“Here I come to save the day….”
That was my first thought when I read on the Apple site that their new “mouse” that came with the latest iMac was to be called the “Magic Mouse.”
My mind works that way. Give me a few words, and a song title or lyrics pop into my brain and usually out my mouth.
“Magic Mouse, build me a hundred….I want it, I want it, I want it…”
I know…I am showing my age.
In any case, the Apple Magic Mouse caught my attention and I did indeed secretly want to get my hands on one. It’s shape, color and “trackpad” features intrigued me. So, when I was in fact in need of another mouse – this for my new MacBookPro (MBP), my AppleFanBoi friend suggested I get on.
Seventy dollars later, it was ordered and within a week the box arrived.
I must confess that I have also been intrigued by Apple’s packaging department. They don’t do anything without panache. It took me a week to figure out what that flat black thing wrapped in plastic was in the MCP box. Who would have guessed they would supply you with a silk-like “dust cloth” to keep your screen clean. Don’t get me started with Apples use of all of that unique thin plastic wrap.
So, after what seemed like an inordinate amount of time to get the MBP’s Bluetooth to discover the mouse – or vice versa – the device came alive.
Sadly, my first discovery was that the Magic Mouse is designed for people who have hands the size of a … mouse. It is tiny, and flat. It immediately reminded me of the hockey puck that came with the original iMacs back in the mid 90′s. I had thought that Apple had learned its lesson by now. The Magic Mouse does NOT fit my paw.
The second big disappointment is: unless you are using your Magic Mouse on a mouse pad, the device does not slide very easily, and because the bottom is made of metal – unlike the el Cheapo plastic ones I have all over the house – it makes a considerable amount of noise when it “scrapes” along on the top of my desk.
The positives should also be mentioned: the touchpad-like scrolling function is flawless, very accurate and easy on the hand. Unlike a standard scroll wheel, there is no tension in the motion and you can control the cursor with much more accuracy than with a wheel, especially a wheel with a gear in it that gives the mouse that “ratchet” feel.
Second positive: the zoom feature. While holding the Control button, the scroll function activates the screen zoom. I don’t use it much, but it is nice to have.
But the small size of the Magic Mouse may be the deal breaker for me. We’ll play with it for a while longer and see.
The Magic Mouse does not support all of the great features that are found in the MBP trackpad and that was a big mistake on Apple’s part. It seems to me they could have added the three- and four-finger actions; maybe we’ll see those in the next version.
So, if you have seventy good ones burning a hole in your pocket and own a late model Apple computer, you’ll probably want one of these. If not, I’ll sell you mine – cheap.
