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Comment by hvs | Hacker News Reader

When you begin dragging a mounted disk in OS X now, the trash can image on the dock turns into an eject image, although I'm pretty sure that it hasn't always done that.

That said, I agree. I think the Apple designers could come up with a cool way to include an eject button.

Side note, no Mac (as far as I know) has ever had an eject button. Even the original floppy drives were electronic eject (which was really awesome back in the 80's.)

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Side note, no Mac (as far as I know) has ever had an eject button

My MacBook Pro and most MacBooks have an eject button on the keyboard right next to F12

I guess I was referring to a physical eject button (i.e. the kind you would find on a PC). The button on the keyboard just triggers the same call that dropping the CD into the trash does.

My original iMac had one. So did my Performa 6112CD.

My white 2006 iMac also has an eject button at the top right of the keyboard. Every Mac I've used since then has had one too.

Fortunately, my Apple II GS (Woz Edition!) had a physical disk eject button.

I understand the dislike of physical buttons, but I don't understand why Apple doesn't at least put a capacitance button on there (like the 360 has).

Because those buttons are terrible, provide zero real feedback tactile or visual, and people hate them?

I think the CD popping out of the slot right next to the button would be enough feedback.

Many did -- e.g. the original G4 Towers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Mac_G4

The gray oval in the center of the drive door cover is the load of a class 3 lever that pushes the eject button on a relatively commodity optical drive. It was eliminated once the Quicksilver generation came out.

Those early G4s could also be purchased with a ZIP drive, the coverplate to which infuriatingly had a thin section of plastic covering the ZIP eject button, such that you could see the LED in it but not push it. Now that's just mean.

>the trash can image on the dock turns into an eject image, although I'm pretty sure that it hasn't always done that.

It's always done that in Mac OS X, but not in Mac OS 9 or older

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