Why Apple Makes a One-Button Mouse

IdiotOnMyLeft writes "There is a short article at Gear Live that tries to explain why Apple still sticks with a one-button mouse. It points out the fact that although it is perfectly possible to use a two-button mouse on a Mac for 7 years now, developers are forced to rethink their design approach and can't flood the right-click menu. No article of this kind would be complete without mentioning that users get confused with two buttons. There's a rumor that John Carmack once asked Steve Jobs what would happen if they'd put one more key on the keyboard."

Because...

[InsideTheAsylum]

... they can't afford to pay for the second button.

Button confusion?

[nizo]

...users get confused with two buttons...

Just put one of these six button mice [compusa.com] on their desk and watch their head explode.

Slashdot users only need one button...

[lortho]

...to bring down a site before the first comment is even posted, apparently... *sigh*

Re:Because

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's because Apple thinks its' users aren't surfing the web with one hand, if you know what I mean...

Yes!

[elid]

Yes! And what about all those function keys on the keyboard? F1? Do I press F and then 1? And Alt? What the heck does that do? Two Alt buttons!?!? And why do we need both backspace and delete; they just confuse everyone!! I think Apple should be shipping a one-button keyboard!!

Re:Mice

[shish]

A three year old child is easy, try explaining it to my mother

Re:Gaming Mouse != Mac Mouse

[Txiasaeia]

Admittedly I'm not up on current Apple hardware, but what about a scroll wheel? Do you mean you actually scroll *manually*? Explain how this works exactly.

Re:Look, I'll tell you why they use a one-button m

[CrowScape]

Good luck to Apple then, as my Grandmother hasn't been using anything for the past ten years now. Well, except, she was apparently able to use a ballot box last election in Chicago.

Re:Because...

[Sebadude]

Well, perhaps it should be one of the upgrades on the apple store.

Customize your Apple Pro Mouse! Add a second button for just $399 US.

It would be right on par with their memory upgrades...

only apple could make a one button mouse...

[jkerman]

that costs eighty fucking dollars :P

Re:Why One Mouse To Rule Them All?

[CrowScape]

My university's video editing facilities got a whole bunch of new G4s a few years ago. I can remember when they came in the very next day you could find about 12 of the one-button mice Apple bundles with its systems in the trash as you walked into the lab; all immediately replaced by two-button mice.

Re:Yes!

[Dun Malg]

Yes! And what about all those function keys on the keyboard? F1? Do I press F and then 1? And Alt? What the heck does that do? Two Alt buttons!?!? And why do we need both backspace and delete; they just confuse everyone!! I think Apple should be shipping a one-button keyboard!!

This reminds me of the Dilbert cartoon where a salesman is trying to sell him the most user-friendly computer ever:

Vendor: It only has one button, and we press it before it leaves the factory
Dilbert: What does that button do?
Vendor: Whoa! I'm in way over my head! Let me give you our tech support number.

No buttons please

[Twinbee]

Well, I'm one of those that would prefer zero buttons - nobody would get confused then. It'd nicer to just hold the mouse over an area of the screen and keep it there for around 5 seconds. Waiting that time would be the equivalent of a 'click'.

Seriously, two buttons is one of those things that might be harder to use initially, and then over time (i.e. 5 minutes), the increase in productivity, and general ease of use is all worth it. Even my mum can use 2 buttons, and if she can, anyone can.

Can any of the browsers use the the right mouse button to 'lock' the cursor, and then you move the mouse to scroll the page up and down (or even left and right) ? The idea is that the cursor doesn't move while you do so. I think that'd be a really neat idea - better than the usual scroll bar.

Tech Suport True Story

[MajorBlunder]

"No article of this kind would be complete without mentioning that users get confused with two buttons."

While on the face of it, this statement sounds ridiculous, I have experienced cases where it has proved true. I relate the following Tech Support True Story.

me: Okay ma'am, I want you to move your mouse pointer over the My Computer icon and click your right mouse button.

caller: The right mouse button?

me: Yes ma'am.

caller: Which one is the right button?

me: (starting to get annoyed) You have two buttons on your mouse, One on the left and one on the right, I want you to click the right button over the My Computer icon.

caller: Um, your right or my right?

me: (putting my phone on mute and desperately trying to avoid laughing hysterically)

Macs

[Nova Express]

"And yet, every time I use the Mac at work, it's an exercise in frustration."

Maybe you should just stop trying to copy that 17 meg file...

Re:It has the opposite effect.

[AddressException]

Damn phpBB tags!

Re:Mice

[Dun Malg]

And, heaven forbid I have to deal with a southpaw idiot who has a 5 button mouse... We are pretty good about who gets the 5 button mice, but somethimes an idiots mouse breaks, and the 5 buttons are all we have to replace them with! When I say "right click" I mean the button that is left of center, but not the far left on the side, okay?

Heh. That's when it's time to whip that black Sharpie out of your pocket protector and (just like you do with 4-year-old's shoes) put a big 'R' on the Right-Click button, and a big 'L' on the Left-Click button. I've never seen anyone using such a mouse, but I found one marked R and L in the garbage at work once.

Re:Mice

[future assassin]

[i]no, you just press the left mouse button[/i] But I dont have a left mouse. Onyl the one on the right.

Oh, Grandma.

[flargleblarg]

I misread this:

Because when your grandmother uses Windows, she clicks the left and the right button at the same time. Watch her the next time she's using the computer -- really, she does this.

as this:

Because when your grandmother uses Windows, she licks the left and the right button at the same time. Watch her the next time she's using the computer -- really, she does this.

Re:Mice

[AhBeeDoi]

I know from experience that it takes no more than ten minutes to teach a three year old child perl.

Yeah, but C++ is a different can of worms.

Re:Gaming Mouse != Mac Mouse

[russellh]

In my day, we had to point and click. and we liked it. None of this fancy scroll wheel or mouse gestures crap. I tell ya, scroll wheels and the obeseity epidemic are not just a coincidence. Sit up straight and do it the good old fashioned way: move that mouse and click for gosh sakes. it builds character.

Why my 75 yr old dad hates single button mouse...

[sch7572]

He can't play minesweeper with just one button...

Re:Mice

[banzai51]

The real reason is that if Apple went to a 2 button mouse, then Jobs would have to eat some crow and admit he was wrong.

That will never happen. The ego is strong with that one.

The blinker on my car confuses me.

[Corellon Larethian]

That's why I don't use it.

Reality Distortion

[Alien54]

That will never happen. The ego is strong with that one.

Actually, it is the infamous Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field that he keeps ramping the power on. Gates is filled with envy over it, as his own versions of the thing keep crashing.

Re:Because...

[batkiwi]

It's too bad they don't sell a sense of humor on the apple store for $15.

Re:Look

[yuri benjamin]

I use the wheel button, too!

Great for cut and paste in X11.

Re:Because...

[flufffy]

Heh, that would solve it! They could install a second trackpad button, and then label it 'ctrl,' so that it isn't *really* a second trackpad button. Come to think of it, they could build ctrl keys into their mice as well.

YEAH, TAKE THAT YOU MAC USERS!

[Anonymous Coward]

IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH "TOTAL WIMP" (user 564548) YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF INDEPENDENT THOUGHT!

Re:It's for the better

[Dun Malg]

Have you ever seen the pointer code a three year old child writes? There's some things that they're just not responsible enough to use until they're older.

You said it. My idiot 3 year old nephew keeps re-implementing vectors no matter how many times I tell him to just use the template from the STL.

Re:Mice

[Anonymous Coward]

COME ONE, at least OFFER a three-button mouse!

It must be horrible living in a town so small, and using an ISP so censorious, that your only source for computer hardware is the customization dropdowns on Apple's online store. Do you at least have running water and flush toilets?

The 89 Button Mouse

[Long-EZ]

I just invented an 89 button mouse. It's an 87 key notebook keyboard that you can roll around on your desk, with an additional scroll wheel and two mouse buttons.

Advantage: Only one cable is needed, instead of separate mouse and keyboard cables.

Disadvantage: It's a really retarded idea.

Rigt Click - Shortcuts

[evanism]

mmm, a mac user can't handle the concept of a right mouse click... yet Adobe in Photoshop see fit that PC users have the joy of Alt-Shift-Ctrl-S to save for web.... its like playing the friggin piano!... Arent they insulting their audience to say "our users dont *get* a right mouse click, but the rest of the world can handle a 4 note Chord?"...