7 ms·

> whichever idiot thought putting the power plug at the bottom of the Magic Mouse was a good idea. For those not familiar with the Apple Mouse, the commenter m

by alehul 7y ago

> whichever idiot thought putting the power plug at the bottom of the Magic Mouse was a good idea. For those not familiar with the Apple Mouse, the commenter means that the power plug is on the part that you’re supposed to have on the mousepad, meaning you can’t charge it while using it, at all. Easily the worst way to design a mouse, ever. I don’t understand how it was approved.

m_mueller 7y ago
Probably the same person who approved Apple pencil 1 charging...
- coldtea 7y ago
  Haha, that's even worse yeah. The easiest way to break the end!
- threeseed 7y ago
  Apple Pencil 1 actually came with an adapter to charge it. I take it you've never used it before.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    I take it you've never read Apple's instructions before: "To charge your Apple Pencil (1st generation), PLUG YOUR Apple Pencil INTO THE Lightning connector ON YOUR iPad. You can ALSO charge it with a USB Power Adapter by using the Apple Pencil Charging Adapter that came with your Apple Pencil." Emphasis mine. Apple not only designed this BS way to charge, but also promoted it as the canonical way on their official docs (even on their videos).
    - sethammons 7y ago
      I'm not following, why emphasise the words you did? Reminds me of Austin Powers not being able to control the volume of his voice.
      - coldtea 7y ago
        Because (a) the emphasised parts describe the very method the parent said isn't how you're supposed to charge the Apple Pencil (b) they show what Apple not only recommends this method, but recommends it firat and without any qualifications, whereas what the parent said it the "canonical" way is mentioned as an aside qualified by "you can also". I could just paste the whole excerpt, but I wanted to "rub the relevant part "in the face", so to speak. I take it you are familiar with the concept of adding emphasis to a statement to highlight some part, right? If you're asking for the specific use of caps, it's because italics don't look very well in HN, and I can't bold IIRC.
        sethammons 7y ago
        Apparently I've been flagged and I'm having trouble finding the parent comment. What I recall was "YOUR" also emphasised, and I did not follow why. Underscores around the word also work for emphasise.
  - ricardobeat 7y ago
    I only found about the adapter after almost a year of owning the 1st gen. By then I was already desperate to switch to the new, vastly improved design. It was just a terrible idea, no excuses. Requiring a dongle only adds insult to injury.
  - bluesquared 7y ago
    Right! This is one of my biggest peeves with anti-Apple complainers...there are a few legitimate complaints with some of Apple's current designs but this isn't one! Apple Pencil 2 wireless charging nonwithstanding, this is the better design. Plugging in to your iPad is much better than having to dig out a cable, plug it into the Pencil, plug the other end somewhere else. Just think when your Pencil dies, which is more convenient?
    - coldtea 7y ago
      >Just think when your Pencil dies, which is more convenient? Just think, when your Pencil plug end snaps, because it was protruding from the end of the iPad and you've dropped it, or hit something, or made a sudden move, etc, how convenient would that be? It's a bad design, end of story.
      - artimaeis 7y ago
        Do you feel like the design of the 2nd generation Pencil for the 3rd generation iPad is _better_? Personally I don't like moving from Lightning to a more-proprietary non-standard magnetic interface. I think the first generation Pencil has a much better design in this regard, since now we have it working with the standard iPad and iPad Air. But, I think the design of the first generation Pencil is pretty good, so I'm curious of your thoughts since you find it to be a bad design.
        coldtea 7y ago
        >Do you feel like the design of the 2nd generation Pencil for the 3rd generation iPad is _better_? Yeah, very much so. Both the charging and also the better grip. >Personally I don't like moving from Lightning to a more-proprietary non-standard magnetic interface. That's a non issue with the Apple Pencil, because it's already a proprietary product itself, inherently tied to the iPad. It's not like it's a cross-product/cross-platform device, and needs a standard charging interface. You'll need an iPad to use it in the first place, so might as well charge it with one.
Causality1 7y ago
Yet many phone makers have done the same thing now, where you can't use wired headphones and charge the phone at the same time.
- coldtea 7y ago
  Several wrongs don't make a right.
  - Causality1 7y ago
    Oh I'm just pointing out companies are still just as stupid now as they were then.
salsadip 7y ago
Have you actually used the mouse? I haven't, but hearing from people that have actually used it (and not gotten all worked up about how bad this design is in theory) - they actually thought it was the BETTER design as the battery charged ridiculously fast. Meaning when they ran out they would charge it for a minute and got like a couple hours of use. This resulted in them actually using it as a wireless mouse instead of a wired one. Same with the pencil 1st gen - it charged so fast that it having a male port actually made sense as it made on the go charging feasible.
- PhasmaFelis 7y ago
  > Meaning when they ran out they would charge it for a minute and got like a couple hours of use. That's a minute longer than you should have to wait to keep using your mouse. I can appreciate that they minimized the impact of the poor design, but that doesn't mean it's not a poor design. > This resulted in them actually using it as a wireless mouse instead of a wired one. Does that improve functionality at all? It sounds like the same style-over-substance design that's led Apple to sacrifice important functionality for unnecessary size/weight cuts in the last few years.
- hobs 7y ago
  So you are saying that putting the port in the wrong place made it charge faster?
- alehul 7y ago
  I have used the mouse, yes— I understand what you're pitching, but I think that ultimately the user can decide whether they want it to be a wireless mouse or a wired mouse, depending on their needs. Putting it on the bottom did nothing but remove that optionality for the user, and that can be really frustrating. Unless the reason it charged so quickly was because it connected to the bottom of the mouse, I don't see the justification.
  - dwaite 7y ago
    However the lightning charge cable is not necessarily the right thickness, flexibility, or length to be appropriate for use as a wired mouse.
endorphone 7y ago
The thing charges in no time at all, and lasts forever. It is a seriously overstated "problem". It is my work mouse for 99% of my working time, and as a very heavy user of it I love the mouse, and it just isn't something that enters my mindspace at all. I feel like this conversation is one half people who have and use the mouse, and who have no problem with it, and one half people who don't use the mouse and imagine that it's some critical issue that they would face daily. And the latter are busy down arrowing anyone who isn't outraged about a non-issue.
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  It's a stupid design. So what if a lot of people aren't affected by it? My mouse is wireless. When it says battery low you know what I do? I plug it in and it looks just like a wired mouse for an hour. Tell me what exactly you get in exchange for losing that feature? Sexiness?
  - endorphone 7y ago
    The magic mouse is easily the best mouse I've ever used. It feels nice, works great, and the capacitive touch feature is one I now consider mandatory. Could they put the port somewhere else? Not with the current design (and it's a design that works spectacularly well for flicking and scrolling with fingers on the touch surface -- it seems to be a bit more than a design for looks). Well I suppose they could put it on the left or the right, but that would be stupid. They can't fit it on the ends. So they should have designed it for a non-issue that users of the mouse have no trouble with?
  - stephenr 7y ago
    > I plug it in and it looks just like a wired mouse for an hour. An hour? A 2 minute charge will run a Magic Mouse for a full work day.
KyM78YDM 7y ago
I use the Apple Mouse on a daily basis. This criticism is blown way out of proportion. I agree that it's a very ridiculous placement, but do you have a better idea where it should be placed? IMO, this is the best option given the constraints. The usual ridicule is that you can't use it when it's charging. To me, it's a non-issue at all: - When the battery drops to a low level (4% I think?), you will see a notification on your device reminding you that the charge is low. So have never been caught in a situation where I needed to charge the mouse while using it. - The battery lasts a long time. Apple claims that it lasts 2 months per full charge. Based on anecdotal evidence from myself and a friend, it lasts 3 months per full charge. So this 2 months claim isn't based on some super unrealistic assumption that Apple makes. So why is this important? Because at 4% when you receive the warning notification, the mouse can still run for another 2 days! (Assuming constant usage everyday and one full charge lasts 60 days, then 4% = 60 / 100 * 4 = 2.4.) - Finally, it charges super fast, too. A couple of minutes of charges can run a full day. So if you come to the office to find your mouse out of charge (because you forgot to charge it for the past 2 days despite the notifications), then plug it in before you get your coffee and you're good to go. My point is that, yes, the charging port placement is ridiculous, but 1) I don't think there are better options and 2) it's really not that big of a deal because it is extremely unlikely that you'd need to charge while you're using it.
- alehul 7y ago
  > but do you have a better idea where it should be placed? How about having a small notch at the front of the mouse, like every other mouse I've used? It can then be simultaneously wired, and usable. Maybe you're right that it's usually not frustrating, but I was trying to use this mouse at my office once and it wasn't charged, and it seemed pointless to wait before using it. > then plug it in before you get your coffee and you're good to go What if I don't want to test my mouse before coffee? What if I have urgent emails to answer? I understand that it isn't a world-breaking choice, but I don't understand why they would choose to change this. I love Apple, but this seems like one of those situations where a company changes something just to change it, claiming it's new and innovative, but actually reduces usability.
  - 7y ago
dwaite 7y ago
> Easily the worst way to design a mouse, ever. I don’t understand how it was approved. I do. It was on purpose. They do not want people using the wireless mouse as a wired mouse with a short, thick cord not designed for it. Which is totally what my parents would do.
- powvans 7y ago
  That's easily solved by disabling the mouse when it's connected to the cable. If what you're asserting is true, at by disabling it they could have avoided this endless mocking.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - saagarjha 7y ago
    > disabling the mouse when it's connected to the cable Like this wouldn't invite even more outrage?
- noisem4ker 7y ago
  Talk about user hostility.
  - rbanffy 7y ago
    The original Mac (and IIRC Lisa) had neither function nor arrow keys. Apple wanted users to use the mouse to move and to prevent software developers from building software that didn't feel like a Mac program. NeXT workstations never had function keys.
- masklinn 7y ago
  > They do not want people using the wireless mouse as a wired mouse with a short, thick cord not designed for it. Which is totally what my parents would do. That's still stupid as hell, as it basically asserts you're not allowed to use your computer if your mouse is out of batteries. Logitech's MX master came with a super long cable (it's at least 150cm / 5 ft), pretty flexible, and the charging port's at the top of the mouse. When it's out of battery it just becomes a wired mouse for a short while, it's super convenient. The Anywhere 2S is the same, and for all that I preferred the VX Nano overall, not having to hunt for a pair of emergency battery when I forget/forgot to recharge the 2S is extremely useful. In fact that's pretty much the only thing I dislike about my Apple Wireless Keyboard: if I forget to charge/change the batteries when it starts whining it becomes dead weight.

by alehul 7y ago

m_mueller 7y ago

Probably the same person who approved Apple pencil 1 charging...

coldtea 7y ago
Haha, that's even worse yeah. The easiest way to break the end!
threeseed 7y ago
Apple Pencil 1 actually came with an adapter to charge it. I take it you've never used it before.
- coldtea 7y ago
  I take it you've never read Apple's instructions before: "To charge your Apple Pencil (1st generation), PLUG YOUR Apple Pencil INTO THE Lightning connector ON YOUR iPad. You can ALSO charge it with a USB Power Adapter by using the Apple Pencil Charging Adapter that came with your Apple Pencil." Emphasis mine. Apple not only designed this BS way to charge, but also promoted it as the canonical way on their official docs (even on their videos).
  - sethammons 7y ago
    I'm not following, why emphasise the words you did? Reminds me of Austin Powers not being able to control the volume of his voice.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      Because (a) the emphasised parts describe the very method the parent said isn't how you're supposed to charge the Apple Pencil (b) they show what Apple not only recommends this method, but recommends it firat and without any qualifications, whereas what the parent said it the "canonical" way is mentioned as an aside qualified by "you can also". I could just paste the whole excerpt, but I wanted to "rub the relevant part "in the face", so to speak. I take it you are familiar with the concept of adding emphasis to a statement to highlight some part, right? If you're asking for the specific use of caps, it's because italics don't look very well in HN, and I can't bold IIRC.
      - sethammons 7y ago
        Apparently I've been flagged and I'm having trouble finding the parent comment. What I recall was "YOUR" also emphasised, and I did not follow why. Underscores around the word also work for emphasise.
- ricardobeat 7y ago
  I only found about the adapter after almost a year of owning the 1st gen. By then I was already desperate to switch to the new, vastly improved design. It was just a terrible idea, no excuses. Requiring a dongle only adds insult to injury.
- bluesquared 7y ago
  Right! This is one of my biggest peeves with anti-Apple complainers...there are a few legitimate complaints with some of Apple's current designs but this isn't one! Apple Pencil 2 wireless charging nonwithstanding, this is the better design. Plugging in to your iPad is much better than having to dig out a cable, plug it into the Pencil, plug the other end somewhere else. Just think when your Pencil dies, which is more convenient?
  - coldtea 7y ago
    >Just think when your Pencil dies, which is more convenient? Just think, when your Pencil plug end snaps, because it was protruding from the end of the iPad and you've dropped it, or hit something, or made a sudden move, etc, how convenient would that be? It's a bad design, end of story.
    - artimaeis 7y ago
      Do you feel like the design of the 2nd generation Pencil for the 3rd generation iPad is _better_? Personally I don't like moving from Lightning to a more-proprietary non-standard magnetic interface. I think the first generation Pencil has a much better design in this regard, since now we have it working with the standard iPad and iPad Air. But, I think the design of the first generation Pencil is pretty good, so I'm curious of your thoughts since you find it to be a bad design.
      - coldtea 7y ago
        >Do you feel like the design of the 2nd generation Pencil for the 3rd generation iPad is _better_? Yeah, very much so. Both the charging and also the better grip. >Personally I don't like moving from Lightning to a more-proprietary non-standard magnetic interface. That's a non issue with the Apple Pencil, because it's already a proprietary product itself, inherently tied to the iPad. It's not like it's a cross-product/cross-platform device, and needs a standard charging interface. You'll need an iPad to use it in the first place, so might as well charge it with one.

Causality1 7y ago

Yet many phone makers have done the same thing now, where you can't use wired headphones and charge the phone at the same time.

coldtea 7y ago
Several wrongs don't make a right.
- Causality1 7y ago
  Oh I'm just pointing out companies are still just as stupid now as they were then.

salsadip 7y ago

Have you actually used the mouse? I haven't, but hearing from people that have actually used it (and not gotten all worked up about how bad this design is in theory) - they actually thought it was the BETTER design as the battery charged ridiculously fast. Meaning when they ran out they would charge it for a minute and got like a couple hours of use. This resulted in them actually using it as a wireless mouse instead of a wired one. Same with the pencil 1st gen - it charged so fast that it having a male port actually made sense as it made on the go charging feasible.

PhasmaFelis 7y ago
> Meaning when they ran out they would charge it for a minute and got like a couple hours of use. That's a minute longer than you should have to wait to keep using your mouse. I can appreciate that they minimized the impact of the poor design, but that doesn't mean it's not a poor design. > This resulted in them actually using it as a wireless mouse instead of a wired one. Does that improve functionality at all? It sounds like the same style-over-substance design that's led Apple to sacrifice important functionality for unnecessary size/weight cuts in the last few years.
hobs 7y ago
So you are saying that putting the port in the wrong place made it charge faster?
alehul 7y ago
I have used the mouse, yes— I understand what you're pitching, but I think that ultimately the user can decide whether they want it to be a wireless mouse or a wired mouse, depending on their needs. Putting it on the bottom did nothing but remove that optionality for the user, and that can be really frustrating. Unless the reason it charged so quickly was because it connected to the bottom of the mouse, I don't see the justification.
- dwaite 7y ago
  However the lightning charge cable is not necessarily the right thickness, flexibility, or length to be appropriate for use as a wired mouse.

endorphone 7y ago

The thing charges in no time at all, and lasts forever. It is a seriously overstated "problem". It is my work mouse for 99% of my working time, and as a very heavy user of it I love the mouse, and it just isn't something that enters my mindspace at all. I feel like this conversation is one half people who have and use the mouse, and who have no problem with it, and one half people who don't use the mouse and imagine that it's some critical issue that they would face daily. And the latter are busy down arrowing anyone who isn't outraged about a non-issue.

Waterluvian 7y ago
It's a stupid design. So what if a lot of people aren't affected by it? My mouse is wireless. When it says battery low you know what I do? I plug it in and it looks just like a wired mouse for an hour. Tell me what exactly you get in exchange for losing that feature? Sexiness?
- endorphone 7y ago
  The magic mouse is easily the best mouse I've ever used. It feels nice, works great, and the capacitive touch feature is one I now consider mandatory. Could they put the port somewhere else? Not with the current design (and it's a design that works spectacularly well for flicking and scrolling with fingers on the touch surface -- it seems to be a bit more than a design for looks). Well I suppose they could put it on the left or the right, but that would be stupid. They can't fit it on the ends. So they should have designed it for a non-issue that users of the mouse have no trouble with?
- stephenr 7y ago
  > I plug it in and it looks just like a wired mouse for an hour. An hour? A 2 minute charge will run a Magic Mouse for a full work day.

KyM78YDM 7y ago

I use the Apple Mouse on a daily basis. This criticism is blown way out of proportion. I agree that it's a very ridiculous placement, but do you have a better idea where it should be placed? IMO, this is the best option given the constraints. The usual ridicule is that you can't use it when it's charging. To me, it's a non-issue at all: - When the battery drops to a low level (4% I think?), you will see a notification on your device reminding you that the charge is low. So have never been caught in a situation where I needed to charge the mouse while using it. - The battery lasts a long time. Apple claims that it lasts 2 months per full charge. Based on anecdotal evidence from myself and a friend, it lasts 3 months per full charge. So this 2 months claim isn't based on some super unrealistic assumption that Apple makes. So why is this important? Because at 4% when you receive the warning notification, the mouse can still run for another 2 days! (Assuming constant usage everyday and one full charge lasts 60 days, then 4% = 60 / 100 * 4 = 2.4.) - Finally, it charges super fast, too. A couple of minutes of charges can run a full day. So if you come to the office to find your mouse out of charge (because you forgot to charge it for the past 2 days despite the notifications), then plug it in before you get your coffee and you're good to go. My point is that, yes, the charging port placement is ridiculous, but 1) I don't think there are better options and 2) it's really not that big of a deal because it is extremely unlikely that you'd need to charge while you're using it.

alehul 7y ago
> but do you have a better idea where it should be placed? How about having a small notch at the front of the mouse, like every other mouse I've used? It can then be simultaneously wired, and usable. Maybe you're right that it's usually not frustrating, but I was trying to use this mouse at my office once and it wasn't charged, and it seemed pointless to wait before using it. > then plug it in before you get your coffee and you're good to go What if I don't want to test my mouse before coffee? What if I have urgent emails to answer? I understand that it isn't a world-breaking choice, but I don't understand why they would choose to change this. I love Apple, but this seems like one of those situations where a company changes something just to change it, claiming it's new and innovative, but actually reduces usability.
- 7y ago

dwaite 7y ago

> Easily the worst way to design a mouse, ever. I don’t understand how it was approved. I do. It was on purpose. They do not want people using the wireless mouse as a wired mouse with a short, thick cord not designed for it. Which is totally what my parents would do.

powvans 7y ago
That's easily solved by disabling the mouse when it's connected to the cable. If what you're asserting is true, at by disabling it they could have avoided this endless mocking.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- saagarjha 7y ago
  > disabling the mouse when it's connected to the cable Like this wouldn't invite even more outrage?
noisem4ker 7y ago
Talk about user hostility.
- rbanffy 7y ago
  The original Mac (and IIRC Lisa) had neither function nor arrow keys. Apple wanted users to use the mouse to move and to prevent software developers from building software that didn't feel like a Mac program. NeXT workstations never had function keys.
masklinn 7y ago
> They do not want people using the wireless mouse as a wired mouse with a short, thick cord not designed for it. Which is totally what my parents would do. That's still stupid as hell, as it basically asserts you're not allowed to use your computer if your mouse is out of batteries. Logitech's MX master came with a super long cable (it's at least 150cm / 5 ft), pretty flexible, and the charging port's at the top of the mouse. When it's out of battery it just becomes a wired mouse for a short while, it's super convenient. The Anywhere 2S is the same, and for all that I preferred the VX Nano overall, not having to hunt for a pair of emergency battery when I forget/forgot to recharge the 2S is extremely useful. In fact that's pretty much the only thing I dislike about my Apple Wireless Keyboard: if I forget to charge/change the batteries when it starts whining it becomes dead weight.