After the switch from SCSI to IDE, Mac OS 9 to Unix based Mac OS X and PowerPC to Intel, Apple finally switched to two-button mice today. Introducing… The Mighty Mouse!
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s not a bad thing at all. More is not always better, but for us button freaks, it sure is this time, because face it: Apple’s one-button philosophy was already compromised by “ctrl-click” context menu’s. Apple simply realised this, and introduced a two-button mouse of their own and, while they were at it, added a nice two dimensional scroll wheel. I won’t go into details on the hardware itself: It’s just basically an Apple mouse, which makes it different and unique (go see for yourself!).
What’s much more interesting, is what this extra button could mean for the future of the Mac OS. Having only one button kept Apple sharp. Everything should work for users with only one button, so naturally only the extra’s (ambiguous context menu’s anyone?) came with the second button. That motivation is now gone.
How will Apple’s intuïtive drag & drop do with two buttons? Will they add functionality for copy/move switching to the second button like they do now with the control, command and option buttons? Will we get Windows-style context menu’s as a mandatory way to get things done? I can’t wait to find out :)
Meanwhile, at least we have the scroll wheel.
Written on a Mac, with the “publish” button clicked by a – now old-skool – Mac mouse
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