[syndicatedjelly]

I think you're on to something. The reason programmable mice haven't caught on (they've been tried), is that they haven't made sense in our current paradigm of computer interaction. Most productivity programs revolve around the keyboard still, for better or worse. Since mice are rarely used with tablets and phones, this leaves them to be exclusively used with desktops and laptops, which usually lack a touch component to their screens (once again, something that was tried and didn't catch on). When an ergonomic keyboard offers dozens of quickly accessible keys to all 10 fingers, why would one locate a button on an oddly shaped mouse, a button accessible to only a couple fingers on one hand most likely?

That said...recent software (such as Figma) has spanned an awkward gap of trying to be equivalently usable on desktop, tablet, and phone. Maybe a programmable mouse for a device that's typically not used with a physical keyboard (tablet, phone) makes sense, and the idea hasn't been explored thoroughly.

[robertn702]

I definitely understand the optimization of keyboards especially for certain types of work such as programming — It's what I spend 90% of my time doing. But I would argue that there are just as many use cases where a mouse is actually faster than using keyboard with shortcuts. Design work would be one of those examples, and it's not a small industry.

I guess what I feel is missing is "Keychron for mice". Keychron took the pretty niche mechanical keyboard market which was mostly targeted towards gamers or extreme optimizers and tailored it for productivity with their default macOS compatibility. I doubt the Logitech MX Mechanical keyboard would exist if Keychron didn't exist, which I take as a sign of their success.