Apple to kill off the Magic Mouse, focus on trackpads (Rumour) | Hacker News Reader

Apple to kill off the Magic Mouse, focus on trackpads (Rumour)

cultofmac.com

8 pointswlll8 comments

Why do I get the bad feeling that Apple is working hard to kill off the Mac? And ironically if it were anybody but Steve Jobs leading the company I wouldn't have that fear.

I do worry that Jobs' vision for Macs is far removed from what I want in a personal computer.

I don't think they mean to do that. If so, where would be apps developed? iPads? Sure not.

We need Macs as much as they do.

If you asked someone how to improve how they got from point a to point b in 1890, they'd have told you they wanted a better locomotive or a better horse. If you asked someone in 1990 how to improve how they keep in touch with friends they would have told you they wanted lower long distance rates so they could talk longer. People that have been using computers that use desktop metaphors are today's example.

You are probably quite efficient with the tools you have today. You know how to get your work done. You have the problems and the solutions mapped to your brain.

This isn't a bad thing, because it likely means that you are competent at what you do. It does however mean that seeing potential improvements in what can be done is more difficult because none of us are working with a blank slate.

I think your analogy is not really valid. For the purpose of moving from point A to point B, a car is better than a horse in most any way you can think of. For coding, editing text, illustrating, etc, an iPad with iOS does not hold a candle to a Macbook with OS X (or a PC with Windows or Linux, for that matter). Moving from horses to cars was disruptive, but it brought mostly advantages. Moving from OS X towards iOS does not bring such advantages in the general case.

I wouldn't say they're killing off the Mac but transforming it. It's been pretty clear that Apple views the future as being gesture-based. Apple is slowly rewiring our brains for touch.

Cult of Mac isn't usually a source for accurate rumors but it wouldn't surprise me that this is true.

It would not surprise me, either. I do not know the figures, but I think over half their Mac sales already ship with a trackpad and without a mouse.

I also do not understand why people would see this as a sign of killing of the Mac. If the trackpad is superior to the mouse (a position that I think is defensible for most users; if you have a 20-button mouse, you are the exception) what is wrong replacing one by the other?

To be fair, mice are freaking stupid. They've lasted this long because they solve a specific problem miles better than anything else out there, but, they are still freaking stupid pieces of equipment.

If apple can convince me to do away with mine, I will be grateful to them.

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