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Apple Magic Mouse

Apple recently relesased a whole wack of new products; new iMac, iPad among the big highlights. Lost in the hysteria is the new Apple Magic Mouse. All right, I don’t usually go promoting things unless I have actually tried them and honestly found them to be of benefit to me. Sometimes, the simplest things just make life better. I dig wireless mice to begin with, because of the uncluttered look of my workspace and flexibility. So a wireless mouse is kind of a must for me to begin with. I have been using the Mighty Mouse from apple for a while now and was pretty happy with it. Then I stumbled upon this new Magic Mouse… and had to give it a go. I have to say without question this is the best mouse I have ever used.

In HCI (Human Computer Interaction) we study the full range of interfacing between man and machine. This covers everything from online shopping cart design, to voice recognition software. Even the simplest things, like the icon on a button can be critical to user satisfaction. Heck, even the material a button is made with is perceived at some level by the user interacting with it. Apple seems to get this arguably better than almost any company right now. So when they release something new, be it the new iPad or something as small as a new mouse, we pay attention. To be honest considering how much I interact with my machines each day, my keyboard and mouse are as important as anything else to me.

So, what’s so cool about this mouse anyway you ask? Well first off, it feels good. It’s a nice shape and works well in my hand. It also looks hot. Which is pretty cool for a mouse It is highly repsonsive, which is a must for a mouse, if you’re pushing pixels all day. Coolest though, it has a surface made up of sensors that actually detect your finger position and “gestures”. Yeah, cool is right. It can therefore transform from a single button mouse, to a two-button, it can detect scrolling in any direction. It can even zoom the screen with a hold of ctrl and “scrolling” Did I mention scrolling with no stupid mouse scroller or ball to move. That means nothing gumming up the thing. Trust me, if you use your apple mouse a lot you’ve had the damn ball get gummed up with dirt and god knows what and tried a hundred tricks for cleaning it out.

So, it may not change the world, but it changed my working hours, making things just run a little smoother. Meaning a liitle bit more energy in those long days of creating wild 3D presntations, new apps and games. Peace.