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Apple is
no stranger to beautiful simplicity. In fact, when it
comes to computers, Apple seems to have invented it.
Take the latest iMacs for example. The entire computer
looks like a contemporary work of art, like something
you'd see on display at the MOMA (
Museum of Modern Art
) in
New York
. It's a screen balanced on a satin finish metal stand
with organic curves that make it seem like it's almost
floating on your desk. Yet there's nothing flimsy about
any of it. Pick up any Apple product and you can feel
its heftiness. But the beauty of their products is more
than just skin deep. Their designs also enhance their
products functionality. And Apple's latest version of
their mouse is certainly no exception.
The
cordless Apple Magic Mouse
($69)
has laser tracking, offers some amazing controls to its
user and it does all of it with absolutely no buttons
anywhere. When you take a first look at the Magic Mouse,
there's really nothing to see except the mouse itself.
In fact, if this mouse had come out 10 years ago, most
of us would have really thought it was magic after
seeing what it does and how it does it.
True to
Apple's design legacy, the Magic Mouse is beautifully
simple. It's just a gentle white glossy curve that's a
pleasure to touch and actually touching is exactly how
it works. The entire surface of the Magic Mouse is a
seamless, multi-touch surface. Anyone who's used an
iPhone is familiar with the multi-touch principle.
Basically, you can touch more than one place
simultaneously and depending on how you touch and move
over the surface will yield you different results.
Since
we're talking about a computer mouse, it makes perfect
sense to first make its basic functions work like any
other button-bristling mouse. So the Magic Mouse is
configured as a two-button mouse with a scroll wheel,
but with no buttons and no scroll wheel. Jut position
your hand over the Magic Mouse with your index and third
finger resting on its surface. Tap the surface with your
index finger to yield a left-button click, tap with your
middle finger produces a right-button click. Of course
you can reverse these actions via the System Preferences
panel if you're left-handed. Sliding your index finger
up and down the center makes the selected window move
correspondingly. It's speed-aware so the faster you move
your finger, the scrolling speed matches. Flick your
finger up and down and the window whizzes by in the
matching directions and speed.
But the
Magic Mouse takes things further. Move that same finger
left and right for horizontal scrolling. Or combine all
360 degrees of your finger's movement to correspondingly
pan an image in the open window. Hold down the control
key and your finger scroll will enlarge and reduce image
sizes. If you use both fingers in a left or right
swiping gesture while in a web browser, you will page
back and forward one page at a time. In iPhoto the same
gestures let you browse through your collection of
photos one at a time.
The Magic
Mouse preference pane gives you full control over all of
its functions, letting you fine tune or completely
disable most any of its features. The Magic Mouse works
with any Bluetooth enabled Macintosh and it must be
running OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.1 or later.
Typically,
simplicity comes with less functionality. But Apple
seems to keep breaking that rule and the Magic Mouse is
definitely another rule-breaker. If your Mac meets the
minimum requirements, you're going to want this mouse.
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