Magic Mouse: This is what touch computing should be

Anyone who knows me or knows of my writing will know that while I can really appreciate Apple products for the aesthetic value and quality I am not an Apple fan. That said when I heard the first rumors about the next generation Apple mouse being multi-touch my interest was definitely pique.

As it turns out the rumors were true and while the jury is still out as to whether or not this incarnation of their mouse will redeem the company in the eyes of their fans I think actually has a great idea. Granted Microsoft is working on multi-touch for the mouse but from what I can tell they are still some way from bringing one to market. So this leaves Apple with a wide open field to play around in for the time being.

Now I can only go by what I read at the various gadget blogs to get an idea of where Apple is going with the Magic Mouse and personally I think this is a really proper place for multi-touch to be implemented. I have said before that while I can see the advantages of a multi-touch monitor under certain circumstances in the vast majority of desktop or laptop applications it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

A multi-touch mouse on the other hand, if done right, does make a whole lot of sense. The mouse has become an integral part of our computing life but is still requires a lot of movement and clicking in order to use it. By moving to a multi-touch style even minor movements like the swipe of a finger can move you around the screen with very little effort.

This isn’t even taking into account all the other finger, or combination of fingers, movement that would be available to perform a lot of the tasks we currently perform.

Now from what I have read the Magic Mouse’s previous incarnation never hit it big with Apple users with many of them replacing it with other manufacturer’s products. That said, and given Apple success to date with multi-touch, if they have managed to carry that knowledge over to the new mouse we may see a very useful and productive use of multi-touch in our palms.

I’d be willing to bet that Microsoft will be taking a very close look at the Might Mouse once it is available but in the meantime courtesy of the team over at cnet’s Crave blog here’s a graphic of some of the gestures available with the mouse as well as a video.