| Yes. When I first saw the change from the PowerBook keyboard to the MBP, I couldn't fathom why they would make such a decision. The new keyboard, while not as bad as it looks, is still nowhere near as comfortable. Then came the iPod shuffle: switching from a tiny device with few buttons, to one with no buttons at all. "Tap 3 times to...." I don't know anyone who would jog with earbuds, let alone reach for a thin cable while running. What was the target audience for the shuffle? The Mighty Mouse? No buttons at all? Inability to rest your fingers on the mouse. Inability to click both "buttons". Glossy screens? Which people defended to the death. Only until Apple finally released an "Anti-Glare" screen on the higher end models. I don't know. Apple, when the aluminum PowerBooks just came out, was melding form with function. Removing the latch that snapped off on laptops, hiding it in the bezel with a magnet. MagSafe plugs. Not having all the worthless little switches and buttons on the laptop like that oh-so-useful "Wireless" switch. Now I don't get it. |
* The new style keyboard (with bezel between keys) is vastly more reliable for me. On the older keyboards, keys would come flying off all the time. I'd have to replace the keyboard every 8 months. My unibody macbook has lasted almost 2 years with no signs of wear.
* I can't comment on the reliability of the new ones, but I had an old iPod shuffle that was flaky as hell, especially when covered in sweat. Button clicks would get ignored or falsely triggered frequently.
* The Mighty Mouse is optimized for multitouch gestures, and having no seams on the top surface of the mouse makes that experience fantastic. Personally, not my style, but I see why they did it that way.
* The glossy screens have much better color and contrast than matte, and stay cleaner. Yes, glare is a problem in the sun, but I'm using an apple glossy LCD in an office right now and I can't find any angle or spot of the screen where there is even the slightest hint of glare.