Back on June 9th of this year, SteveJack wrote, “The time has come for Apple to ship a two-button scroll mouse standard.” Now that Apple has announced their newest mouse, the Apple Wireless Mouse, complete with one button (again), we revisit SteveJack’s opinion article.
“I have been a Mac user since The Beginning. I have used a one-button mouse, as per Steve Jobs’ decree, until mid May 2003. That’s a long time. Then, while in Best Buy, of all places, I picked up a Kensington Pocket Mouse Pro because I wanted an inexpensive mouse that would travel well in my backpack. And, of course, I liked the retractable cord that winds into mouse’s body via its “garage door.” After three weeks with it, I can safely say, the time has come for Apple to ship a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel standard,” SteveJack writes.
Full article in the MacDailyNews Opinion section here.
dang it, I keep missing the button on my mouse! It’s SO HARD to hit the correct button when there are two. I’m so confused!
“Make something easy enough for an idiot to use, and only idiots will use it.”
Yes Dennis, that extra button is going to cost everyone BIG TIME. At least another couple of dollars.
Microsoft should market the “StupidaMouse” (vs IntelliMouse) for people who can’t handle the second mouse button. Maybe THAT would give Apple a clue.
Have you ever tried to use Windows with a one-button mouse? NOW you are faced with a crippled OS.
PC users seem not to realize that the problem is not Mac OS being able to do all even with a one-button mouse. It is Windows unable to do anything if not with at least two-buttons mice. Subtle but quite a difference.
Seems like an old man happy to walk with a cane in that he has one leg more than the fit youngsters out there.
PS
Got a call from Steve: the one-button mouse is free. There is no charge to you.
PPS
the majority of PC (power) users I know do buy a new mouse anyway (wireless for the most).
Sorry Windows lurkers out there but the most reliable hint that you are stupid and dumb is exactly when you happen to raise the issue of “Apple stuck with one-button mouse”.
Apple has to go with lowest common denominator, that is One Button Mouse.
Why not offer Two Button Mouse? Well tell that to Logitech, Kensington and Microsoft, ask them to OEM it to Apple. Or could it be that Apple doesn’t want to play one against other. Maybe Apple doesn’t want to produce what they conceived as unnecessary thing, since the market is already saturated with the product. Maybe only small percentage of people actually ask for two button mouse with scroll button.
You don’t for one second think that Apple is that ignorant of what people want with their computer, do you? This is a choice they made and its the best decision they can make under the circumstance. I’m pretty sure people aren’t making their decision on which computer to purchase on account of a mouse.
You people have very strange logic.
People here are trapped in some kind of binary, either-or mentality. One can cite the merits of the one-button mouse until the end of time, but it’s pointless because no one is trying to take that option away from you or from Apple in the first place. Arguing for the option of a two-button mouse is NOT the same as arguing against having a one-button model.
Also, I still don’t accept the idea that two buttons will utterly befuddle most end users. Anyone using a computer is using it for word processing, email, web browsing, etc. And all these apps are much more complicated than any two-button mouse ever could be. If people don’t have the smarts to figure out two buttons, then they can’t run Microsoft Excel or Adobe Photoshop or even Safari to begin with.
Now will some people inadvertently click on the wrong button (in a two-button mouse)? Of course. And when they see that menu pop up, they will wonder what that’s all about, and then they will try the other button. End of lesson — now they will know which button to press. Boy, that was hard.
Not to mention that if this is all about making a computer’s functions easily accessible and easy to use, consider that people are much more likely to stumble by accident on the feature of contextual menus if they have a two-button mouse. This gives them a “Aha” moment when they learn something new. And for those who are confused by this menu, well, as the folk wisdom goes, if it hurts when you do that, then don’t do that (i.e., don’t press that button).
A point made previously by Carlos that the presence of a two-button mouse would require people to go only through Apple’s web site is lost on me entirely. I see no reason why Apple dealers and retailers could not also ship systems with the two-button mouse. And calling these “custom systems” is absurd. Plenty of computer companies offer a choice of more than one keyboard or mouse — without this upsetting their ability to honor warranties. Please.
But it comes down to this. It’s not enough that the one-button mouse advocates have the mouse of their choice. Instead they want to deny an Apple-made two-button mouse to the rest of us. Now how are you any the worse off if Apple makes a two-button mouse in ADDITION to its current one-button model? If you don’t like a two-button mouse, don’t get one. Duh. But don’t deny a bona fide two-button Apple mouse to the rest of us who would like to have one.
WHY SHOULD APPLE offer a product that goes against their r&d philosophy? It’s a small (but vocal) minority that are unhappy with the one button mouse, and a smaller even group that are upset having to buy (two) mice. You’re not having to buy two, you are choosing to. If you are so hard up, put your old (but unused) one on eBay for heavens sake. Stop demanding that the company design and produce a hardware product that few customers wish them to.
Picture this: You are buying your new Mac online at the Apple Store, and there is a little pop-up menu for your mouse selection. You can choose one-button or two-button scroller, wired or wireless.
Sound reasonable?
I agree with you 100% Jeff. But I suspect arguing on this board won’t make it happen. Apple has shown an ability **at times** to capitulate on decisions when faced with overwhelming customer demand e.g. adding tabs to Safari, offering eMacs to the general public. So this may be a good opportunity to hit them with the old feedback machine and see if they cave. It’s a long shot, but I believe it is possible.
VIVA THE TWO BUTTON MOUSE!
I work at a independent computer retailer. We carry both PCs and Macs. There is an area of our store set up to demo machines, we have a Mac and a Gateway set up and running at all times, and customers freely come in and play around on these computers. I like to stand in an out of the way area sometimes and watch people, especially novices (usually older folks) without their knowledge. It used to amaze me, but after seeing this play out over and over again, I have to admit that the Apple mouse is better than the Gateway’s, and I don’t mean it’s manufacture. It’s all in the usage. Over and over again I see people on the PC with menus popping open in the center of the screen, getting flustered clicking madly and wondering why the mouse didn’t work the same way twice. On the other hand, on the Mac it seems like the mouse becomes a more natural extension of the hand, point it, click it, done. Just an observation, not scientific, but as the computer is turning more and more into an appliance and not a geek hobby, I think operation simplicity is a huge plus.
Mr. Winger, let’s see your documentation on the small number of users who want an option for an Apple branded multi-button mouse? Have you conducted a scientific poll and not shared the results with us?
I think you are stating your preference, but you really have no idea how many customers want an option other than a one button mouse. I don’t even think Apple knows how many customers want this option. At least they have never asked me. You can bet I will be giving them my feedback, whether they ask or not.
I WANT MY NO BUTTON MOUSE! I’M TOO CONFUSED BY ALL OF THESE BUTTONS!
Ok bob, you have that button pop up, which company gets to put their mouse in that elite category? How is the mouse going to be packaged? Who is responsible for the mouse as far as the warranty? Inside the box or outside the box?
But I doubt Apple will change their manufacturing process with something trivial as Mouse packaging, so you will be getting a One button mouse and not difference in cost. And you will be buying a two button mouse either way.
I’m not saying two button scroll mouse is a bad thing, I have wireless 9 button Logitech MX, but I’m lazy. But for 95% of the people single button is more then sufficient.
I pity the fool who is confused by a two-button mouse once Expos� arrives in Panther.
I am sick of being laughed at by grandmothers and parents who I finally convince to drop their stupid PCs for Macs and the first thing they say is, “How do I right click?”
And if the wheel is too much for some of you to grasp, well, I’m not sure we need you out there representing Mac users. Not all of us are dolts who can’t take a little time to learn some major time-saving techniques.
There is a little thing called Market Research. Companies like Apple do it. A lot of it. Guess what? The support for an Apple branded two button mouse isn’t there.
Well Mr. Brabham, you nail on the head.
There is an old axiom in advertising, “Keep it simple!” keep it simple for people to use not because they are stupid or ignorant, keep it simple so they don’t have to deal with unnecessary information. Maybe they’ll pick it up later on, that is up to the individual users, but the point is to get them to take the first step. You got to walk before you run.
I worked with people who had no idea that right button did anything on their PC, so you tell me which group of users are ignorant
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What are you talking about I.P.? If apple made a two button mouse and let people choose, i don’t see a problem.
Problem with 2-button mouse – if it were actually consistent on Windows, then we would be shouting from the rooftops for it but it’s just as inconsistent as with the control button on the mac – so what’s the point? You still have to stop, read and learn it. It’s not like COMMAND-Q or COMMAND-N where it works across the board.
If you want a 2,6 or 9 button mouse – BUY ONE and stop annoying the rest of us.
2 buttons, 3 buttons, you really have missed the Mac point haven’t you.
The design intention is NO BUTTON. The whole device is a reflex mechanism, get it, you are not distracted from screen concentration in any way, not even to think about “do I need to click the left button, right button, middle button, 2 together, what the &^^%^^% was I about to do on the screen???
Your insistence that Mac users want two buttons lacks any statistical evidence. If it were true, stores would notice that every iMac sale was immediately followed by the sale of a two-button mouse (or more). Just because you like more buttons doesn’t mean that everyone else does or need that.
PC users often complain that macs only have one button, but how many mac users complain about it? Do you think is the majority? Apple would have done a two-button mouse already. That’s why we don’t have two-button mice on the macs: most people don’t need them. Those who does have it already. Personally I do mostly with the keyboard anyway, I have a 4 buttons scrollwheel wireless on hte desktop and nothing on the Powerbook. Do I have problems? no way. I do not NEED the mutli-buttons mouse although I make use of it. The argument would hold if you work mostly on ONE major tool and have its menus configured to your mouse. Otherwise is hot-air.
“People” do not want two buttons, PC users need two or more buttons. Windows apps NEED at least two-button mice.
On a slightly more comic note, I can visualize Steve Jobs in one of his mercurial rants yelling at random people: “10% WANT TWO BUTTONS?! THEY WANT TWO BUTTONS?! WELL HERE’S NO BUTTONS! TAKE THAT!”
or: apple industrial design engineers on some acid trip that ends with “hey man, you know what would be really cool? A button on the BOTTOM! (takes hit): and they did it.
On a closing issue, Apple GUI guides does not rely on functionalities built on top of external hardware like a mouse. Then why not having application REQUIRING 4 buttons and a scroll-wheel. It boils down to the same argument of Two-Buttons or bust. Windows interface is built around having a 2-butt mouse. Apple interface does not have that constraint.
Mr Pee, I obviously meant that the mouse options would all be provided by Apple. Apple should make both, and let customers choose which to buy. Why the heck not? You can choose your graphics card, your hard drive capacity, and so on. Why not be able to choose which mouse?
For that matter, why the heck can’t you opt for a wireless keyboard and mouse at the Apple Store, when ordering a G5 “desktop” system? Odd that Apple forces you to pay for the wired mouse and keyboard, even if you just want the wireless ones.
thanks for the advice jbelkin. Can you point me to a nice two button mouse that will match my white pro keyboard? Thanks.
Boy1der80, others are making 2 button mouse, why should Apple make their own?
Reason why they make one button mouse is because that is their philosophy, its what they believe in, not a gimmick.
And Apple doesn’t see one button as a problem, only people like you do.
The wireless mouse and keyboard are not yet available. Doubtless when they become so, the option will be available.
Smart Guy
Piss boy, the one button mouse is not the problem so much as the lack of a choice from Apple. If I want to buy an Apple with a two button mouse, I first have to buy Apple’s one button mouse, then buy a third-party ugly 2-button mouse. I just want the OPTION to PAY APPLE MORE MONEY to get a two-button scroller mouse that Apple designed and made.
Get a clue.