What is it with Apple and their bad mice?

T

tzhu07

Gawd
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Nov 21, 2010
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Even the biggest Apple fans that I know of prefer to use a high quality ergonomic Logitech mouse over anything Apple has designed.

It's really surreal. I'll see advertising and design agencies use all Apple equipment, except the mice. It's the one thing that many employees switch out immediately when they get their iMacs.

Does Apple just not give a fuck?
 
tzhu07 said:
Even the biggest Apple fans that I know of prefer to use a high quality ergonomic Logitech mouse over anything Apple has designed.

It's really surreal. I'll see advertising and design agencies use all Apple equipment, except the mice. It's the one thing that many employees switch out immediately when they get their iMacs.

Does Apple just not give a fuck?
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I suppose the bigger question is: does it matter? I mean, no one uses a Dell mouse, or an IBM mouse, etc. (Well in literal terms yes there are people that use them, but I would guess that it's about the same percentage of those that use Apple mice).

Additionally it's an area in which there are many players. Apple knows they don't need to make expensive, amazingly great mice. There are plenty of manufacturers fighting for top spot in that. Which is why they also wisely left the printer market in the 90's. Their resources are best spent elsewhere.

Still, the Magic Trackpad and their Trackpads in general are the best. No company does everything perfectly.
 
Even when you put a decent mouse on it they mandatory acceleration ruins it. God I hate that on my mac.

Touchpads on a mac are superior to anything out there though, even in bootcamp.
 
If you have a modern Mac, you should be using a touchpad. Get the Magic Trackpad and throw away the mouse. Apple only sells the Magic Mouse for users who think they want a mouse instead of a scary touchpad.

If you play games or use design software you might also want a mouse for those, but the trackpad co-exists perfectly with a mouse for those times you need it.
 
Yes, I agree that Apple trackpads are the best. I also think the Apple Wireless Keyboard is the best tenkeyless keyboard ever made.

It just puzzles me that Apple has done such a great job with two common input devices, but with the mouse they seem to never be in Logitech's league.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
no one uses a Dell mouse, or an IBM mouse, etc.
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Those mice are supposed to be throwaway or backup mice, just because it's customary and so people can use the computer immediately. They're cheaply made and more like a "feelie" with the company logo.

Apple mice on the other hand are sold separately as well and very expensive; though they have great build quality. They're just not well designed.
 
I don't understand why everyone raves about the magic trackpad, it's just a well-made trackpad...

You can mod your Civic all you want but my Benz will still be nicer.
 
The Magic Mouse is excellent. If you continually try to fight it, you'll hate it forever. So...don't do that.

With regards to mouse acceleration, I switch between the little acceleration in Windows and the weird quasi-acceleration in OS X pretty effortlessly. I'd rather it not be there, but it's not a problem.
 
I don't think Apple really designs anything with ergonomics in mind. That isn't meant to be a dig at Apple -- they make some nice things -- I just can't think of an Apple product that I've found to be comfortable to use.
 
UnknownSouljer said:
I mean, no one uses a Dell mouse, or an IBM mouse, etc. (Well in literal terms yes there are people that use them, but I would guess that it's about the same percentage of those that use Apple mice).
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I would imagine that OEM mice are the most widely used mice for desktop PCs. The typical business and home user does not change it out unless it breaks or they want to go wireless. A lot of OEM mice that companies like Dell use are just rebranded Logitech mice and look/behave as they would expect a mouse to.

Apple on the other hand has decided to include in the price of your PC a $70 mouse which is very unique and perhaps the marketing/appearance has taken precedence over usability.
 
TotallyCool said:
Those mice are supposed to be throwaway or backup mice, just because it's customary and so people can use the computer immediately. They're cheaply made and more like a "feelie" with the company logo.

Apple mice on the other hand are sold separately as well and very expensive; though they have great build quality. They're just not well designed.
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I would argue that any mouse packaged with any system is so that you can simply use your system immediately. I don't have any sales data, but I'm guessing that not a lot of Magic Mice have been sold, outside of prepackaged mice bundled with machines.



Spades45 said:
I don't understand why everyone raves about the magic trackpad, it's just a well-made trackpad...

You can mod your Civic all you want but my Benz will still be nicer.
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Okay, I'm not exactly sure how your analogy works in this case. How many people modify their mice? And I suppose just as importantly, if you're saying that the Magic Trackpad is a Civic, what would you say is the Benz?
Secondly, have you used a Magic Trackpad or any Apple Trackpad? Because there is no comparison in terms of ease of use, feel, and general overall quality. It works extremely well for browsing, and doing anything in the OS other than gaming. Having access to multi-touch on the desktop has changed the way I use my iMac, and it makes me more efficient. And by efficient I'm talking about productivity with apps like Photoshop.
OSX Productivity is all about: hot keys, multi-touch, Quicksilver/Spotlight/Whatever launcher you use, and multiple desktops. The trackpad fits nicely into my usage then. I know it's not for everyone, but it works well.



wonderfield said:
The Magic Mouse is excellent. If you continually try to fight it, you'll hate it forever. So...don't do that.
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I used a Magic Mouse for a bit over a year, and I swapped back and forth between it and another mouse that I used for gaming. However, after the Magic Trackpad came out, and did everything that the Magic Mouse does but better, I didn't see a point in keeping it. The Magic Mouse is really only good for one thing, and that is browsing. I would say the Trackpad does this even better, more or less making the Magic Mouse redundant.
 
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UnknownSouljer said:
Okay, I'm not exactly sure how your analogy works in this case. How many people modify their mice? And I suppose just as importantly, if you're saying that the Magic Trackpad is a Civic, what would you say is the Benz?
Secondly, have you used a Magic Trackpad or any Apple Trackpad? Because there is no comparison in terms of ease of use, feel, and general overall quality. It works extremely well for browsing, and doing anything in the OS other than gaming. Having access to multi-touch on the desktop has changed the way I use my iMac, and it makes me more efficient. And by efficient I'm talking about productivity with apps like Photoshop.
OSX Productivity is all about: hot keys, multi-touch, Quicksilver/Spotlight/Whatever launcher you use, and multiple desktops. The trackpad fits nicely into my usage then. I know it's not for everyone, but it works well.
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by my analogy i meant trackpads were civics and mice were benzes :p

maybe i just haven't spent enough time with trackpads but i do not like them at all especially on desktops. on laptops they're a necessary evil but i can't imagine electing to use one over a mouse
 
I don't like track pads at all. A well made one is still akin to horseshit. I hate all Apple peripherals. Their keyboards suck and their mice are worse. I'd switch out either if I were using a Mac.
 
Microsoft on the other hand :p

125049-mircosoft-intellimouse-optical-3786.jpg
 
wonderfield said:
I'll title this post "How I Know You've Never Used an Apple Keyboard".
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They do suck. I laugh at the number of Apple keyboards and mice that my institution has that die premature deaths due to just being shittly designed.
 
wonderfield said:
I'll title this post "How I Know You've Never Used an Apple Keyboard".
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So you've concluded that I haven't used them simply because of your inability to fathom how I could possibly have a different opinion than yours. That about sum it up? In terms of pure numbers, chances are I've used more than most Mac users have. Not only have I used multiple generations of them but I've used dozens and in some cases over a hundred examples of each generation. I've been hands on with literally hundreds of them over the years. In IT I've had to support them multiple times. And without the support tools that we had on the Windows side, I had to do a lot of things manually. Eventually this need was reduced when Mac servers were introduced but I still had to deal with a lot of them.

Skripka said:
They do suck. I laugh at the number of Apple keyboards and mice that my institution has that die premature deaths due to just being shittly designed.
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I've used a lot of them. (I worked at an art school for 6 years.) From the classic Macintosh to the original Apple iMac and even the newer style ones that come with the Mac Pro's and iMac's today. Some of the older ones were fine. I don't like the white ones that came with the G5 towers and earlier Intel Macs. The black ones weren't as bad. The white ones sucked because when you have multiple users in and out of the place using the machines the keys end up looking like they were worked over by grease monkeys in a Jiffy Lube. Past that the wires would fray and fall out of the keyboard. Their shitty mice did the same thing. Later keyboards I've tried such as the really thin ones feel like shit. Plain and simple. I don't like the feel of the keys. I like mechanical keyboards with IBM buckling springs, Cherry MX Blues, Browns, and Blacks in that order. There are some Alps mechanical keys that are OK. But membrane based anything, thin style keyboards, scissor keys, etc. all suck.
 
Dan_D said:
So you've concluded that I haven't used them simply because of your inability to fathom how I could possibly have a different opinion than yours. That about sum it up?



I've used a lot of them. (I worked at an art school for 6 years.) From the classic Macintosh to the original Apple iMac and even the newer style ones that come with the Mac Pro's and iMac's today. Some of the older ones were fine. I don't like the white ones that came with the G5 towers and earlier Intel Macs. The black ones weren't as bad. The white ones sucked because when you have multiple users in and out of the place using the machines the keys end up looking like they were worked over by grease monkeys in a Jiffy Lube. Past that the wires would fray and fall out of the keyboard. Their shitty mice did the same thing. Later keyboards I've tried such as the really thin ones feel like shit. Plain and simple. I don't like the feel of the keys. I like mechanical keyboards with IBM buckling springs, Cherry MX Blues, Browns, and Blacks in that order. There are some Alps mechanical keys that are OK. But membrane based anything, thin style keyboards, scissor keys, etc. all suck.
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Their chiclet keycap scissor switch keyboards are probably some of the least bad cheapo keyboards for individual home use....but still suck in an institutional context IMHO. At my last workplace our audio workstation MacPro still had a long-dead white dome iMac keyboard....that each key required a sledgehammer to actuate.

Every Mighty Mouse my institution had ended up with a broken scroll ball in no time.
 
At this point if it's not a decent mechanical keyboard I'll have nothing to do with it if I can avoid it. Obviously I don't have that choice at work but at home I do. Aside from a two year stint with two different Logitech G15 models I've always had mechanicals on my home PC's.
 
Dan_D said:
So you've concluded that I haven't used them simply because of your inability to fathom how I could possibly have a different opinion than yours.
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No, I used the content of your statement to make such a deduction. My personal opinion played no part in it.
 
I have to cite with Dan on this one. Every since I started using a BlackWidow at home, I will never go back to cheap-style keyboards. I love the feel of a mechanical keyboard, and it's something that I won't change.

No, I used the content of your statement to make such a deduction. My personal opinion played no part in it.
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You know what the word 'assume' really means don't you?
 
Anyone know if they'll ever make a wired touchpad? That's really all I want. The occasional latency with bluetooth drives me nuts.

Also it would be awesome if their magic mouse supported the 3 and 4 finger gestures for switching desktops. Right now I use both the touchpad and a wired mouse right next to it and switch between them depending on the task.
 
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