I’m a multitouch junkie. Everything I touch has to be multitouch, or it just ain’t right. I can no longer use a regular laptop trackpad — there’s no two-finger scrolling. It irritates me no end if I can’t point, scroll and double-click with my fingers.
How long will it take then, to get used to the Apple’s new Magic Mouse? So far, it’s been frustrating. It seems like the Magic Mouse would be perfectly natural to use, but it isn’t.
Magic Mouse review
The big problem is that the Magic Mouse doesn’t operate completely like a little trackpad. Instead, it’s a hybrid between a regular mouse and a multitouch trackpad.
To move the cursor onscreen, you move the entire mouse, just like a traditional mouse. And when you want to scroll up or down a webpage, you swipe your finger across the multitouch surface.
So far, it’s been awkward. I keep wanting to scroll my finger across the top of the mouse, and have the cursor track across the screen — the way it does on the trackpad of my MacBook. I also keep trying to use two fingers to scroll up and down webpages, but I only need to use one.
My muscle memory is working against me. I keep making the wrong gestures, and getting frustrated as a result.
It’s obviously a question of getting used to it. But do I really want to? I would like to use the surface of the Magic Mouse like a MacBook trackpad. But then why have a mouse at all? I’d be better off with a multitouch trackpad like Wacom’s new Bamboo Touch Pad.
Magic Mouse build quality
The build quality of the mouse is excellent. It’s a beautiful piece of aluminum and plastic that resembles a highly polished stone. The seamless top surface reminds me of an inductive cooktop for some reason — perhaps because it hides its nature.
It has a nice, satisfying clickiness when pressed, and moves buttery-smooth because it’s so light.
Because it is so light, it sometimes moves when you scroll, especially if you make a sideways swipe to go back or forth through web pages. Then the cursor moves on-screen, and has to be moved back again to hit a link.
But, who’s kidding who here? What do you guys care if I find it slightly awkward?
It’s a new Apple product! It may be expensive, but it’s utterly intriguing. It’s flying off shelves (I had to call a ton of stores to score one.) It’s beautifully made and fascinating to pick up and play with, even if using it is not immediately natural. Pay no attention to my silly opinions, go out and buy it right now.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
