Why Apple Makes a One-Button Mouse 1271
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."
Forced to rethink? (Score:5, Informative)
What? In a lot of applications, if you hold down the button, you get the equivalent of a right-click menu. How in the world does this restrict developers?
Re:Ease of use (Score:5, Informative)
The reason they keep the one-button mice on the desktops is so that developers don't expect users to have multi-button mice.
Re:I really want to read this... (Score:3, Informative)
add scrolling/buttons to your trackpad (Score:3, Informative)
Even nicer than extra buttons!
SideTrack
SideTrack is a replacement driver for the Apple PowerBook and iBook trackpads. With SideTrack installed your standard trackpad becomes a powerful multi-button scrolling mouse.
Leave your external mouse at home and take full control over your trackpad:
Vertical scrolling at left or right edge of pad.
Horizontal scrolling at top or bottom edge of pad.
Map hardware button to left or right click.
Map trackpad taps to no action, left click, left click drag (with or without drag lock), or right click.
Map trackpad corner taps to mouse buttons 1-6 or simulated keystrokes.
Extensive control over accidental input filtering.
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12800 [macupdate.com]Re:FUNNY!? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mice (Score:1, Informative)
Typing in Cyrillic on WIn2K: Select Times New Roman, select Russian keyboard, start typing.
Typing in Cyrillic on OS X: Select Times, start typing, select Russian keyboard, see gibberish, select Times New Roman, start typing, see gibberish, scroll down to the bottom of the font list, find Times CY, start typing... Russian! Hurrah! Save that rtf and import it into InDesign... ugh. Gibberish. Open up FontBook, see that the installation of nothing but Office and InDesign, has left THREE DIFFERENT VERSIONS of TNR and FOUR of Times... all in different locations. Examine each font, and deactivate all of the identically named fonts that have glyph repertoires that don't include Cyrillic.
Phew.
Barring that, font handling in OS X is much easier.
Re:only apple could make a one button mouse... (Score:2, Informative)
NeXT used a 3 button-mouse! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Not a mac user here (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Because... (Score:2, Informative)
The cheapest mouse listed is $15.
Thank you come again!
I love this topic (Score:5, Informative)
Then Microsoft eventually adopted the mouse, and made the design decision they often do, that if one is good, more is better, and two-button mice became common. As GUI applications adopted contextual menus off the right mouse button, Apple adopted CMs via control-click. Now the complaint from Microsoft users was that Apple required you to keep one hand on the keyboard. (Assuming they didn't need two hands to use the mouse, I wonder what they needed the other hand for.)
One advantage to using the keyboard modifiers for the mouse clicks is that a meticulously designed application can provide visual clues about what will happen if a modified click is performed ahead of time. For example, when the Control key is down, Apple's Finder decorates the cursor with a small menu graphic to indicate the availability of the contextual menu.
Look, a user is not brain-damaged or deficient for not caring to remember the function of alternate mouse keys. A large number of users (probably 0% of the /. crowd) view the computer as an auxiliary device that's supposed to assist them at their Real Job while distracting them as little as possible with the need for special training and knowledge.
Even some of us who are power users and unafraid to learn non-intuitive gestures (I used to "fat-finger" bootstrap code into PDP-11 consoles using binary switches) are just as comfortable with a single-button mouse and alternative techniques to accelerate our work. It's neither better nor lamer; it's just another way of getting things done.
Finally, Apple is perfectly accommodating to those of you who prefer something other than what they offer as standard. If you prefer another mouse with 2, 4, or 7 buttons, the online store will sell you one, and the OS will support it. No, you won't get a credit for deleting the standard mouse (where offered), but last time I checked (three minutes ago), neither does Dell.
Re:Mice (Score:1, Informative)
I'm not stupid. I play jazz piano and I can touch type. My fingers are usually under my control.
And I still push the wrong *@#$@$@#$ button a couple times a week when using X.
The X model is awful. It *pastes* when you click the wrong button. And since Unix is so terse and text-oriented, pasting is bad news.
The one-button mouse, combined with the control key in my left hand, is a simple and elegant solution that works for both power users and grandma.
Cripes, people who favor the one-button mouse aren't STUPID, they just don't want to waste brain cells. With the one-button mouse you just push with one or two fingers without thinking.
It's like having a gun with two triggers, one kills the person in front of you, the other serves them delicious ice cream. Yes, I'm sure a careful, intelligent person will usually do the right thing, and an idiot usually won't, but just the same I'd rather have the ice cream button somewhere else.
I know in Windows the risk of screwups is lower since it's just a menu that pops up, but I'm glad Apple sticks to a one-button mouse (specifically I'm glad that the *software* continues to wrk fine with one button).
If geeks want to flex their "muscles" on slashdot calling people like me mental defects, they can go right ahead.. as long as apple ignores 'em.
Re:add scrolling/buttons to your trackpad (Score:1, Informative)
SideTrack is a replacement driver for the Apple PowerBook and iBook trackpads...
I love this little gadget. Use SideTrack, and use uControl to re-map that useless "enter" key by the arrows to another "fn" key and the ibook is a joy to use. My only question is: why the hell isn't this functionality built into OS X? And what in god's name is the use case for that second "enter" key, anyway?
My only gripe with SideTrack is that it's nagware... which wouldn't be a problem, since I use it so much I thought I'd register it. It's only $10 -- way cheaper than an external mouse, and handier too. Problem is, I've never been able to get the registration page to work. I've tried dozens of times, but the transaction never goes through. It's gotten to the point where I just click through the nag screen automatically now whenever I wake up my ibook.
Re:Macs (Score:4, Informative)
For over 6 years, there has been a popular mac troll about a designer trying to copy a 17 meg file which is taking over 20 minutes on his PowerMac 9600 at work, and that the same thing would be done in 2 minutes on his 'old' 486 pc at home.
I seem to remember the troll containing the phrase 'an exercise in frustration' - so you see when the original poster used that phrase about use of the mac at work being an exercise in frustration, the reply of 'stop trying to copy that 17 meg file' is inherently funny - get it... it's *funny*, "stop trying to copy..."
oh, screw it, I give up...
Memory upgrades... (Score:1, Informative)
I use both Mac and PC. People who don't use Macs are just as silly as people who used VHS instead of Beta.
Or GM instead of Toyota. You get my drift.
Flame on, PC users that have never used a Mac... I use both and I know.
Re:Memory upgrades... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Because... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Spoken like a true loyalist (Score:3, Informative)
In 99% of programs it does.
Actually, that works fine with a CTRL-click. Mac apps are designed to benefit from 2+buttons, but only require 1. It's a set-up I like because I find a 1-button trackpad more pleasant to use than a 2+ button one, but a 2+ button mouse even more.
Re:Because... (Score:3, Informative)
This software lets you map hot corners on your trackpad, as well as scroll alleys. I've got a nice right click set up in the lower left corner, which works great for me. Several friends of mine use the scroll alley features, though it drives me nuts. I've been using it for several months on my Powerbook and it has changed my mousing experience entirely. I've got hotcorners for doing expose tasks like show all windows, etc. You can set them to do about anything you like.
Enjoy that.
Re:It has the opposite effect. (Score:5, Informative)
Apple has been shipping a one-button mouse longer than anybody else currently in the computer industry has been shiping any kind of mouse.
In this matter, it's not Apple that's being different. They were here first.
Re:It has the opposite effect. (Score:3, Informative)
Gee, that seems to be a Microsoft idea, too [microsoft.com], although they don't say that context menu items should always be available as menu bar items:
as Apple does [apple.com] in the Apple Human Interface Guidelines [apple.com]:
The GNOME Human Interface Guidelines [gnome.org] are somewhat less emphatic [gnome.org]:
The KDE User Interface Guidelines [kde.org] don't have anything obvious on context/popup/shortcut menus.
Re:Because... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Memory upgrades... (Score:3, Informative)
You go ahead and buy what makes you happy, but this 12" Powerbook is the best computer I've ever seen for my purposes. YMMV.
Right-clicking sucks (Score:2, Informative)
Moreover, with softwares properly designed at least, the options available under the right-click are also available in the menu bar, and have keyboad shortcuts.
So while you might disagree with using a single button mouse (I myself have bought a Logitech replacement), you have to agree that such choice does make sense and is consistent with Apple's politics regarding user interface.
Re:Confused!! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Tech Suport True Story (Score:2, Informative)
"You're one of the guys who had their Mac replace by a PC, aren't you," I noted.
"Yea - I am. I wasn't happy about that. How'd you know?", he responded.
"Because you're pressing at the middle of the mouse right at the dividing line for the right and left mouse buttons. So you're actually randomly right or left-clicking."
"Oh. Ohhh... yea... I guess I am."
We had a good chuckle, and I closed the ticket.
Re:I would agree but... (Score:2, Informative)
Close -- middle was Menu and right was Adjust.
Re:Because... (Score:3, Informative)
That said, the Windows key does do a teensy bit more than just shift focus to the start menu, but not that much (I mostly just use Windows-M for Minimize All and Windows-F to bring up Explorer's Find dialog).
Re:The reason Steve Jobs et al will roast in hell. (Score:3, Informative)
Double clicking was an optional shortcut that has become common place.