Technologizer » Mice

This Isn’t a Job For Mighty Mouse!

Harry McCracken — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:09:59 +0000

As TechCrunch’s MG Siegler has reported, it looks like Apple may need to come up with a new name for the multi-touch mouse it’s supposedly getting ready to release: Another mouse manufacturer called Man & Machine has been awarded a trademark on the name Apple’s been using, Mighty Mouse. The name is, of course, a reference to Paul Terry’s beloved crime-busting rodent–who, oddly enough, only became Mighty Mouse after his original name, Super Mouse, became the subject of a trademark dispute shortly after the character debuted in 1942. (Apple apparently secured permission to use the name from Mighty’s current owner, CBS.)

Fortunately, there are plenty of other animated mice who’d probably be thrilled to have an Apple input device named after them. After the jump, a few nominees.

Then again, Steve Jobs sits on the board of a company that owns the most famous cartoon cheese-eater of them all:

Mickey probably doesn’t work cheap, though, and he’s already done pointing devices. Me, I’m betting it’ll be the Apple Little Roquefort…

Share/E-Mail

The Mice That Didn’t Make It

Harry McCracken — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:53:52 +0000

Once again, I’ve been happily wallowing in old documents at Google Patents. This time, I emerged with a bunch of patents for mice and other input devices–none of which had the impact that their creators hoped, and some of which are downright bizarre.

View Mouse Trouble slideshow.

Share/E-Mail

Mouse Trouble: 20 Weird Pointing Device Patents

Harry McCracken — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:44:28 +0000

Build a better mousetrap, Ralph Waldo Emerson famously told us, and the world will beat a path to your door. On the other hand, computer-industry folks have been trying to build a better mouse for years–and the world has stayed away from 99 percent of them, including some fascinating works of unbridled mad genius. I’ve assembled a gallery of ill-fated mice (plus a few trackballs and mousepads), mostly drawn from the invaluable Google Patents. Some of these presumably turned into real products; others never got off the drawing board. Herewith, brief moments of delayed glory for all of them.

Share/E-Mail

Microsoft Dives Deeper Into the Laptop Accessory Business

David Worthington — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:46:29 +0000

Even Microsoft’s most impassioned critics will concede that it makes a darn good mouse, and with the rising popularity of netbooks, its hardware group is capitalizing on the opportunity to sell even more accessories. The company announced today that it will be introducing a notebook cooling base in July, and delivering more colors for its Arc Mouse later this month.

Microsoft has been a major PC accessory manufacturer for 25+ years, thanks to the Microsoft Mouse, and its move into the notebook accessory category is a logical extension of its hardware business.

Earlier this month, a Gartner Research report projected that notebook PC shipments would increase approximately 9 percent in 2009 from 2008 despite the worldwide economic downturn’s overall negative effect on global PC shipments.

While its hardware business is benefiting, the netbook trend has hurt Windows client licensing revenue. Microsoft’s diversification is filling its coffers, but it will have to sell a lot of Arc Mouses (Mice?) to make up the difference.

Share/E-Mail

The Mouse Turns Forty

Harry McCracken — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:04:30 +0000

Back in the 1960s, a genius named Douglas Engelbart was busy figuring out many of the things that define most of the computing user interfaces on this planet to this day. On December 9th, 1968, he gave the first public demonstration of a device for manipulating an on-screen cursor–and since the little gadget had a tail-like cord, he called it a mouse. In celebration of today’s anniversary of the mouse’s debut, we’ve assembled a little slideshow of significant mice (and a few oddballs) from the past four decades.

Share/E-Mail

The Mouse That Soared

Harry McCracken — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:42:04 +0000

On December 9th, 1968, Stanford Research Institute scientist Douglas Engelbart demonstrated his unique invention–the computer mouse–for the first time in public. It took another decade and a half for it to catch on, but once it did, computing was never the same. And today, it’s hard to imagine using a desktop or laptop computer without a mouse (or one of its latter-day substitutes such as the touchpad). In celebration of the anniversary, here’s a gallery of some of the mightiest mice of the last four decades.

Share/E-Mail

New Targus Accessories Cater to Mac Users

Harry McCracken — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:08:17 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Seagate’s new hard drives designed specifically for Macs, and noted that it was interesting to see how booming sales for Macs have led large companies to enter the Mac market rather than flee it, as many were doing not so long ago. Here’s more confirmation of that trned: Targus, the big manufacturer of computer cases and mobile accessories, is rolling out its first products tailored for Mac users.

The “Targus for Mac” line includes mice, a USB hub, a presentation remote, a file-sharing cable, a cooling pad, and privacy screens. For the most part, their Mac-isness doesn’t relate to functionality, and Mac users already have access to products in all those categories which are fully Mac-compatible. But Targus has done a nice job of styling the products with a look that’s pleasingly complimentary to MacBooks and MacBook Pros without simply being an unimaginative knockoff of Apple’s own aesthetic.

The mice, USB, remote, and cooling pad all combine light gray and dark gray plastics that feel different to the touch, and which are pretty classy by any standards–here are images of the first three products:

One reason why companies are coming back to the Mac is the reputation of Mac owners as being willing to pay more for cool stuff than their Windows-using brethren–both Targus and Seagate mentioned that to me as a factor in their thinking. So none of these products are cheapies, but they’ve got upscale features, too: The mice, for instance, have a four-way scrollpad that sits under your fingertip, and the USB hub has a cord that wraps snugly around the hub when not in use. (Actually, the hub design is so clever and practical I might buy it for use with a Windows laptop.)

Prices are as follows:

–Bluetooth mouse: $70 (same as Apple’s Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, which only has up-and-down scrolling)
–RF wireless mouse: $50 (same as Apple’s wired Mighty Mouse; I was surprised to see Targus do an RF mouse, since all Mac laptops have Bluetooth, but it is cheaper, and the company told me that some users are intimidated by Bluetooth. The RF dongle is tiny, too–a nub you can leave plugged into the USB port)
–USB hub: $29
–Presenter: $80 (it works with both PowerPoint and Keynote, natch)
–File transfer cable: $50 (it includes built-in software for both Windows-to-Mac transfers and Mac-to-Mac ones)
–Cooling pad: $50 (Targus calls it a Chill Mat)
–Privacy filters: $50

The problem with designing accessories to look good with Mac portables is that Apple could change its portable designs on you–and there are plausible rumors that Apple may overhaul its laptop line real soon now. I asked Targus’s Al Giazzon about that, and he said he felt reasonably comfortable that Apple wouldn’t go in a design direction that rendered the new Targus products a bad match. I suspect he’s right, since it seems intuitively likely that Apple will do more aluminum cases that’ll match Targus’s gray products nicely.

Oh, and one final note: The Targus for Mac line won’t be in Apple Stores for the time being; it will, however, be stocked at Best Buy.

Share/E-Mail