On 19/04/2010, at 5:16 PM, Reg Whitely wrote:
> Hi Peter > > I have a Magic Mouse which I use in my classroom with my MacBook Pro hooked > up to the data projector. All the kids can see the screen and pass the mouse > around to select various items and highlight text for editing. A bluetooth > keyboard would also be useful in this way. Today I had to smile as we had a > lady doing a presentation at school to staff, using her little Acer or asus > or whatever mini comp connected to her own data projector. She needed a DVD > shown so I hooked up my MacBook to our school data projector and took my > Magic Mouse to the table I was sitting at to control the movie. She didn't > know I had the mouse and thought I'd forgotten to start the DVD so went to > the Mac and used the trackpad. She couldn't understand what was happening ;-) > > I have 2 rechargeable batteries in it and they are yet to need recharging, > but I admit I use it only once or twice a week in class. > > Regards > > Reg I acknowledge that wireless mice and keyboards certainly have their place in presentation environments, and in fact are often essential, such as in your example. My original comment was that they are probably unnecessary for desktop computers under general use. Laptops are a different matter as well. For long periods of use, a wireless mouse is much easier to use than a trackpad. In particular, I find it rather galling that Apple have seen fit to supply, by default and without real warning, a wireless, cut-down aluminium keyboard out of the box with new iMacs. The user, who is generally expecting a numeric keyboard, then has to go off and buy an extra one just to work in the way they are used to. The logic of this decision by Apple escapes me completely. Peter Hinchliffe Apwin Computer Services FileMaker Pro Solutions Developer Perth, Western Australia Phone (618) 9332 6482 Mob 0403 064 948 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mac because I prefer it -- Windows because I have to. -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:wamug-unsubscr...@wamug.org.au>
