“Easily the most interesting thing Apple unveiled today is the new Magic Trackpad,” MG Siegler writes for TechCrunch. “Essentially, it’s a larger version of the trackpads that ship with each MacBook and MacBook Pro. But it’s a stand-alone product, meant to be used with desktop computers.”
“‘Looking at the big picture, more users are using our trackpad because there are more notebook users than desktop users,’ an Apple representative told me today when discussing the Magic Trackpad,” Siegler writes. “‘People love the trackpad. People love those characteristics. So we wanted to bring that kind of design to our desktop users,’ the Apple rep told me. So Apple designed the product (in conjunction with the wireless keyboard) to bring everything people like about the trackpads over to the desktop experience. Pinch-to-zoom, inertial scrolling, tap-to-click, it’s all there.”
Siegler writes, “Apple is slowly but surely moving towards a place where the majority of computer interaction is done through touch gestures. The desktop remains the last great stronghold for the keyboard + mouse combination. But now Apple is chipping away at that too. First they launched the multi-touch Magic Mouse. Now we get the Magic Trackpad… When I asked if this signaled the death of the mouse, Apple would only say that ‘we want to offer our users the choice.’ …That said, Apple did acknowledge that some users will likely ditch the mouse in favor of this new device.”
Siegler writes, “I know that personally, this Magic Trackpad is going to replace my mouse. Even though my desktop offers the comfort of two huge monitors, recently, I’ve found myself using my laptop more and more simply because I prefer the trackpad and its multi-touch gestures. Now that I can get that full experience on my desktop, I’m definitely making the jump.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Yes, we know the history of the computer mouse. Steve Jobs didn’t invent it, but ’twas the Apple Macintosh that brought the computer mouse to the world.
Thanks to Bill Cosby for inspiring our headline.
5 Day Most Commented