“I predict Steve Jobs will introduce a multitouch mousepad at WWDC… and that finger input will be one of the ‘top secret’ features of Leopard,” Leander Kahney blogs for Wired.
“The multitouch pad will look like a standard mousepad, but it’ll be finger sensitive, like the touchpads on most notebooks. But instead of one finger, it’ll be sensitive to multi-finger gestures and commands, like the iPhone,” Kahney predicts.
“The pad will completely replace the mouse, allowing users to control the Mac with their fingers — moving the cursor, selecting files and double clicking with a quick double tap of the index finger,” Kahney explains.
“The pad will also respond to a whole new vocabulary of gestures, like Mouse Gestures in Firefox, which execute common commands (backwards, forwards, reload) with a sweep of the mouse. Using your fingers, you’ll open files by twisting to the left, as though turning an imaginary dial. Twist your fingers to the right to close the file,” Kahney writes.
More in the full article here.
Who uses mouse pads anymore?
Man, I hope this is true…. I would love to lose the mouse!!!1
Sounds good to me!
Make it work with a stylus and it’ll be almost perfect, which means that I’ll probably still need my WACOM tablet for pressure sensitivity.
Actually, replacing the mouse completely would be pretty mind blowing. Add it to the list of ground breaking technologies that Apple introduced to the mainstream initially and replaced later on.
Sounds very interesting although I have my doubts that something like this will be introduced today.
Hello Carpal Tunnel!
man,we need more like we did with the iphone,more 8% market share,thats i call apple.
oh and one more thing,that look-a-like mousepad was used in the 20th anniversary mac.
And me just having ordered a new trackball.
What’s the difference with my MacBook touchpad?
I can tell you the truth from years of using mice
Apple’s Mighty Mouse absolutly s*cks.
1: Two buttons are not really two buttons.
2: The scroll ball is not really 360� but only goes left/right top/bottom. and it gets clogged and loses traction.
3: The side buttons get accidentially clicked when grabbing the mouse.
4: It’s default setup is hard to use for newbies.
Now Apple is going to introduce a NEW input interface?
Like they really have done anything good with the present input devices. 🙁
In the full article Leander says:
“Of course, this is pure speculation. I’ve no evidence whatsoever this is going to happen. I’ve no idea if it’s even realistic..”
In other words, don’t count on it.
@,
Nice observation, but the 20th Anniversary Mac didn’t have MultiTouch.
I think that fact may serve to be the BIG difference (if any of this mess is true).
@ OZZ,
This is just my imagination, but I picture the ability to rest a relaxed hand upon the device
and gesture freely with multiple digits, instead of “hook fingering” like on a trackpad? Hell, I don’t know
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I’ve been wanting Wacom to add technology like this to their tablets for years. Touch sensitive scrolling and zoom. And not those side keys they have. Those are poorly placed.
This is what I want… now!
I love the Mighty Mouse, though I am getting sore thumbs from squeezing it all the time.
If apple doesn’t release it someone should… maybe these guys:
http://www.jazzmutant.com/
I want one of these too!
What complete rubbish. Am I the only person here with common sense?
that “mousepad” would only work if it’s also a screen, if not it’s nothing more than an external trackpad (those have been multitouch for years)
by the way, maybe someone should write a hack to add more gestures to trackpads, like zooming (with universal access)
i wonder if that’s posible.
I would buy it today if it were available. The idea is much better than large vertical touchscreen monitors if you were to use them for extended periods of time.
@MickyMouse
If their current mouse is bad, why are you dissapointed that they’re replacing it?
(also, you can change the scoll ball’s settings to make is 360º
Magic: Hard, as in: That wan’t too hard, was it?)
@sapiens
Yes, I know it’s just wild speculation. Some wonder into what direction multitouch may take
us. It’s fun to guess I suppose (i.e. loosen up).
So basically this is gonna be a firmware update then seeing as my macbook trackpad is already multitouch?
@ Martin,
“those have been multitouch for years”
Yes, but has it been well implemented? I tend to agree with this:
“that “mousepad” would only work if it’s also a screen”
The software implementation though, would be of paramount importance.
I can tell you the truth from years of using mice
Apple’s Mighty Mouse absolutly s*cks.
––I totally disagree. I avoided one for a long time because of detractors. However, I had to work on another companies system and fell in love with it.
1: Two buttons are not really two buttons.
––Seems to work like two for me.
2: The scroll ball is not really 360� but only goes left/right top/bottom. and it gets clogged and loses traction.
––Mine has never clogged and works perfectly. The left/right is awesome for Final Cut.
3: The side buttons get accidentially clicked when grabbing the mouse.
––Never happens to me
4: It’s default setup is hard to use for newbies.
––Yeah, really hard. Much harder than configuring a Microsoft mouse.
Now Apple is going to introduce a NEW input interface?
––Actually they already have with gestures, the iPhone, etc.
Like they really have done anything good with the present input devices. 🙁
––Again, gestures, multi-touch, etc.
Sounds like something straight out of the movie Minority Report, though Tom Cruise had a special glove on to control the objects on his screen. I’ll be one of the first buyers if this were to come true.
“Am I the only person here with common sense?”
If you were the only one, could it be common?
Too early for logic?
I wish I had a track-pad on my desk like the one on my MacBook Pro It is so easy..
Using my Macbook I am a freakin’ pro at using the multi touch.
Both fingers and a downward swip to scroll. Left or right scroll. Two finger double tap to “right click”
If I had a the pad from my macbook on my keyboard the mouse would get lonley.
Also I hate editing video on PC because I miss my left and right scroll.
Might Mouse rocks.
MickyMouse,
1. Press on the left side, primary button, press to the right of the mouse, secondary button. Easy.
2. 360° scroll ball works if you go to the System Preferences > Keyboard and Mouse, select Mouse, select 360° in the Scrolling Options. As for clogging, some rubbing alcohol on a rag or paper towel and rub it over the ball, moving the ball as you clean.
3. In the same preferences, select off for the side buttons. Problem solved.
4. Newbies will soon become experienced and can deal with the preferences to solve their problems.
I love my Mighty Mouse. I have been using mice on Macs and PCs since the mid-1980’s. So far, seems to be the best to me.
The mousepad is already multi-touch. Two-finger scrolling is delightful. He’s merely suggesting additional gestures — perhaps they’d be helpful but only if they keep them very simple and intuitive; that is, twisting fingers to the right to close a file sounds ridiculously counterintuitive.
What I’d like to see is full touchscreen technology, starting with new iMacs. That way objects on the screen could be directly manipulated, and the touch input would be complementary to what is done with the keyboard and touchpad.
But the existing mousepad /isn’t/ multi-touch in the proper, iphone sense of the word. Two finger scrolling does indeed sense two different digits and interprets accordingly, but only if the two fingers are moving in the same direction – try it moving two fingers in different directions, like the pinch on the iphone, and the input will either jam or go in some crazy direction.
This mousepad will let you interact with Leopard and iLife/iWork just like the iPhone lets you interact with its apps.
Rather than a big trackpad, I see it having a screen displaying buttons and representations of of what’s on your main screen. You’re finger positions over the “mousepad” will appear on your main display just like those little dots in the iPhone demo on Apple’s site. Apple has a patent on an LCD that can see, sort of like a combined iSight sensor and monitor display.
Coverflow, squeeze, expand, flip-like scrolling will be incorporated into the whole system. Tap to zoom, double-tap to zoom out.
It’s impractical to use multi-touch on your main screen. The “mousepad” would replace my trackball, which I’ve been nursing along ever since the iPhone MacWorld. OS X now supports multi-touch on the iPhone, so why not on a desktop system.
Gotta go splitter on the whole MIghty Mouse thing. Can’t stand it myself. I’ve used a (gasp!) Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer from the time they were introduced, and I have yet to find a better mouse. I have not forgiven Intellipoint developers, however, for removing the Wheel Button feature that let you set Click+Roll to another action. I used to use this for PageUp/Down, but a few versions ago they removed it, and the old driver does not work on the Intel Macs. I’m looking for a better solution, but the Mighty Mouse does not cut it for me.
It should be a conductor’s baton.
Imagine the feeling of power from conducting items on your desktop.
Worth remembering that Apple bought Fingerworks a few years ago. http://www.fingerworks.com/
Not sure if this is going to feature only on the iPhone, but I’d like to see it.
I waited forever for the BT Mighty Mouse and I actually have no issues with it. Mush more versatile than my old BT mouse.
It’s a lot better than the MS Intellimouse I have at work hooked up to my PeeCee.
Finger burn?
yes, Fingerworks gesture products were/are awesome…ahead of their time…so sad they are no longer.
This could explain why the Macbook trackpad area is quite a bit larger than its predecessor on the iBook. Did Macbook Pro trackpads get larger when they replace the Powerbooks?
of course there’s a multi-touch mouse in the works. the whole gui is about to go multi-touch.
minority report here we come.
I love the MightyMouse, but this would definitely be cool. Would be nice if it is flexible so it cal roll up.
I don’t know about you guys, but when i use my touchpad on my laptop for extended periods, my hand cramps up a little. I can use a mouse or tablet all day…
Mousepad sounds good to me.
Can we also add wireless connectivity to it so that I can lean back in my chair with the Mousepad in my lap?
And while you’re at it, include some screen magic whereby I can download text and graphics to the Mousepad for viewing on the go.
Walking up to another Mac with my Mousepad would allow me to transfer my Finder preferences and reconfigure the computer to mirror the one I was using moments ago.
ANSWER: No.
Back to your regular old mice.
-c
Apple did not invent this product. They purchased the idea and rights from a company called FingerWorks, whose founders (or at least one of them) now work for Apple. The original product was called iGesture, and it has been around for years, and it works. Apple wanted the technology for themselves, so they snatched it up, and thus away from PC users, in order to control the market.