Our Multi-touch Mouse Concept, & Apple’s Decision

Exactly a year ago today, Dave and I conceptualized what a multi-touch enabled Mighty Mouse might look. Roughly ten months later, Apple actually released a multi-touch enabled “magic” mouse (legal issues).

It doesn’t really deliver what we were looking for, and actually strips some previously great functionality. Still, it’s incredibly interesting to know that we were pretty much on the same page here.

Our Concept vs. Apple’s Old Mighty Mouse:

We envisioned a separate pad for the multi-touch area, and as much gesture control (at least) as on the notebook trackpads. These are supposed to be enough for professional users, and removing great features doesn’t make too much sense. Our concept is on the left, Apple’s previous model on the right.

our_mouse

Apple’s New ‘Magic’ Mouse:

Instead Apple went with with a full multi-touch enabled top shell. There’s no nipple (+1), but certain features are missing. Until I can completely customize gesture control on this thing, I’m on the fence. I’ve tried a few third party solutions for enabling certain multi-touch clicks, but they all lack polish.

magic_mouse

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filed in Design