I have a guilty secret. It is something that has caused me considerable ridicule and lampoonment from my work colleagues at 3fish. The fact is, that in a graphic design studio where everyone uses Macs, I choose to use a Microsoft mouse.
Yes, you heard right. Microsoft.
Is it because I have a secret love of PCs? No. When I’m in front of a PC I’m a little ashamed to say that I am virtually clueless as to where anything is, or how to do even the simplest of tasks.
Is it because I harbour a deep-seated resentment towards Apple? No. In fact quite the opposite. My first computer was a Mac. At university we were all taught on Macs. Now I use a Mac every day at work and would never even dream of using anything else. Like almost everyone in the office I have an iPhone, which I love.
My girlfriend once even accused me of having Stockholm syndrome whilst we were talking about my affection for Apple. (For those of you who don’t know, Stockholm syndrome is the psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express adulation and have positive feelings towards their captors.)
As if to prove her point, a while ago at 3fish we decided to commemorate 25 years of the Mac with a series of desktop wallpapers to give away as freebies to clients and friends. I decided to do a take on the famous Milton Glaser ‘I Love New York’ logo, replacing NY for SJ and the heart symbol for the Apple Logo. If you haven’t already guessed, SJ refers to Steve Jobs, the charismatic co-founder and CEO of Apple. If you’re interested, the wallpaper, along with all the others designed by the fishes, is available to download here.
Anyway, we digress. All this is just a roundabout way of making the point that my use of a non-Apple mouse has nothing to do with some kind of anti-establishment sentiment. (And yes, I think it is fair to say that Apple has now become the establishment, having recently pushed past arch-rival Microsoft to become the world's biggest technology company.)
Rather, my gripe with the Apple mouse has more to do with its design. Now, I realise this is a pretty strong statement to make – especially when directed at a company as fanatical about design as Apple. Even more so when you consider that Apple are widely credited with having invented the mouse.
The problem I have is this – while the mouse is clearly beautiful, it doesn’t fit that well in your hand. The shape is a perfect ellipse, but the cavity of your hand when you hold a mouse is not. Sure, you can hold it and move it around, but a mouse is a tool that many people use all day every day. It becomes tiresome to use.
You might even say the guys at Cupertino are sacrificing ergonomics in favour of aesthetics. Less ‘form follows function’ more ‘form follows emotion’. And who can blame them? It’s a philosophy that has worked brilliantly. Can you imagine Apple being quite as successful if their products weren’t so achingly beautiful?
In a way, I wish the cavity of my hand was perfectly elliptical, because sometimes I do look down at my mouse and think “you should be a pure white orb and not a grey plasticy funny-shaped object”.
Until that day comes however, I’ll settle for my not very beautiful (but very functional) mouse made by the good people at Microsoft.
Unless, of course, I get an iPad…