So I'm not the only one who hates the round mouse and cramped keyboard!! Either that, or Steve J. has been reading our thread <g>
Apple may exterminate round mouse
Updated 4:34 PM ET June 30, 2000
Current quotes (delayed 20 mins.) AAPL 52 3/8 1 1/8 (2.20%)
MSFT 80 2 13/16 (3.64%)
by Daniel Drew Turner and Matthew Rothenberg, ZDNet News
The company's styling smarts fell flat with users, so new peripherals -- including a button-less mouse -- are on the way.
Apple Computer Inc.'s much reviled round mouse and cramped keyboard may be replaced with new models as soon as July's Macworld Expo, sources have told ZDNet News.
Although Apple and CEO Steve Jobs have been praised for innovative designs such as the translucent iMac, users have been less than ecstatic over the standard mouse and keyboard delivered with most Apple models.
The new mouse will replace the poorly received round mouse that the Cupertino, Calif., company introduced alongside the original iMac in August 1998. The keyboard will be full-sized and include many function keys missing from the current, compact version.
Sources said the new mouse will be oval, as seen from the top, and fairly compact. The mouse will be about three-quarters the size of Microsoft Corp.'s Intellimouse Explorer and symmetric rather than contoured. The Apple mouse will also present a much lower profile to the hand, sources said.
However, like the Microsoft mouse, the Apple mouse will use optical tracking technology, replacing the ball-and-roller sensors of previous models and eliminating the need for a mouse pad.
According to sources, the red LED (light-emitting diode) of the sensor will be visible through the Apple mouse's translucent body, which, on the latest prototype, is a dark gray, although this may change.
Optical technology, rocking action
Perhaps most surprising is that the new design will feature no buttons at all, using instead a "rocking" motion to register clicks.
In a way, the entire mouse will act as a button: Pushing down on it rocks the top of the mouse, causing a click. Although some Mac rumor sites have taken evidence of small side panels on the mouse to infer that rocking the mouse to the side will act as secondary buttons, ZDNet News' sources report that these panels are simply finger rests.
Rumor sites have also speculated that both the new mouse and keyboard will be wireless. However, ZDNet News sources said that both will rely on conventional Universal Serial Bus (USB) connections, the same as the current models.
Pro-level keyboard
Like the mouse, the new Apple keyboard will address concerns of professional users, who have complained that the present offering is too small, lacks full-sized function keys and is missing some keys outright, such as the forward-delete and end keys as well as several function keys. As a result, many users have been driven to retrofit older, less stylish keyboards or search out third-party models, adding to their product cost.
Described as a cross between the old Apple Extended keyboard and the current compact version, the new keyboard will include a full complement of function keys and a numeric keypad while updating to the translucent plastics currently in vogue in the Mac maker's industrial-design department.
Apple was not immediately available to comment on the reports.
Change is good
The current "puck" mouse has been the target of much opprobrium in the Mac-using community; it's been faulted for an unergonomic design, single button and a round shape that makes it difficult to orient properly. The last point was partially addressed in a revised version that sported "dimpled" spots on the sides.
Chris Hunt, a media designer in Australia, said he found the present Apple mouse and keyboard so difficult to use that he spent more than $250 Australian to replace them. "I find the keyboard too small, which is frustrating when I'm using Adobe Photoshop and don't want to take my eyes off the screen," he said.
"The mouse is bearable," he added, "if you have an aftermarket plastic mouse cover." Most of his co-workers use the additions, he said, after asking the company to purchase them.
Graphic designers aren't the only ones to fault the current peripheral designs.
"I own an iMac, and I'll say the keyboard and the mouse are not the most ergonomic," said David Bailey, an analyst at New York-based Gerard Klauer Mattison, an investment research firm. He noted that "there has been quite a bit of discussion in the Mac community" on the topic.
Although he said he has no direct knowledge of what to expect as far as future hardware offerings from Apple are concerned ("they don't do analyst briefings any more," he said), Bailey said "it would make great sense" for Apple to present some sort of refresh of the iMac and Power Mac product lines at August's Macworld Expo. "It's been nine months since the last revision," he said, "and previously Apple had made enhancements every four to six months."
Asked whether such a move could alienate third-party peripheral manufacturers who have seen sales increase since Apple's introduction of the "puck," Bailey said he thought the impact would be minimal. "People always have different needs," he said, adding that there's a vibrant market for such devices in the PC market.
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