During a trip to our local Apple store a couple of us in the office recently picked up the new Magic Mouse from Apple. Having heard mixed reviews I was eager to give it a go. A week after using it, the magic is gone.
First off let me say that Uproot is an Apple advocate. We do all our our work on Macs, our servers are Macs and we all have iPhones. We have a great relationship with our local Apple Store where we have a business account with ‘Pro-Care’, which sounds a lot more provocative than it is.
So it makes us cringe when the execution on such a beautifully crafted device fails on so many levels. Let me run through a few of them.
Ergonomics
At best, the Magic Mouse is awkward to hold. At worst, it’s painful. I’m developing some sort of cramp in my wrist.
Connectivity
It’s almost 2010. When it takes a Bluetooth mouse over 5 seconds to re-sync with my Macbook after waking from sleep, that’s unacceptable.
Tracking
The most basic function of this mouse doesn’t even work well. Regardless of the surface it’s on the tracking is jumpy, making selecting text or simple point and click annoying and tedious.
Symmetry
In attempting to create a symmetric mouse (for left and right-handedness) Apple has created two problems.
First, for those who enable right-click, your fingers tend to wander over and click on the wrong side, no matter what hand you use. (I guess there’s some symmetry for you.) This happens because there’s no tactile feedback separating the left and right buttons on the gesture surface (which I’ll get to).
Second, and I know this is nitpicking, but sometimes when I return to my desk my mouse is upside down. I’m not sure if this is Craig playing a prank on me but regardless since the mouse is also symmetric top to bottom, I end up inversely scrolling through whatever is on screen. Sounds harmless but it’s pretty annoying when it happens more than once.
Aesthetics and Innovation
Okay, so how can I give marks for innovation after all that negative feedback? Mainly because of the gesture area, which is the entire top face of the mouse. Scrolling and traversing back through browser pages works as promised, using a smooth one or two finger gesture, respectively.
Aesthetically, as usual, Apple scores big points for emotional design. I’m not sure if it was intended but it reminds me of the ship from the 80’s Disney movie Flight of the Navigator. Take a look yourself.
In Conclusion…
This is one of the few failures Apple has made in product design. Don’t buy this mouse.
Update – March 19th, 2010:
As pointed out in the comments, the use of a track pad really brings the most out of the Magic Mouse if you’ve experienced any tracking issues. I’ve returned to using the device in the interim and will continue to do so mostly due to the elegantly designed gesture area.
While I still maintain this isn’t the best mouse out there, I’m humbly upgrading my review from failure to acceptable.
Tags: apple, magic mouse, review
Ergonomics
Of all the input devices I’ve ever used, including the puck (a disaster), Kensington Trackball, a Wacom tablet and the Mighty Mouse to name a few, I find the Magic Mouse to be the most comfortable. I don’t have to rest my hand on it. Instead, I can float my hand on top of the mouse. It’s light, sleek design fits comfortably right under my hand. And the surface just begs to be touched. It’s a joy (for the most part).
Connectivity
Don’t have this problem either. I come back to my desk and move my mouse and my MacBook Pro wakes instantly.
Tracking
I’ve tried this mouse on my pants, a dark wood table, dark smoked glass table and a rubberized keyboard mat that sits on my desk, all with great tracking.
The exception is when I’m in Illustrator. For whatever reason, I find my screen “auto scrolling” as if something is magically trying to help me. Now, honestly, I don’t know if that’s the mouse, or me inadvertently sliding my right ring finger over the surface causing it to scroll.
Symmetry
Since I’m right-handed, I’ve not tried to use this w/my left hand, so I can’t really speak to that.
Maybe you have some kind of anti-magic going on in your office or something. Four of my six staff members have the Magic Mouse and the other two can’t wait to pick one up.