Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A Wired review of Apple Magic Mouse




It's Magic! The First Apple Mouse That Doesn't Suck

"It's about time. For years, Apple has embraced aesthetic simplicity over practicality with its peripherals. Single-button mice! Yes, we know Apple hasn't made single-button mice for a long time, but why in the world did Steve Jobs ever think that was a good idea? Well, he was wrong until today. Apple's latest Magic Mouse actually does the trick thanks to its multitouch powers.

The Magic Mouse ditches the lozenge-shaped body and gunk-collecting trackball of its predecessor (the Mighty Mouse) in favor of a curvy wedge shape with a fully touch-sensitive housing. The new form factor fits more naturally in your hand than previous Apple mice — enough so to erase the painful memories you have of that atrocious hockey-puck mouse from the '90s.

The mouse detects touch gestures that trigger different functions. Swiping upward or downward with momentum enables scrolling in a browser. In Safari, using two fingers and swiping left or right takes you a page backward or forward, respectively. The same gesture also lets you flip through a photo album with the Mac OS X Preview app.

In an age where a heavy amount of everyday computing can be done in a web browser, the Magic Mouse couldn't be more than welcome."

Read the full story by Brian Chen

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