Thursday, July 16, 2009

Mac, Mice and Men

This is me, logging in at Best Buy. Apple has a new keyboard which is 40% less crappy than the design you see on Dr Who (which was so useless that the props department screwed them to the walls of the Tardis). I am happy to report that based on user feedback, Apple has restored a sense of key-press "feedback" to the little chiclet toy. So now you know if you tapped any given key past the pressure point required to place a character on the screen. While Apple still stubbornly refuses to place a physical, 2nd button on their mouse, the improved "Mighty Mouse" does function more like an actual user, pointer interface than in past incarnations. In short, the user input experience of the "nouveau" keyboard and mouse sucks considerably less than in models past. I still buy my classic G5 USB keyboards on eBay. Wouldn't have one of these Cal Arts design experiments in my office for love or money. Call me silly but I believe that carpal tunnel is a condition to be avoided, not aspired to. Steve Jobs may have a different opinion...