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Apple Magic Trackpad

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Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#151

Post by jamesbritt »

stan_rogers wrote: post #142
bugsy wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IBM Trackpoint http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/healthycomputing/trkpnt.html Best pointing device ever. You can keep your hand in home position for typing and manipulate the cursor. It doesn't actually move, but is force sensitive and is delicately calibrated to move in an intuitive manner.

With a Trackpoint-equipped keyboard and a Cintiq (or a tablet like the Intuos if you're using a laptop) you can rule the world. (Well, unless you're a gamer.) The only thing a Trackpoint can't do well is draw, and frankly touchpads, mice and trackballs fall short there as well. EDIT -- I'm not certain you can find a keyboard with a Trackpoint that isn't part of a Thinkpad anymore. There used to be a couple of license…

Some Dell laptops offer trackpoint keyboards (a big draw for me).

Unicomp sells heavy, clacky-key, IBM Model-M style keyboards with the trackpoint built in

http://pckeyboards.stores.yahoo.net/en104wh.html

Sort of pricey, but really nice whwn you want to hack with your feet up and the keyboard in your lap, and not have to reach for a mouse.

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#152

Post by niels_olson »

nevinera wrote: post #134
city41 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly don't think it's placebo. MacBooks are the only laptop I've ever owned where I've never felt inclined to use a mouse instead of the trackpad. They really are that good.

>I honestly don't think it's placebo. Well if you did, it wouldn't work!

I've used a lot of pointers (keyboard, joystick, mouse, trackball, trackpad, multitouch, retinal motion, wacom) on a lot of operating systems (TI-94A, solid-state radar displays, Apple II, whatever was behind ACDS and CEC, Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac, FreeBSD, etc, etc) in a lot of different contexts (tracking targets, directing fire, games, fetal ultrasound, planning and reading MRI, CT, Da Vinci machines, surgical microscopes) etc, etc, etc.

I don't think the Mac trackpad is anywhere close to a placebo. It's a parachute issue. (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/327/7429/1459). For the platform (personal computing), the mac trackpad is a hands-down winner.

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#153

Post by DougBTX »

wtallis wrote: post #149
DougBTX wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This track pad probably runs on the same tech as the iPhone (multi touch capacitive glass interface), so this comparison is probably relevant: http://mobiler.co.za/smartphones/3308.html If average PC track pads are as good as the average non-iPhone touch sensitive screens (yes, a fuzzy comparison, but probably the right ball park), then you'd expect the Apple ones to be better.

A better version of the test, and straight from the source: http://labs.moto.com/robot_touchscreen_analysis/

Sorry, lazy googling.

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#154

Post by cwalcott »

teilo wrote: post #2

Hmm. Maybe for my Mac Mini in my entertainment center, but I much prefer a trackball at the desk. No doubt BetterTouchTool will be updated to support this, making it far more useful: http://blog.boastr.net/

Yeah, I could see using it for my Mac Mini, I just wish you could somehow attach it to the wireless keyboard. Having two separate devices on your lap doesn't really work...

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#155

Post by ugh »

sliverstorm wrote: post #109
pilif wrote: post #36

Back in the days, I always preferred the Trackpoints the IBM ThinkPads used and I never quite liked the trackpads. I'm even going as far as to say that I'm quite the trackpad hater - they never felt precise to me and required way too frantic finger movement to be really comfortable for me. But when I moved to Apple hardware, I basically was stuck with the trackpads, but this time around, it was different. The bigger…

It's ironic you say the Apple trackpads allow you to move your fingers less. My biggest complaint about Apple laptops has always been the excessive mouse movement required, at least vs. the trackpoints I love.

Mice can’t be made very fast on OS X but trackpads can (I don’t even have the speed all the way cranked up). I don’t know what it is with Apple and mice but their trackpads are pretty great.

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#156

Post by ugh »

ezy wrote: post #103
pilif wrote: post #36

Back in the days, I always preferred the Trackpoints the IBM ThinkPads used and I never quite liked the trackpads. I'm even going as far as to say that I'm quite the trackpad hater - they never felt precise to me and required way too frantic finger movement to be really comfortable for me. But when I moved to Apple hardware, I basically was stuck with the trackpads, but this time around, it was different. The bigger…

I fail to see the advantage (swipe, swipe, swipe, press) has over (move, press). Not to mention that trackpads are fairly sensitive to sweaty fingers. Do people really rely on multitouch gestures that much? Frankly, I don't get it. Trackpads are vastly inferior to mice. I bring a mouse with my macbook whenever I can.

I can reach any point on the screen with one swipe. I will need at most two if I want to be really precise.

(It’s something you have to get used to, though. When all I had was a desktop I didn’t think I could ever use anything else but a mouse. After I got my ThinkPad I thought I could never manage without a track point. And right now I like my trackpad on my MBP best and would never rather use a mouse [exception: gaming]. Oh, and then there’s the two finger scrolling. Damn precise, better than any mouse wheel I ever used.)

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#158

Post by sliverstorm »

ugh wrote: post #155
sliverstorm wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ironic you say the Apple trackpads allow you to move your fingers less. My biggest complaint about Apple laptops has always been the excessive mouse movement required, at least vs. the trackpoints I love.

Mice can’t be made very fast on OS X but trackpads can (I don’t even have the speed all the way cranked up). I don’t know what it is with Apple and mice but their trackpads are pretty great.

My personal suspicion has always gone like this:

More advanced users have more key presses, larger, faster and more precise cursor movements, and are in general much more in control of the machine, moving quickly. I notice that I look where I want the cursor to go.

Less advanced users tend to move ploddingly slowly, and become very disoriented when the mouse moves quickly. I notice that my less technically apt friends look where the mouse is, and follow it to it's destination.

(Very similar to the observed division in number of inputs between beginning and expert Starcraft players)

Which crowd does Apple target again?

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#159

Post by sliverstorm »

guns wrote: post #110
ezy wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fail to see the advantage (swipe, swipe, swipe, press) has over (move, press). Not to mention that trackpads are fairly sensitive to sweaty fingers. Do people really rely on multitouch gestures that much? Frankly, I don't get it. Trackpads are vastly inferior to mice. I bring a mouse with my macbook whenever I can.

> I fail to see the advantage (swipe, swipe, swipe, press) has over (move, press) Turn up your trackpad's sensitivity. Also, if you have a keyboard driven workflow, a trackpad means shorter travel from the keyboard to the mouse.

> Also, if you have a keyboard driven workflow, a trackpad means shorter travel from the keyboard to the mouse.

(cough) Trackpoint (cough)

Re: Apple Magic Trackpad

#160

Post by ugh »

sliverstorm wrote: post #158
ugh wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mice can’t be made very fast on OS X but trackpads can (I don’t even have the speed all the way cranked up). I don’t know what it is with Apple and mice but their trackpads are pretty great.

My personal suspicion has always gone like this: More advanced users have more key presses, larger, faster and more precise cursor movements, and are in general much more in control of the machine, moving quickly. I notice that I look where I want the cursor to go. Less advanced users tend to move ploddingly slowly, and become very disoriented when the mouse moves quickly. I notice that my less technically apt friend…

Oh, I have seen so many less advanced computer users which struggle tremendously using a sensitive mouse. That certainly should be the reason why OS X defaults to very slow mouse speeds.

That doesn’t really explain why mice on OS X are still so damn slow even if you crank them all the way up. Less advanced users don’t change settings, advanced users do, so it would be possible to make both happy.

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