Tim Cook stepping down

[Roller]

All I know is I can't trust a hardware engineering guy who has continued to put the magic mouse charging port under the bottom. That's some day 1 junior college educated intern shit right there.

I agree about the charging port, but Jobs approved the round "hockey puck" mouse for the iMac, so there's that. And the Power Mac Cube, although ahead of its time, had significant problems. We also don't know if the Magic Mouse was on Ternus' radar or if it was approved/pushed by someone else. I'm certainly willing to see how he does, not that we have a choice.

 

[rdrr]

Not sure why Apple didn't come up with this. https://myair0.com/en-us

 

[Cmaier]

I agree about the charging port, but Jobs approved the round "hockey puck" mouse for the iMac, so there's that. And the Power Mac Cube, although ahead of its time, had significant problems. We also don't know if the Magic Mouse was on Ternus' radar or if it was approved/pushed by someone else. I'm certainly willing to see how he does, not that we have a choice.

I don’t think Ternus was in charge of hardware when this iteration of the mouse was designed, and he certainly didn’t have the juice to override Ive if he was. He was in charge of hardware when they switched to USB-C and added other colors and stuff, I think, but that wasn’t really an opportunity for a complete redesign. And given that trackpads are probably the much more popular choice now, and given that Macs are a small part of the business, I doubt “fix the mouse” is high on anybody’s list at Apple.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I agree about the charging port, but Jobs approved the round "hockey puck" mouse for the iMac, so there's that. And the Power Mac Cube, although ahead of its time, had significant problems. We also don't know if the Magic Mouse was on Ternus' radar or if it was approved/pushed by someone else. I'm certainly willing to see how he does, not that we have a choice.

Maybe it will be like when Iran released the hostages the day Reagan took office and on his first day he'll bust out a magic mouse that wirelessly charges on a special mouse pad ($29 per the tradition) that Tim has been blocking his entire time as CEO.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I don’t think Ternus was in charge of hardware when this iteration of the mouse was designed, and he certainly didn’t have the juice to override Ive if he was. He was in charge of hardware when they switched to USB-C and added other colors and stuff, I think, but that wasn’t really an opportunity for a complete redesign. And given that trackpads are probably the much more popular choice now, and given that Macs are a small part of the business, I doubt “fix the mouse” is high on anybody’s list at Apple.

I don't really like trackpads and I have a magic trackpad. I prefer wider arm movement range as opposed to doing everything with your wrist. I also think the magic mouse is a bit too small or low profile but when I try larger mice I don't like the overall experience compared to the magic mouse.

 

[Yoused]

I honestly don't understand the demand for MORE AI!!!!

There is one place where a lot of people would appreciate more AI: app construction. Eric himself used a LLM to develop a zooming tool for iPhone. Ultimately, an intelligent computer would allow users to build exactly the the tools they need to get the job done without having to search the App store or the web. Such a thing could be wildly popular – you just tell the thing what you want, and it says "like this?" and you say "well, that is almost it but do this and this and put this here."

Of course, Apple would lose a fair bit of App store revenue, but they would make it up somewhere. Content delivery, I suppose. The upside to everyone being able to write their own apps is you would not have to worry about your own computer installing spyware trojans as part of that process.

I don't really like trackpads and I have a magic trackpad. I prefer wider arm movement range as opposed to doing everything with your wrist.

Maybe they will come up with the middle-ground on that: the magic trackmouse – a flat trackpad that is big enough to ride a mouse over, which also charges the mouse inductively, and lets you do all kinds of new things that combine gestures and mouse action. Though, given the prevalence of notebooks, the mouse is kind of not as popular as it used to be.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

There is one place where a lot of people would appreciate more AI: app construction. Eric himself used a LLM to develop a zooming tool for iPhone. Ultimately, an intelligent computer would allow users to build exactly the the tools they need to get the job done without having to search the App store or the web. Such a thing could be wildly popular – you just tell the thing what you want, and it says "like this?" and you say "well, that is almost it but do this and this and put this here."

Of course, Apple would lose a fair bit of App store revenue, but they would make it up somewhere. Content delivery, I suppose. The upside to everyone being able to write their own apps is you would not have to worry about your own computer installing spyware trojans as part of that process.



Maybe they will come up with the middle-ground on that: the magic trackmouse – a flat trackpad that is big enough to ride a mouse over, which also charges the mouse inductively, and lets you do all kinds of new things that combine gestures and mouse action. Though, given the prevalence of notebooks, the mouse is kind of not as popular as it used to be.

Things may change with new leadership but I think Apple primarily tends to think of things in terms of the average consumer needs and as such are scratching their head at what exactly the average consumer would want and need from AI. That and I think Apple more than most tech companies has some concern about the damage caused by too much screen time. They probably don't want therapists flooded by kids (and adults) who have come to believe their iPhone is their most trusted friend and confident based on the technology they directly control.

Great mouse/pad idea!

 

[Yoused]

Great mouse/pad idea!

It may not be particularly original. ISTR years ago Wacom had a tablet input thing for graphics that, I think, had a mouse that could track over it. I had a PowerBook 140 (68030 as I recall) that had a built in trackball, and since then, I have always preferred trackballs (usually Kensington). I mean, I guess I get the moving your arm thing, but I would rather save my elbow for tennis or something.

 

[Andropov]

All I know is I can't trust a hardware engineering guy who has continued to put the magic mouse charging port under the bottom. That's some day 1 junior college educated intern shit right there.

Given it was designed when wired mice were overwhelmingly more popular, it was most likely done to force users to use it wirelessly, instead of as a wireless-but-always-plugged-in mouse. It's not like they didn't realize it couldn't be charged and used at the same time.

He was in charge of hardware when they switched to USB-C and added other colors and stuff, I think, but that wasn’t really an opportunity for a complete redesign.

The lightning Magic Mouse was also a modified version of the AA-battery powered Magic Mouse (from 2009), so there was no big redesign when they added a charging port for the first time either.

I doubt “fix the mouse” is high on anybody’s list at Apple.

Heh. I remember Tim Cook was asked about the Magic Mouse in an interview (don't remember which one) and he gave such a comically vague answer that it made me think he barely remembered what the mouse looked like.

 

[Vincent Hannah]

Given it was designed when wired mice were overwhelmingly more popular, it was most likely done to force users to use it wirelessly, instead of as a wireless-but-always-plugged-in mouse. It's not like they didn't realize it couldn't be charged and used at the same time.

I’ve been saying this for years. The reason the port is on the bottom is because regular people would leave it plugged in 24/7 if it were on the front.

And the next one will charge magnetically on an Apple Watch charger that will also prevent it from being used while charging. Get used to it, nerds.

 

[Cmaier]

I’ve been saying this for years. The reason the port is on the bottom is because regular people would leave it plugged in 24/7 if it were on the front.

And the next one will charge magnetically on an Apple Watch charger that will also prevent it from being used while charging. Get used to it, nerds.

if it were on the back, you could leave it plugged in to your computer and use a wired connection instead of bluetooth, which could be useful.

At this point I use a trackpad, though, so I ceased insulting the design years ago.