“So you like Apple’s fancy Magic Mouse? It’s a beautiful piece of engineering with an insane price tag of $70. Problem is, even at $70, it only works on Macs leaving Windows users in the dust. But thanks to a hidden update here is how you get this little guy to work in Windows XP (32 bit) to Windows 7.”
Why does this sound like a commercial?
“Beautiful peace of engineering”?
“Insane price tag of $70”? – Yeah, I know. It is damn expensive.
“Leaving Windows users in the dust”?
Come on.
Looking at this:
http://images.apple.com/magicmouse/images/hero_1_20091020.jpg
I can’t help but be reminded of this exchange from the original Star Trek episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles”:
Spock: There’s something disquieting about these creatures. They remind me of the lilies of the field^aEUR”’they toil not, neither do they spin’. But they seem to eat a great deal. I see no practical use for them.
McCoy: Does everything have to have a practical use for you? They’re nice, soft, and they’re furry and they make a pleasant sound.
Spock: So would an ermine violin, Doctor, but I see no advantage in having one.
Edited 2009-11-23 21:07 UTC
I know $70 seems like a lot, but it’s not uncommon for new mice with new features to cost more. I paid more than $70 just for an optical mouse with three buttons a couple decades ago.
The price will drop once we have similar mice from third parties, like Logitech.
Logitech M55B Bluetooth Mouse – 75AUD
Microsoft ARC Mouse Black – 79AUD (wireless but not Bluetooth)
Apple Magic Mouse – 99AUD
Neither the Logitech nor Microsoft ones offer anything more than other much cheaper mouses.
Why is it that people have such an issue paying a bit more for new technology, or at least a new use of existing technology?
A $70 mouse with no third button and too small for my hands = epic fail.
Third button? Where is the second one is my question!
The problem isn’t just the price, for my money (unintentional pun) – it’s the combination of high price and poor ergonomics.
On the flip side, both Logitech and Microsoft sell mice that are significantly less expensive than the Magic Mouse or the $50USD Apple Mouse (you can find several of them on Apple’s accessories page, as well as a few from Kensington). And for anyone with large hands, the cheapest mouse that Logitech sells is probably still a better choice than any mouse that Apple has made in the last decade.
Don’t get me wrong, Apple does sell some very well-designed products – but their mice aren’t among them. From an ergonomics standpoint, Apple hasn’t made a decent mouse since the old “teardop”-style ADB models.