (or at least first commercially succesful one) http://www.fingerworks.com/ST_product.html
You can pick them up on ebay but they're now quite old and extremely expensive.
The genius behind his one-button mouse was not that it looked simple, but that it was simple. You could do one thing. Click. And it was easy to see that that was all you could do.
Looking at the Magic Mouse, it's entirely unclear what operations are afforded to the user. Can I click? double-click? scroll? swipe? Without prior knowledge of Apple products, one is forced to read an instruction manual to determine the sundry operations this device is capable of. (Has the design team misplaced their copy of Psychology of Everyday Things? This violates rule #1.)
Visibilty of affordances was the reason Apple pioneered the GUI to begin with. Hiding the affordances of what is arguably the main input device on a computer is more than a step backward.