Posted on 08/02/2005 8:43:02 AM PDT by Dont Mention the War
No, Windows and IBM made smart moves in the 80s, while APPLE decided to stick to proprietary hardware. . .
And exactly what smart move did IBM make and what is IBM's market share of personal computers today???
IBM did not suddenly, in a "smart" business decision, decide to open its architecture to anybody and everybody... in fact, they did everything they could through lawsuits, contracts, and secrecy to prevent it. But the cat was already out of the bag when the first IBM PC was shipped made of off the shelf parts, including the OS, provided by third party vendors. The only thing that IBM truly had total rights to was the BIOS... and that was reverse engineered in less than two years.
Did Apple make some bad decisions? You bet. They tried to be all things to their customers... going proprietary on things that did not need to be proprietary. However, for certain applications it made sense to provide the computer, software, monitor, and printer - Apple could control the quality and assure that, from start to finish, all the hardware worked together to provide quality WYSIWYG output. As a result, Apple siezed the publishing industry and kept it for many years.
As to innovation, you seriously aren't implying that a 2 button mouse is an innovation in the year 2005 are you? Or that taking an existing OS and an opensource solution such as KVM and the like and proprietarizing them are huge innovations are you?
As to innovation, a two button mouse is not an innovation in 2005. But the mouse under question here with its scroll BALL that allows scrolling in 360º directions, not just up and down, or left and right, is an innovation. Almost ALL innovation is the combining of existing technologies in new, useful ways. By that definition, OSX meets the requirement.
In a Capitalist economy, it is both... a product with a phenomenal markup, potentially providing a huge profit, cannot meet that potential without sales. Similarly, a product with a 100% market share that is sold at cost has no profits...
Forget Best Buy, you can get the best deal on a mouse on Ebay. I paid $6.00 plus $5.00 shipping on a logitec track ball mouse. They sell for $40 plus at Best Buy.
And on my Mac at work, I have a logitec mouse - the other buttons don't work on it but it works much better and is much easier on my hand than the apple mouse.
You're too late... OSX has had a line command for five years now...
In a way you are right... they were trying to appeal to people who wanted to use their computers as an appliance... to use it as simply as possible. I have met numerous PC users who STILL, after years of trying to use the PCs as appliances, have problems remember whether a specific action requires a left or right click. I have never run into a Mac user with the same dis-clickia problem. ;^)>
The point, respectfully submitted, is that more than one button adds levels of complexity. "Do I left click? or do I right click? What happens if I click wrong?" Numerous studies of user interface have demonstrated that for most users a single button mouse is easier to master and use. Apple took these studies to heart. This finding was demonstrated to me quite impressively in my experiences training the neophytes on both platforms simultaneously and differences in the learning curves between one and two button mouses.
At the time I started doing this training, I was an Amiga user... with a five button, trackball device. I had moved to there from the original two button Amiga mouse. Incidentally, I developed the database (which is still in use 18 years later) on my Amiga emulating a Mac and tested the PC version on my Amiga emulating a PC!
As a user gains confidence and mastery of the one button mouse he may find that it is more convenient to move to a multi-button mouse or other input device. Would you hand your grandmother (or your mother) a sophisticated gamer's input device as her first experience with the mouse/pointer metaphore?
As to why Apple is introducing a multi-button mouse now, note that their computer still ship with the one button mouse... the Mighty-Mouse is an after-market offering for those who choose to upgrade.
Me... I'll stick to my Logitech 3 button, scroll wheeled, thumb trackball. . . which I started using with a Mac 6400 in 1995 (I think) in an ADB version... now in a USB version that works with my G5. As I said, we Mac users CAN get along with a single button mouse . . . in fact, you can do everything normally done with it. . . but if we want more, we go and buy it.
If the other buttons don't work, you must not be using OSX on your work Mac.
OSX recognizes additional buttons, wheels, etc., and is true plug and play without a driver.
On OS9 and below the Logitech inut devices require a driver which can be downloaded. Install the driver and your other buttons will work.
Thanks. We are not using OSX. They keep telling us we will be getting it but they have been saying that for a while.
Frankly, I don't understand why they don't go to PC. Half the building - inclucing some in the art department are on PC.
The only reason I say that is because if they can not keep the systems updated with mac then it would at least be better to have updated PC's which they coul afford.
Anyhow, we just rebuild our desktop once at lunch and we seem to plod along ok.
I don't like E-Bay, just not place I go anymore, and I like to be able to monkey with a sample product before I buy. And when I decide to buy a mouse it's because the one I'm using died, I need a mouse by the time I get home from shopping for it, not after some possible con-artist gets around to mailing it.
The Logitech MX 1000 is the best input device on the market, bar none. Glad to see Apple forge ahead technologically with a multi-button mouse. [love to tweak Apple chauvinists]
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