Have Mighty Mouse, Will Travel

What we have to ask ourselves, after buying a Mac, is how we can make ourselves even more anti-PC and more pro-Apple. The answer is, of course, like with all retail products, to accessorize. My friend, a devotee of the Apple line and an owner of the Mac Book, recently took it upon herself to remove one more PC item from her life and bring herself somewhat closer to the quintessential Mac user - she ditched her Logitech and bought the Apple Mighty Mouse. She, being the generous and good hearted soul that all Mac users are, allowed me to help her set-up the mouse and give it the opening whirl.

The first thing I noticed taking the mouse out of its snazzy-enough-to-save box, is that while it is on the light end of the spectrum for wireless mice, it still has a good solid heft to it. Unlike some of the Targus wireless mice, I didn't feel like I would crush it if I clicked a bit too vigorously. Also, despite its uniform shape, it fit nicely in my hand and didn't have any of the strange contour sensation that the over-molded Microsoft mice tend to have.

Setup of the mouse was one of the easiest things I have ever done. We followed the on-screen installation instructions, rebooted the computer, turned the mouse on, and then we amazed ourselves by controlling the computer from the other side of the room. The only way to make setup even simpler would be to attach a cord from the mouse to a handy USB port, which would allow for instant control. The only problem with that is we would then be stuck with a wired mouse and have no way of writing an opinion about a wireless mouse.

As with most mice these days, the tracking of the cursor is excellent over most surfaces, and certainly across those of most any modern desk. This being a wireless mouse and likely to be used on a variety of surfaces in various airports, trains, cars, and other non-desk locations, I tried the mouse on the different surfaces in the house to approximate the possibilities of use. One of the places I did have a problem was in the kitchen of her home. Her counter is made of Formica and covered with a thick layer of a shiny top coat. On that semi reflective surface the Mighty Mouse had trouble getting its footing and was actually unable to move the cursor. On both her leather couch and her carpet, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the mouse worked with no trouble at all. To cover the possibility for strange new airport chairs, my final testing spot was the bathtub - sans water. I was again pleasantly surprised to see that Mighty Mouse tracked quite well, and, I should add, the computer was not even in the room.

The mouse itself is a wonderful device. The inclusion of a 360° scroll wheel makes scrolling that much more pleasant. One can move not only vertically and horizontally, but also in the hypotenuse of those angles, thereby allowing the user to cut down on that taxing Pythagorean fraction of scrolling. Not clicking the buttons, and the prosaically foreshadowed lack of tactile response associated with that action, takes some getting used to - but it does happen. I played with the mouse for the majority of one day, and by the end, I was completely unaware of (or rather - mentally adjusted to) the lack of response.

The battery life on these mice with two AA batteries is five months according to Apple. Having only used this mouse for one day, I cannot attest to that. I will update this in the future when I have that information. In the way of Apple mouse trivia - the Mighty Mouse can actually be used with only one battery rather than a set. The battery life is naturally cut in half, but for those who only have enough remaining after spending $70 on a mouse, one is good enough.

It is in products like this where one is again reminded of the power of simplicity. Apple takes a great product, loses the unnecessary parts, and makes it even better. This mouse looks great, works great, and just shows what a little bit of clever Apple-style engineering and some (or just one!) AA batter(y)ies can really do.