“Magic Mouse”, Finally, an Apple Mouse that Doesn’t Suck

I thought about writing this a few days ago when the UPS guy delivered my latest Apple purchase, a ”Magic Mouse”.  But then I thought it best to wait a few days until I had a little more experience with the device.  Aside from the truly stupid name (the worst since “MobileMe”), this thing is pretty nice.  Apple could have left the “Mighty Mouse” (another stupid name) out of the box for every Mac I’ve ever bought.  In fact, the only time I’ve ever used one is when one of my Logitechs’ batteries died and my last spare “AA” was in my daughter’s camera.  How can a company with such clearly superior industrial design even consider putting something as crappy as a Mighty Mouse in the box with one of their computers?  But I digress.

This new mouse is clearly a step above anything Apple has previously offered.  Borrowing from their MacBook trackpad, Apple incorporates gestures into the button-less glass surface of their new, sleek offering.  While not as extensive as their trackpad, the gestures Apple included in the mouse update 1.0 turn this one-button device into a five-button mouse with a scroll wheel.  More on that in a moment.

Opening the box reveals a clear top display case complete with a plastic hook for hanging in the Apple store.  Opening this packaging is problematic at best.  I think Apple used half a roll of clear tape to secure the new mouse in its packaging.  Opening it reminded me of trying to get a new DVD out of its wrapper complete with sticky residue on the bottom of the mouse that took more effort than necessary to clean off.  Once out of the package though I was initially impressed with the build quality and overall heft of the device.  Conversely, the Mighty Mouse feels like a light, cheap piece of plastic crap by comparison.  The Magic’s aluminum and glass construction is more like one would expect from Apple, a solidly built piece of hardware.

Setup was a snap and I immediately appreciated the bluetooth wireless with nothing to plug into my computer, a MacBook Pro.  The third law of Mac computing is: “No matter how many USB ports one has, it will always be one too few.”  Not a concern with this mouse.  After a few simple adjustments I had the new device working to my liking.  The first thing I noticed was how short (vertically) the device is so the body of the mouse never touches the palm of my average-sized hand.  Next, the technique for pressing the right button took some getting used to.  To do so requires lifting your left finger from the mouse.  The scroll works like you’d expect and since I selected “with momentum”, zinging to the bottom of a long web page is a snap.  The only real gesture is the two-fingered swipe left or right which navigates back and forth respectively.  I’ve tried it in Safari, Firefox and iPhoto and it works quite well.  The device's considerable heft is what makes this possible.  Swiping a lighter mouse might send it sliding unintentionally.  The Magic Mouse stays steady as your fingers swipe the surface.  Once I got used to it, the motions seemed quite natural.

I’m a huge Logitech fan and have been using a MX 1000 with my iMac and a VX 1000 with my MBP for about a year now.  I have every button and the wheel setup to my liking.  Both let you add quite a bit more functionality than the Magic Mouse.  After a week, I have to admit I don’t miss the extras.  I must not have used them very much, although I would like a way to invoke the Application Switcher.  I’m sure Apple will add functions in future software releases.  Maybe that will be one of them.

My advice:  If you like your existing pointing device, keep it.  The Magic Mouse doesn’t offer anything you can’t get elsewhere.  If you’re looking for a new mouse, the Magic may be worth a look.  At least now buying a new Mac won’t involve adding a third party pointing device to your purchase.  Apple finally includes one that isn’t an embarrassment.

The "Jailbreak" Mentality

I’m a BIG fan of jailbreaking my iPhone and iPod Touch.  I mainly like monkeying around with the GUI on the devices but there are tons of apps available through Cydia, Rock and Icy that, for whatever reason, are not “blessed” by the overlords at Apple.  I’ve found most of these to be reliable and safe, but there’s always the exception and I install them at my own risk.  I’ve been jailbreaking since the first jailbreak was available for the first-gen iPod Touch and have successfully jailbroken every iDevice I’ve owned including first and second generation iPod Touches, the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.  Every device I own is now jailbroken running the latest OS, 3.1.2.

I find I can do so much more with a jailbroken device that it is always a quandary when Apple releases an OS update.  I have to decide if Apple’s new features outweigh the features I enjoy with a jailbroken device.  I usually wait until a jailbreak is available before upgrading, but it is still a pain in the ass.  Call me stubborn, but I have a big problem with Apple’s attitude.  After all, I paid for these devices (which are really computers) and I don’t like anybody telling me what I can and can’t do with them.

I love my Macs, but I can’t imagine a scenario where I would even consider buying one if Apple were as onerous with them as they are with the iPhone and iPod touch.  All you Mac owners out there:  Can you imagine a world where you couldn’t even change the wallpaper on your computer?  Or browse for files?  How f*%^ked-up is that?  Apple will void the warranty on my iPod Touch if I jailbreak it.  I get that.  They shouldn’t be responsible for things out of their control.  But what if my device is out of warranty or I choose to tell Apple to shove their warranty?  I paid for this damned thing.  Why can’t I install whatever I want on it?  ITS MY COMPUTER!

Obviously, I’m not alone.  The jailbreak community is alive and well with new, quality software released every day.  My iPhone has a cool theme complete with custom rotating wallpaper, a five-icon dock and a bunch of cool sounds to replace the tired offerings from Apple.  Oh yeah, they don’t let you change them either.  A^#holes.

The word from GeoHot is jailbreaking is getting tougher with each OS release.  It has gotten to the point that the latest devices require tethering to reboot after they’re jailbroken.  That sucks.  Thankfully, even my 3GS (purchased in early July) is not in that group or I’d seriously consider towing the Apple line like a good little sheep.  As much as I love jailbreaking my iPhone, an un-jailbroken iPhone is still better than any other smartphone available.  That won’t be the case for long.  These new Android devices are looking mighty tasty.  I admit to being somewhat of an Apple fanboy but I don’t live under anybody’s boot!  I strongly suspect there are many others who share my opinion.  It will be interesting to see if Apple can continue putting up phenomenal numbers when the iPhone isn’t the only smartphone game in town.