Apple Magic Mouse

When I first tried it in the Apple Store I wasn’t sure it was for me. After years of using a “standard” 2 button mouse with a scroll wheel (which I preferred over Apple’s mice) this new, oddly designed Apple mouse just felt too strange. It was a radical design departure from every mouse designed before. Very abstract. There were no buttons, there was no scroll wheel. Just a flat curved (touch sensitive) surface. But a friend who had gotten one told me, after about one day of his getting used to it, he found it was just fantastic, the best mouse he had every tried. So eventually I got one, based on his recommendation. Result? I concur. Its just great, the best mouse I’ve used. 

The Apple Magic Mouse is a fantastic mouse. It is a wonderfully engineered device which, in a so typically Apple way, completely rethinks from Square One “what is a mouse and how does one use it”? Kudos to the Design Team at Apple. Just look at the sleek design. It is revolutionary. Actually its really intuitive. Apple did their design homework with this one.

The touch sensitive surface interface is amazing (after you get used to it, which does take a few hours of use). Especially “scrolling” not with a scroll wheel as I’ve been doing for 10-20 years, but with ONE FINGER. Gently “stroking” the mouse. Then there is “swiping” with two fingers left and right, to navigate “back/forward”, for example, in a web site.

If you do use the Magic Mouse, you should get the free app called MagicPrefs, which improves the Tracking and has many other tweeks and gew-gaws, though I haven’t used these much.

TIPS: If you own a wireless mouse two suggestions: 1) ALWAYS be sure to have extra batteries (AA) on hand. I used rechargeable NIMH batteries (Even Apple has started selling these). 2) Change the batteries for the Magic Mouse with the computer off. You can keep track of the juice left with the Mouse Preference Pane in System Preferences. When its low, (10%) I change mine. If you lose mouse power during a computer session, it takes quite sometime for it to be recognized and then you are pretty much dead in the water, unless you have a Wired mouse put away for just these situations. 3) Have a wired mouse around, just in case (see above!)

Now as its revolutionary, you need to get used to the “new way” of using a mouse. However once you get used to it I think you too will love the Magic Mouse.

“Touch sensitivity” or a touch sensitive screen such as the iPhone, iPad, etc, is being built into every almost every electronic device now, phones, etc. Its such an intuitive way to use a device, one does not even need to be taught this.

Comments? If you own this mouse, what do you think of it?

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