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Apple introduces new input device

By Rain Noe - July 27, 2010

in Tech | Object Culture

Decades ago Apple pioneered mass-uptake of the mouse, and now they're out to break new ground with a new type of input device: The Magic Trackpad, announced this morning.

The sleek little rectangle works just like the trackpad on a MacBook(and is made from the same opaque glass), but it's way bigger, giving you more room to maneuver your mitt; as you can see in the photo below, it's about the same size front-to-back as Apple's Bluetooth keyboard. And yes, the surface is both clickable and double-clickable.

The device should appeal strongly to minimalists: There's no wires as it works via Bluetooth, and the sleek, futuristic form is about as pared down as you can get.

I use Expose a lot, and I find even the tiny act of having to move my hand from the mouse to my MacBook's trackpad is enough to break my workflow. The Magic Trackpad will preclude this, as Expose can be invoked directly from the device.

On top of that, something about touch makes manipulating a mouse across a surface seem anachronistic, like pushing a Tonka truck around as a child. Your correspondent, for one, will be ditching his dust-catching mousepad to dive into full-time touch fingers-first.

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Not Steve Jobs

14 years ago

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It seems like they could integrate the damn track pad into the keyboard and back light the keys ever so slightly.

Can't wait to sit on the couch with two peripherals laying around. Maybe just some simple way to connect these two with some range of rotation.

Come on apple how am I supposed to use this sweet little keyboard in the dark while watching media when I can't see the keys or navigate the pointer without a separate device.

Also did you ever notice (Steve) Jobs is in the apple dictionary. Look it up.
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d27

14 years ago

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It's always good news for anyone with arthritis, carpel tunnel or any other disability to have another option to try besides a mouse.
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jx

14 years ago

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i just wonder how this will effect my gaming... it might do wonders for FPS games..
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arcturus

14 years ago

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I have two words for you: D&D.

Dragging and dropping things with a touchpad/trackpad is plain painful, nothing beats the mouse
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AP

14 years ago

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I often thought about using something like a Mac mini with my living room TV. My first hang up has always been how clumsy a mouse would be if I was doing anything but sitting in front of the coffee table. With this, I could pick it up, kick back, and still be able to use it.
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-Joel-

14 years ago

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I'll save the critique on this devise until I try it out but most people I know would much rather use a mouse than a trackpad with their laptops. Even though the gestures are compelling, I can't help but think of this as a little gimmicky now with all the new touch interfaces coming out. It would look cool to have the keyboard and trackpad able to connect or be one piece. Is this just another thing to clutter up the desktop or is it a better way to navigate? We'll see but I like change if it's works better (although I guess better is a very subjective word).
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J

14 years ago

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there are already numerous ways to invoke expose without going to the keyboard.
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David Lewis

14 years ago

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Why do you need to take your hand off the mouse to use Expose?
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Mike Walker

14 years ago

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Lame comment here, but, if you don't want to move your hand from your mouse to your trackpad, set up a corner, where you just fire the cursor into and it will expose that way. Works for me! I use it on expose and spaces, i rarely do the whole 4 finger thing anyway.

Just look in settings..
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Duncan

14 years ago

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Nice, I think. Apple are excellent at the minimal approach, but I'd have to play with it to see if their usability is up to scratch.
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Andrew

14 years ago

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Wow, there is nothing I like less than trackpads (maybe trackballs?). A mouse is always an essential peripheral for me if I ever want to do real work on my laptop for any length of time.

Granted, this won't have the annoying ergonomic foibles of accidentally hitting the trackpad with your palm. I'll have to reserve full judgement until I try one, I guess.
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