5 ms·

Two reasons. First, external multitouch trackpads have been basically unobtainable until now. Apple bought the one company that used to make them and incorpora

by gamble 16y ago

Two reasons. First, external multitouch trackpads have been basically unobtainable until now. Apple bought the one company that used to make them and incorporated their technology into Apple products years ago. The only other model I've seen was an obscure Japanese import that only supported Windows. If you like trackpads, the Magic Trackpad is the first time in years you can buy one for your desktop. Second, Apple makes the best trackpads in the industry by a huge margin. They're smooth and precise to a degree that PC laptop trackpads seem incapable of matching. The experience is comparable to the touchscreen on an iPhone or iPad. If you're not a Mac user it can be hard to appreciate the difference; I'm always shocked at how awful PC trackpads are every time I use non-Apple hardware. I'm used to hearing people complain about how much they hate trackpads, but if everyone had an Apple trackpad I suspect opinions would be quite different.

sprout 16y ago
>Apple makes the best trackpads in the industry by a huge margin. Do you have any research to back that up? I don't doubt that Apple trackpads are of high quality, probably even the best. That said, the placebo effect can be very powerful when attempting to gauge how easy it is to interact with a computer.
- city41 16y ago
  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.
  - nevinera 16y ago
    >I honestly don't think it's placebo. Well if you did, it wouldn't work!
    - niels_olson 16y ago
      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 http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/327/7429/1459). For the platform (personal computing), the mac trackpad is a hands-down winner.
      - city41 16y ago
        Keep in mind though, it only really performs that well in OSX. In Windows there are gestures that clash with each other, in particular trying to right click a link in Chrome causes the window to scroll, very frustrating.
- DougBTX 16y ago
  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 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.
  - wtallis 16y ago
    A better version of the test, and straight from the source: http://labs.moto.com/robot_touchscreen_analysis/ http://labs.moto.com/robot_touchscreen_analysis/
    - DougBTX 16y ago
      Sorry, lazy googling.
- gamble 16y ago
  I'm hardly the only one who's mentioned it: http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/15/please-wont-somebody-think-of-the-trackpads/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/15/please-wont-somebody-th... Part of the problem is that Synaptics and Alps Electric together supply the vast majority of PC trackpads, and I've got no problem calling them out for poor quality. Why worry about performance when you've got a duopoly and your customers are OEMs who only care about price?
pixelbath 16y ago
I agree; every PC trackpad (even standalone, expensive ones) were, at best, tolerable. Once there are some display models out in the wild, I'll have to check it out. Thank you for the informative reply.
- catch23 16y ago
  I have a macbook as well as an EeePC running ubuntu. I can say with absolute confidence that the EeePC trackpad is garbage -- laggy, imprecise, slow, no multitouch. It's amazing how well Apple can innovate on something as simple as a trackpad.

by gamble 16y ago

sprout 16y ago

>Apple makes the best trackpads in the industry by a huge margin. Do you have any research to back that up? I don't doubt that Apple trackpads are of high quality, probably even the best. That said, the placebo effect can be very powerful when attempting to gauge how easy it is to interact with a computer.

city41 16y ago
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.
- nevinera 16y ago
  >I honestly don't think it's placebo. Well if you did, it wouldn't work!
  - niels_olson 16y ago
    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 http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/327/7429/1459). For the platform (personal computing), the mac trackpad is a hands-down winner.
    - city41 16y ago
      Keep in mind though, it only really performs that well in OSX. In Windows there are gestures that clash with each other, in particular trying to right click a link in Chrome causes the window to scroll, very frustrating.
DougBTX 16y ago
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 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.
- wtallis 16y ago
  A better version of the test, and straight from the source: http://labs.moto.com/robot_touchscreen_analysis/ http://labs.moto.com/robot_touchscreen_analysis/
  - DougBTX 16y ago
    Sorry, lazy googling.
gamble 16y ago
I'm hardly the only one who's mentioned it: http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/15/please-wont-somebody-think-of-the-trackpads/ http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/15/please-wont-somebody-th... Part of the problem is that Synaptics and Alps Electric together supply the vast majority of PC trackpads, and I've got no problem calling them out for poor quality. Why worry about performance when you've got a duopoly and your customers are OEMs who only care about price?

pixelbath 16y ago

I agree; every PC trackpad (even standalone, expensive ones) were, at best, tolerable. Once there are some display models out in the wild, I'll have to check it out. Thank you for the informative reply.

catch23 16y ago
I have a macbook as well as an EeePC running ubuntu. I can say with absolute confidence that the EeePC trackpad is garbage -- laggy, imprecise, slow, no multitouch. It's amazing how well Apple can innovate on something as simple as a trackpad.