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A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

blogs.windows.com

121–130 of 149 posts

Re: A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

#121

So they took one of the best ambidextrous mice and made it right handed? Thanks! But seriously, I know left handers are only 10% of the population, but I'm sick of being left behind, no pun intended. I've been using the Razer Deathadder for years and it's served me well. Well, the ergonomics for that matter anyway. Some of the choices with the structure are questionable at best. On the inside the mouse is split into…

I'm left handed in everything I do. However I chose to use mice right handed and it's a decision I will never regret.

Keyboard hotkeys are just made to be driven with the left hand while the right hand is free to use a mouse. It would take far too much customization (which not all applications even support) to rebind everything up support left hand mouse usage.

Re: A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

#122
post #109
post #23

I'm happy to see this, although it's kind of disappointing that "perfect" products are ever retired in the first place in the constant drive for change, often simply for change's sake. I'm not against improvement, of course - the iPhone X is one of the most perfect products I've ever had the pleasure of owning - but at the same time the current Macbook Pro is the first model I've literally not wanted because of how b…

> it's hard for companies to recognise when they're at "peak function" and to just stop changing things "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it", as Upton Sinclair famously wrote. Product managers (or rather product-people in general, including designers and so on) don't get bonuses for saying "the product is perfect as it is, we'll just keep paying a…

You'd think you could operate a company with just one shared product team that acts as an internal serial entrepreneur, setting up these self-sustaining operations and then moving on.

Actually, isn't that basically how companies that produce one-off software work? Like game studios, for example. You've got a central pool of "design talent" that doesn't stay on past release, and then you've got "live teams" for each release.

Re: A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

#123
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used the v1, the Elite, the Pro, the 4000, and now the Sculpt Ergonomic (this comment typed on the latter). In my opinion, each has been better than the last. It is pretty hard for to work in the same room as anyone using anything prior to the 4000, due to the loud spacebar, and even the 4000's spacebar is pretty loud. I do slightly prefer the larger hump of the early keyboards. The Sculpt Ergonomic is a departu…

The Sculpt Ergonomic is a departure from the large-bodied models of the past, but for those pining for the past, give the present/future a try :). I wish MS made a wired version of it. At least on MacOS, the dongle seems to be a perennial problem when new OS versions emerge.

The worst part is that the dongles are individually keyed/paired to their respective keyboards. If it breaks or is misplaced, getting another dongle won't work. The newer Surface Ergonomic keyboard is bluetooth, but it's not a ten-keyless design.

Re: A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

#126
post #23

I'm happy to see this, although it's kind of disappointing that "perfect" products are ever retired in the first place in the constant drive for change, often simply for change's sake. I'm not against improvement, of course - the iPhone X is one of the most perfect products I've ever had the pleasure of owning - but at the same time the current Macbook Pro is the first model I've literally not wanted because of how b…

> I suppose it's hard for companies to recognise when they're at "peak function" and to just stop changing things This is so true and really becoming a problem in tech. Another good example is Google Maps. The browser version used to be great. And then they went and “improved” it and in the process actually made it harder to use, in my opinion.

I agree. I’m still not used to the new Google Maps and it’s been, what, six years?

Re: A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

#127
This brings back a bit of nostalgia for me. I bought one of the originals (on the internet!) in 1999, at a steep discount, from a dot-com retailer that believed in losing money on the sale, but making up for it in volume. They didn't last too long.

I'd like to say a belated thank you to the Silicon Valley VCs that enabled me to keep an extra $30 or $40 in my pocket way back when.

Re: A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most likely the plastic molds wore out and the decision came to either spend $100k per mold to restart production or sell a new product. Usually the right thing to do is to modernize the product at this point. It's not a choice between leaving things alone and change for change's sake.

Molds do not cost that much. The prices you hear quoted for injection molds is to get the molds developed -- the partially trial and error process to get them right. Once the molds are worked out, getting new ones made is simple and cheap.

[deleted]

Re: A legend reborn: Microsoft brings back the iconic Classic IntelliMouse

#130
post #70

How about bringing back the original version of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Natural_Keyboard Just take the 1994 version and remake it in USB, with no other changes whatsoever. Thanks.

I just bought my 2nd 4000 edition, what do you mean they don't make it? The super updated "surface" one is a bit too much, don't love the keys or the separated number pad so I didn't spring for it.

Not the person you're replying to, but my problem with the 4000 (and with "wave" and "bowl-shaped" keyboards in general) is that it is too hard for me to memorize the position and orientation of all the keys to the accuracy required for me to avoid RSI.

In contrast, in the old Natural keyboard, all the keys for the left hand inhabited the same plane, and all the keys for the right hand inhabited a second plane -- excepting the arrow keys and the keys above it, which inhabited a third plane. (And when pressed a key would always travel perpendicular to this plane.)

Consequently, once I determined where one key is, it was easier to know where its neighbors are because they are all in the same plane. Ergo I need to remember only 2 quantities, namely how far to the left or the right it is and how many rows forward or back, as opposed to 3 quantities -- or 5 quantities if the keys point in different directions like they do on the Kinesis Advantage and IIRC the 4000.

(And within each plane, the layout of the keys followed very closely to standard layout introduced by IBM with the PS/2, which also helped me keep things memorized.)

The locations of the keys on a Kinesis Advantage are even more impossible for me to memorize to the accuracy I require to avoid RSI!

Now might be a good time to describe my cynical explanation for the many reports that switching from an ordinary keyboard to an "wave" or "bowl-shaped" keyboard helped with recovery from RSI: the massive change in the layout forces the coder to play closer attention to where the keys are, which keeps stress on the coder's hands low. If my cynical explanation is correct, then coders who develop RSI while using a "wave" keyboard would improve if they switch to a standard keyboard (because again the large change in keyboard format would force the coder to play closer attention to the locations of the keys).

But one does not need to switch keyboard formats to pay closer attention to the precise location (and orientation -- the direction the key will move when pressed -- if you are unlucky enough to use a keyboard in which the orientation of each key is different) of each key.

How do you avoid stubbing a toe when you walk around your apartment without shoes? Well, I devote a tiny fraction of my attention to where my feet and all the obstacles are. And I do the same to avoid RSI while typing.

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