I am curious why Apple didn’t incorporate the magic trackpad into the keyboard, rather than cluttering the desktop with another device.
There are two reasons.
The way the track pad works is that the buttons are in the feet. You can left and right click on the track pad because of this design. (actually it is a “secondary click” and it can be assigned to either the left or right button) So if you put this (the “left foot”) in the middle of an extended keyboard it ain’t going to work
Ergonomics. I think most people will actually have the thing off to the side at a slight angle, and of course a stand alone device works much better for left handed people too.
I am curious why Apple didn’t incorporate the magic trackpad into the keyboard, rather than cluttering the desktop with another device.
There are two reasons.
The way the track pad works is that the buttons are in the feet. You can left and right click on the track pad because of this design. (actually it is a “secondary click” and it can be assigned to either the left or right button) So if you put this (the “left foot”) in the middle of an extended keyboard it ain’t going to work
Ergonomics. I think most people will actually have the thing off to the side at a slight angle, and of course a stand alone device works much better for left handed people too.
Thank you for a solid rationale for why Apple did what they did.
The trackpad portends an expansion of iOS apps to OS X, anywhere from 3 to 12 months from now. This may require OS 10.7.
Apple’s strategy: get the hardware in place before unleashing the North Carolina server farm.
I don’t see how an input device fashioned after something on their laptops would even remotely relate to iOS apps; let alone point to that as a specific implementation of that in a future OS release. There simply isn’t a connection between the two.
As far as the server farm, my guess is that’s going to be used largely for Apple’s cloud services: namely the iTunes store and/or MobileMe. This is just speculation on my part, but I would suspect Apple will also start offering streaming movie rentals in the future too.
Ordered mine yesterday. I LOVE the MacBook trackpad, and the mouse, including the magic mouse, feels antiquated in comparison. Given how fantastic this device is and the likely high margins, I think it has good profit potential. This trackpad (standalone or MacBook) is in the category of innovative human computer interaction that Apple is so good at. I see it as a significant contributor to more switchers. I think of it as Mac Gravity, a corollary to the halo effect. And it resonates well with the multi-touch iOS devices. Apple is changing the vocabulary.
If separate from the keyboard, the trackpad can be put on the left as well as the right. Not everybody has a fully functioning right arm. Most lefties are sort of ambidextrous and can get by with the trackpad on the right hand side, but there are others who can’t. The flu shot caused palsy in my right hand, so I need the left hand for mouse and trackpad actions. No complaint, because too many people don’t even have right arms. Apple is after our business, thank you.
Three finger window dragging and inertial scrolling.
When I got home and fired up my MacBook Pro I noticed the inertial scrolling. Not sure if I like it. (I don’t have an iPhone or iPad). You sent me to the keyboard preferences pane, but then when I went to the trackpad pane I saw the new goodies. And that I could turn them off should I want to.
Fun stuff. I like it when my old(er) kit gets a little upgrade.
Some features work differently in different apps. The Control-two finger zoom, for example works in Preview but not in iPhoto (the three finger zoom screen is the only option). The video examples in the prefs is using Preview as the demo app. I have to play around a lot longer to get a feel for which features I’d like to use and which I’d like to shut off. But I’ve learned enough to want to get a Magic Trackpad to sit beside my wireless keyboard for my TV+MacBookPro media set up. What is unclear so far is how the trackpad and wireless keyboard will work with an iPhone 4 or an iPad. I know the keyboard works fine, but can the trackpad work with either device?
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