Why Apple Mighty Mouse Design is Awful

Awful Apple Mouse Design

First of all, being a "Maccie" doesn't mean that I have to buy all things Apple. But, everything they make just looks so good! I can't have some big bulky grey olde worlde style mouse sitting next to my nice shiny new MacBook Pro. The ONLY thing that looks right sitting on my desk is an Apple mouse. That's just the way it is. Sorry. Apologies over.

I have a love/hate relationship with this piece of equipment. It looks great. It fits nicely in my hand. And the wirelessness (is that a word?) makes the entire experience that much nicer. So where is this awful design that I've been hinting at? Let's deconstruct the thing bit by bit:

Side buttons
One word: useless. I've used them maybe 10 times during the first week, and don't even notice them any more. Why? Well any of the nifty OSX features such as exposé or spaces can be activated by using a hot-spot on the screen. Not to mention the shear amount of force that is need to sqeeeeeeeze the thing will hasten my already painful carpal tunnel nightmare. Other people might like the things. Not me. Come to think of it, they ruin the sleek lines and kind of scratch my fingers unnecessarily.

Battery Cover
Ok, this mouse is nothing more than a hunk of plastic. It's very small and NOT attached to my desk by a wire. Conclusion: it WILL get knocked off the desk once in a while. So why not make the battery tabs out of something more substantial than plastic that is 1 micron thick! In fact, I have dropped the thing about a dozen times. The battery cover was ok until drop 9 or ten. Now it's stuck on with sticky tape. Blurgh....

Scroll Ball
Google "how to clean mighty mouse" and you will understand where the problem is. If you're lazy, I'll just tell you. YOU CAN'T TAKE THE THING APART!!! How on Earth did the Apple engineers not realize that people have mucky fingers. Computer mice from the beginning of time have had the "mucky ball" syndrome. But luckily you could simply open the thing and wipe away the nasty little sticky ball of fluff-muck.

Not with the Mighty Mouse. Ohhhhh noooo! You have to go at it with a razor and the patience and skill of a brain surgeon. I've now become a pro at it having had to perform the operation 4 times in the year I've owned it. (I'm beginning to see a market here...)

Opening the thing is only the beginning. Next you have to carefully pull apart the innards without breaking a very delicate wire ribbon. Then comes the teeny tiny magnetic wheel things that keep jumping around and sticking to each other. It's a royal pain.

Ok, I got the thing apart. Soaked the fiddly bits in warm water and generally cleaned the inside. Now I have two halves of a mouse and no easy way to put them together again. Other than superglue. Yes, you have to superfrikkinglue the thing together. And if you've ever used super glue on plastic, you know you have to be very careful or you'll get weird bumps and foggy nonsense. It's almost not worth the effort.

Together Again
Woohoo! My mouse is almost ready. I've wrapped an elastic band around until the glue dries. Soon I'll have my luverly little white mouse back. And the nightmare will have subsided for a few months. Until then...I LOVE THIS MOUSE!