6 ms·

Same with charging an apple mouse - like they can't stand the idea of having a cable sticking out of it while being used.

burnte 2y ago
They're fine with that, but there's no room for the port on the top end of the mouse and they won't alter the design in order to fit a port there, and don't want the cable sticking out of the side, so they just screw the user and hurt the function.
tdeck 2y ago
Apple probably knows that power users are buying non-Apple mice anyway so they can have multiple mouse buttons. Their mics have always been some degree of form over function (remember the puck mouse)?
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  Apple in general is form over function (with a healthy dose of NIH). It's just part of their ethos, for better or for worse.
  - zrm 2y ago
    That hasn't always been the case. Many of their products have been extremely functional -- and even repairable. Have a look at the inside of a PowerMac G4. But they get into this weirdness where they produce a well-designed functional product, people like it, they assume it's because of the design and then produce something else that sacrifices function for design, then act confounded when people don't like it.
    - tdeck 2y ago
      They've skirted the line many times while also frequently releasing great products that combine both. The apple III overheated because they didn't want to put a fan in it for aesthetic reasons. So did the original Macintosh, alright to a less problematic degree. I honestly don't understand Apple's apparent disdain for more than one mouse button though. The OS and apps support extra buttons, everyone knows how to right click by this point, what's the benefit? At one company where I worked everyone had a MacBook, apple monitor, apple keyboard, and a white Microsoft mouse.
      - codydh 2y ago
        Their mouse and all of their trackpads support right click without extra buttons.
        redwall_hp 2y ago
        Technically the trackpads have had zero buttons for years now. It's all haptics and pressure sensors. It's a major step up from the old method, since you can reliably click anywhere on the pad. (They also support a hard-press gesture, but not many applications use that out of the box.)
      - windowsrookie 2y ago
        Apple's computer mouse has supported right click for almost twenty years now, since the 2005 Mighty Mouse.
        tdeck 2y ago
        Yes, but always in a less intuitive way than just having a second button.
LeafItAlone 2y ago
How do we go from Samsung phone screen to Apple Magic Mouse? As an owner of multiple Magic mice, this is such a non-issue. I don’t get why people bring it up so much, but I suspect they don’t actually own one.
- kbolino 2y ago
  I forget to charge mine and so go through the approximately monthly dance of charging it just long enough to get to the next break repeatedly until I can properly charge it to 100%. Being unable to use it while charging is an annoyance. It's not the end of the world, but it's still dumb.
- eviks 2y ago
  Both examples follow the same principle People bring it up because it's such an obvious design flaw in a premium product that is explained by a disrespectful "form over function" principle which people also don't like
  - Someone 2y ago
    > a disrespectful "form over function" principle which people also don't like Which some people don’t like. Apple may have accepted the in their view minor inconvenience of not being able to use the mouse for half an hour or so every few days to get a cleaner look of the device, knowing full well that some people would complain about it. If they had put the charging connector on the outside, I bet some people (possible even some of the same people) would have complained about the looks. Also, even assuming it is a design flaw, I don’t see it being an obvious design flaw. Maybe Apple knows it doesn’t work well with a cable attached (modern environmentally cleaner cables tend to be stiffer. How stiff is the cable they supply it with?), or that permanently charging it wil shorten battery lifetime (yes, that’s preventable, but they may have had other constraints, e.g. time to market. Reading https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Magic+Mouse+2+Teardown/51058 https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Magic+Mouse+2+Teardown/51058, it’s not all proprietary chips inside)
    - eviks 2y ago

burnte 2y ago

They're fine with that, but there's no room for the port on the top end of the mouse and they won't alter the design in order to fit a port there, and don't want the cable sticking out of the side, so they just screw the user and hurt the function.

tdeck 2y ago

Apple probably knows that power users are buying non-Apple mice anyway so they can have multiple mouse buttons. Their mics have always been some degree of form over function (remember the puck mouse)?

bigstrat2003 2y ago
Apple in general is form over function (with a healthy dose of NIH). It's just part of their ethos, for better or for worse.
- zrm 2y ago
  That hasn't always been the case. Many of their products have been extremely functional -- and even repairable. Have a look at the inside of a PowerMac G4. But they get into this weirdness where they produce a well-designed functional product, people like it, they assume it's because of the design and then produce something else that sacrifices function for design, then act confounded when people don't like it.
  - tdeck 2y ago
    They've skirted the line many times while also frequently releasing great products that combine both. The apple III overheated because they didn't want to put a fan in it for aesthetic reasons. So did the original Macintosh, alright to a less problematic degree. I honestly don't understand Apple's apparent disdain for more than one mouse button though. The OS and apps support extra buttons, everyone knows how to right click by this point, what's the benefit? At one company where I worked everyone had a MacBook, apple monitor, apple keyboard, and a white Microsoft mouse.
    - codydh 2y ago
      Their mouse and all of their trackpads support right click without extra buttons.
      - redwall_hp 2y ago
        Technically the trackpads have had zero buttons for years now. It's all haptics and pressure sensors. It's a major step up from the old method, since you can reliably click anywhere on the pad. (They also support a hard-press gesture, but not many applications use that out of the box.)
    - windowsrookie 2y ago
      Apple's computer mouse has supported right click for almost twenty years now, since the 2005 Mighty Mouse.
      - tdeck 2y ago
        Yes, but always in a less intuitive way than just having a second button.

LeafItAlone 2y ago

How do we go from Samsung phone screen to Apple Magic Mouse? As an owner of multiple Magic mice, this is such a non-issue. I don’t get why people bring it up so much, but I suspect they don’t actually own one.

kbolino 2y ago
I forget to charge mine and so go through the approximately monthly dance of charging it just long enough to get to the next break repeatedly until I can properly charge it to 100%. Being unable to use it while charging is an annoyance. It's not the end of the world, but it's still dumb.
eviks 2y ago
Both examples follow the same principle People bring it up because it's such an obvious design flaw in a premium product that is explained by a disrespectful "form over function" principle which people also don't like
- Someone 2y ago
  > a disrespectful "form over function" principle which people also don't like Which some people don’t like. Apple may have accepted the in their view minor inconvenience of not being able to use the mouse for half an hour or so every few days to get a cleaner look of the device, knowing full well that some people would complain about it. If they had put the charging connector on the outside, I bet some people (possible even some of the same people) would have complained about the looks. Also, even assuming it is a design flaw, I don’t see it being an obvious design flaw. Maybe Apple knows it doesn’t work well with a cable attached (modern environmentally cleaner cables tend to be stiffer. How stiff is the cable they supply it with?), or that permanently charging it wil shorten battery lifetime (yes, that’s preventable, but they may have had other constraints, e.g. time to market. Reading https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Magic+Mouse+2+Teardown/51058 https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Magic+Mouse+2+Teardown/51058, it’s not all proprietary chips inside)
  - eviks 2y ago