Mouse Love

I really am not a very heavy mouse user. As a writer, I spend most of my computer-using time typing text and reading text on screen. Of course, I still use the mouse from time to time, simply because there are things that it is much better designed to do than the keyboard is. There’s simply no denying, for example, that dragging a file icon from one window to another as a way to move or copy it has always been and still remains much more convenient than any kind of key sequence entered through the keyboard (by which I do not mean to say that it is always better to use a graphical interface for file copying — but in this particular case it simply is). On the whole, however, I definitely use my keyboard much more than I use my mouse.

I had never, therefore, really spent any significant amount of time pondering the qualities or flaws of my mouse. From the big square Mac Plus mouse to the more angular Mac SE mouse to the stylish oval-shaped mouse that came with my Mac IIsi, my PowerMac 7100 and my PowerMac 8600 — I had never really paid much attention. The mouse worked, it did the trick, and that was all I was asking from it.

Of course, it would regularly get dirty, and I did find it annoying to have to clean the dirt on those little wheels with my finger tip from time to time. It also took me a while to find the appropriate sort of mouse pad. (I eventually settled on the grey mouse pad provided as a gift by Apple.) As well, I would read about more ergonomic models from companies such as Kensington in MacWorld or MacUser. And I would occasionally encounter the multiple-button models on the Wintel side.

But nothing would really make me want to consider spending more time and resources on trying to find a “better” input device. As far as I was concerned, my Apple-provided mouse and keyboard weren’t perfect, but they were good enough.

The “Hockey Puck”

Then came the time to upgrade to a PowerMac G4. I had followed the saga of the iMac’s “hockey puck” mouse for a couple of years. I had actually used it from time to time on other people’s machines as I was troubleshooting them — and I just knew, as I was about to acquire a G4, that it wouldn’t do the trick.

Even for a writer like me, who makes only moderate use of his mouse, I knew the tiny, round device was simply not going to be good enough. (It was the same thing with the pokey keyboard, by the way, but that’s another story.) Even as I was estimating the cost of the upgrade, I had already counted the price of a new mouse.

At that time, optical mice were still a brand-new, PC-only thing, and wireless seemed to be overkill, since the mouse cord had never really bothered me significantly and I was going to have a USB hub on my monitor anyway, which would enable me to get the cord out of the way.

I therefore settled on a regular Logitech “MouseWheel” — one of those devices with two buttons, plus a “wheel” in the middle that could act as both a button and a scrolling device for programs which supported it.

I was actually somewhat excited. Now I would finally be able to see for myself whether the raves about those multiple-button, ergonomically designed devices were founded.

At first glance, I thought the device looked fairly cheap for its price. But I figured, “Plastic is plastic” — and I also thought, rather sheepishly, “So many people use this kind of device, they can’t all be wrong, can they?”

I made a serious, honest effort to adapt to the multiple buttons. Right-clicking instead of control-clicking was somewhat convenient, even though I would still often find myself clicking on a hyperlink with the left button and holding it down until the contextual menu popped up — out of habit, I suppose. I still had a lingering doubt, however, about whether a second button for contextual menus was really necessary. After all, I rarely find myself using my left hand while the right hand is using the mouse. Pressing down the control key while clicking was therefore not really a problem, if I wanted to work more efficiently.

I never really got used to the mouse wheel. For starters, it wouldn’t — and still won’t — work in all programs. It won’t always work in the programs for which it’s supposed to work either. I don’t know who’s to blame: Logitech and their drivers, the developers of the various programs, or Apple itself. But, in all honesty, I cannot be bothered. It simply doesn’t work all the time — and I just cannot get used to using something that only works some of the time.

In addition, scrolling up and down is only one of many ways to navigate through the contents of a window. I use the Page Up and Page Down keys extensively, as well as other key combinations. To me, it just doesn’t make much sense to have one way of scrolling through a document available on your mouse and all the other ones accessible through your keyboard.

In short, after a few months, I found that I simply wasn’t using the wheel, and my use of the right button was still not systematic either.

A Ball of Dirt

I also found that the mouse would get dirty very easily — to the point that it wouldn’t work at all. As I said earlier, I was used to the Apple mouse getting dirty and to having to clean it from time to time — but this was definitely much worse. I literally had to clean my mouse every few days! With my Apple mouse, I could feel the mouse getting gradually dirtier and dirtier, while still being usable. With the Logitech mouse, as soon as it started to get dirty, it would become unusable. I would get frustrated to the point that I would yell at my cursor for not doing what I wanted it to do. Sometimes I would attempt to clean it, rubbing the ball against my denim trousers, scratching all the dirt I could see off the little wheels — and then half an hour later it would get stuck on something again!

This never used to happen to me with an Apple mouse — in the same environment, with the same amount of dust and cat hair on my desk. I was starting to think that this was a bit ridiculous. I had spent good money on a mouse that was supposed to be way better than the hockey puck, but now I was starting to think that the puck probably wasn’t so bad after all!

Then Apple came out with the new “Pro” optical mouse. I was pleased to see that the company had finally acknowledged the shortcomings of the hockey puck and had taken a great step forward with the adoption of optical technology, which I had heard and read great things about — but I still felt that I didn’t really want to spend more money on a mouse. I thought I would try to endure my dirt-amassing Logitech a while longer.

A couple of months ago, however, I was on the phone with a colleague, and, once again, I started complaining about my stupid mouse which wouldn’t do what it was supposed to do and was getting dirty all the time… My colleague then had the wisdom to say that I really shouldn’t let a mouse drive me crazy like this, that a good mouse was important and that I deserved and could certainly afford a good one if I felt it was necessary.

I had to agree with her. I had ridiculously fought against this lousy mouse for too long, sometimes not even noticing the fighting anymore because it had become so much part of my work routine. I decided to take action.

A Matter of Trust

The issue now was: Which mouse? I was pretty certain that I wanted to go optical, in light of all the problems with dirt and the Logitech. Should I try one of those snazzy, multi-button offerings by Microsoft and others, or go for Apple’s minimalist, slick approach?

In light of my experience with the multi-button Logitech “MouseWheel,” I was, of course, already leaning towards Apple’s Pro mouse.

Ultimately, however, it all boiled down to a matter of trust. A mouse is one of those devices about which you cannot really know whether you’ll like them or not until you’ve been using them for a while. Some people might be lucky enough to be able to “test drive” devices before they like them, but most of us have to rely on what they hear or read and take a “leap of faith” at some point.

That’s exactly why I ordered Apple’s Pro mouse. Through all the years that I’ve been using Apple computers, I honestly have never felt cheated. Sometimes I have had to pay a steep premium for a premium machine. Sometimes I have had to deal with minor but annoying problems (such as the vanishing speaker on my Mac IIsi or the distortion in my G4’s audio output). But on the whole I have always experienced those essential characteristics in computing: quality and reliability.

Which is much more than I can say about Microsoft’s products, for example. Microsoft’s optical mouse and its Mac software might have received good reviews, but I simply do not trust Microsoft enough to be certain that the product will really meet my needs and be reliable. In addition, I have never found much “elegance” in Microsoft’s products, and the mouse is, in my opinion, one of those areas where elegance can have a very significant impact on functionality.

Simple, But Powerful

So I bought the Pro mouse. And I absolutely love it.

I don’t love it as a superficial gadget junkie. If I were that kind of person, I suspect I would have ordered a multi-button, wireless mouse.

I don’t even love it for its looks, even though it’s pretty slick and impresses everyone I show it to.

I love it because it is simple, yet meets all my needs. Like any optical device, it works directly on my desk surface, without a mouse pad. It’s instantly recognized by my G4 and doesn’t need any kind of software. It doesn’t get dirty. It’s exactly the right speed, which means I don’t have to make any adjustments. It’s a perfect size and shape for my hands. It’s the right weight. I was wrong when I thought: “Plastic is plastic.” There are all kinds of plastic. Where Logitech’s plastic felt cheap, Apple’s plastic feels strong, sturdy, ready to withstand a thousand shocks.

As well, the fact that it has no button, that the whole body of the mouse acts as a button, is simply brilliant. It has made me even more acutely aware of how inappropriate the multi-button approach is in most cases. My mouse is not a second keyboard. If I want multiple functions, I can get them through my keyboard, or with a combination of a click and a modifier key. But the basic, essential function of a mouse is movement and pressure. Point and click. In a way, Apple’s Pro mouse is to Microsoft’s multi-button offerings what the PowerPC’s RISC is to the Pentium’s CISC architecture. Simple, yet powerful. Simple, therefore more powerful.

The only occasion where I might switch back to my Logitech mouse is when playing some very specific types of games with fairly complex controls. But for most applications, for most of my interaction with the Mac’s graphical interface, Apple’s Pro mouse feels like the best device I’ve ever owned and used.

I feel that my trust was well-placed. It’s unfortunate that this mouse wasn’t bundled with the G4 when I acquired it, but I am not going to dwell on this. A year and half after its purchase, my G4 is still a terrific machine and this little mouse has just made it even better. It has definitely renewed my feeling of jubilation in knowing that I am using one of the best personal computers in the world — and that it just keeps getting better.

If you are stuck with an under-performing device for your computer, this article is my way of telling you what my colleague told me: Get a new one. It’s worth it. And you deserve it. Today.

Email Pierre Igot

Pierre's "Apple Peel" page at Applelust.com