« Bites from the Apple: You Say iSlate, I Say iSlab | Main | Conversation Piece: Outlook 2010 on Windows 7 »
December 29, 2009-->Apple's Magic Mouse Cuts Largest Slice of Mouse Marketshare To Date
by Natania Barron on December 29, 2009
Amidst all the talk of speculation regarding iSlates tablets, new iPhones, and the success of the iPod Touch, Apple has another headliner as 2009 comes to a close: according to AppleInsider, for the first time, Apple's mouse sales have captured over 10 percent of the mouse market share. All thanks to the Magic Mouse.
The Magic Mouse debuted in October of this year, touting a buttonless, multi-touch sensitive shell, the first consumer mouse of its kind to offer such capabilities. And while, in general, reviews of the mouse have been mixed, there seems to be enough consumer drive behind the Magic Mouse to elevate the Apple share significantly.
BoingBoing's Rob Beschizza put it best, encapsulating just what is right and wrong with the Magic Mouse:
After the first minute I hated it. After a day I loved it. After a week, I'm on ibuprofen. I like the Magic Mouse, especially the touch-sensitive surface and flick scrolling, but am just not sure how long my metacarpals can take it.
The future of mice, it seems, takes quite a bit of getting used to, even for the most avid gadget reviewers. Like the Mighty Mouse before it, and the classic stylings of the original Apple USB Mouse (or, as it's lovingly called, the "hockey puck"), the Magic Mouse doesn't look like any other mouse out there, which is a hallmark of Apple design. Most consumers are so accustomed to using a two or three-button mouse that any derivation is difficult to get used to. Having used many of the Apple predecessors to the Magic Mouse, and ultimately using a Logitech run-of-the-mill in the end when the Mighty Mouse wheel started acting up, I'm approaching it all with skepticism.
Much of my reservation has to do with the swirling speculation regarding the purported Apple Tablet and not necessarily the functionality of the new Magic Mouse. With applications already available to turn iPods and iPhones into functioning computer touch mice, how viable is the mouse market going to be heading into the next decade? And while the Magic Mouse is certainly heads and shoulders above other mice on the market as far as capability, design, and functionality, it's no guarantee that the mouse will have staying power at all.
As AppleInsider points out:
Whether or not Apple can sustain its increased sales volume of mice sales over time remains to be seen. New Apple products are usually accompanied by publicity and buzz that pushes their sales through the roof in the early going, but often those sales die down over time.
If the tablet supports a mouse, as the iPhone blog cautiously rumors, then it's spectacular timing (assuming that the iSlate, or whatever it will be called, will be out in January); however, if the iSlate doesn't have any peripheral mouse capabilities, it's a bit of a head-scratcher. If consumers are ready for it, the iSlate could render the Magic Mouse, and all other mice, obsolete.
--Natania Barron
Comments
r4i on December 29, 2009 at 11:22 PM
Nice size. Comfortable. Felt solid. Liked scrolling up-down and side-side by dragging on surface. Better than scroll wheel or Apple's tiny trackball in old version.
Verify your Comment
Previewing your Comment
Posted by: |
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:Your comment has been posted. Post another commentThe letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Quote: "After the first minute I hated it. After a day I loved it. After a week, I'm on ibuprofen. I like the Magic Mouse, especially the touch-sensitive surface and flick scrolling, but am just not sure how long my metacarpals can take it."
ROFL ^^
No comments:
Post a Comment