Mike Austin's Blog

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Apple MightyMouse: The Worst Design Yet

Apple has some pretty spiffy designs, but lately they've ditched usability altogether with things such as the MightyMouse:

1: Try to explain to someone that the little button in the middle is not the main button. Then try to explain that the entire mouse is the button, kind of.

2: Try dragging an icon while picking up the mouse to reposition it. You can't. The whole mouse is the button and if you pick it up, you release the button.

3: I don't know how you're supposed to use the left side button. It's nowhere near my thumb.

Apple, please stop putting design over function.

And some more... :)

The package the iPod nano comes in: When you take the iPod nano out of it's box, you see that it is suspended in a plastic holder thing. Without reading the instructions, it's not apparent how to take it out of the holder - you have to bend the plastic backwards to release the iPod. I don't know about other people but I wouldn't have guessed that almost breaking a container is the standard way of using it.