Hi, as someone who has been using these things extensively (and exclusively) for almost two years - I'd like to point out some handy-dandy things about them, as well as some "what about them"-s!
(yes, since the original Kickstarter)
(don't mind the two ceramic feet in the center, it was just a silly yet photogenic test)
The most pertinent topic, is
who this mouse is useful for -
I do have that fingertip grip and would love to try it out... but 300 euros just for a toy? No thanks.
As this is not an unusual concern.
This mouse is most useful to people who spend
entirely too much time making very heavy use of their mouse.
Professional players, semi-professionals, people with ambitions of joining the former two - all of them people who might average 3+ hours of practice on the daily.
Usually within RTS or FPS, but I'm sure there are other places where mousing about like a crazy person is mandatory.
But Why?
The very low weight, as well as the finger-centric mode of operation, means that you only strain the most vulnerable joint in the hand - the wrist - a fraction of what you'd do with a normal mouse.
As an example of how much more durable fingers are compared to wrists, I'd suggest top Guitar Hero players as a good one.
They suffer from hand-related problems, as any extreme user does from all the practice -
but it is primarily the strumming hand, the wrist-heavy one which suffers.
The fretboard hand - which also performs insane, rapid motions for hours - usually only comes out with cramps. This is has also been my experience with the M1K/M2K.
This means that you can either practice just as hard, without any problems - or
practice harder using this Newfound Advantage for the same (usually lower) level of smashing your mousehand.
It is not a Toy - it is a
valueable Tool!
A tool which lets you grind with less concern for ending up as one of the many people who get knocked out due to wear-and-tear related hand injuries.
Supply is extremely limited due to the thing being hand-assembled, hand-tuned - the slam-clicks are due to careful pre-tensioning of the buttons, not a bug - and the shell being likewise hand-crafted through a painful process, all by only two people.
So unless this sounds like something you would find useful, I wouldn't recommend straining the poor guys who already look like they've aged ten years in two.
Beyond that - there is another funny "feature" of the mouse that I noticed rather early on.
Unlike normal mice, which I average about 3-6 movements per second with, this one instead averages 9-12 movements per second - with peaks above 15!
That's discrete and deliberate movements, based on subconsciously processed visual input, within 70 milliseconds of eachother. Rather crazy, but true!
My best guess as for why this exists, is that the very low weight allows halting the mouse and starting a new movement much faster.
This effect is lost on "mud" mousepads, so I personally recommend very slippery ones* to make the best of this Feature.
A Feature such as this doesn't exist in a vaccuum - and after spending
a lot of Hard Practice time on mastering the mouse, I've come to rather consistently utilize its usefulness;
If you use the mouse with enough "sensitivity" for the fingers to have enough of a say on where you shoot, then it means that you can be smoothly tracking a target with wrist and forearm movements - then suddenly snap onto their head by nudging the mouse with your fingers, mid-track, like some sort of analogue Aim Key wizard, and continue tracking their head like nothing happened.
Before you master it, it will look like uncontrolled jittering - after you master it, it will look like you're cheating. ; )
* though beware the fact that the more slippery the mousepad, the more practice time it requires to control the mouse properly
A fun toy, a new mouse-handling paradigm, and a fantastic mouse all within the same package.
~ B.
