Apple product announcements are seldom without a thorough “oh wow (dramatic gasp)” element to them. But I must confess that I do not remember the last time I saw a product accessory grab the headlines from the Macs themselves. Don’t get me wrong – I think the new iMacs are awesome and I just love the fact that the MacBook has been given lots more muscle. But well, my “oh wow!” moment was seeing the new Mighty Mouse (now known as the Magic Mouse), the world’s first multi-touch mouse. The improvements in the Macs had mainly to do with specs, the mouse rose above such mundane matters.

The reason for my gaping jaws is the fact that this is a product that manages to capture two of Apple’s greatest strengths – terrific design and ease of use. The entire mouse is one clickable shell, so you can click anywhere on it, rather in some specific area. Then there is the little matter of multi-touch – you can scroll through pages by running your finger up and down the mouse (heck, it actually measure the weight of your scroll and moves the page the requisite distance). You can pan a full 360 degrees, flip through pages or images by using a two-finger flick, and zoom in and out by holding down Control and scrolling upwards and downwards. And oh yes, for a right click, click on the top right corner,  and for a left click, on the top left corner. So, in essence, it can do whatever a normal mouse can, and then some.

If all the touchy feely stuff leaves you cold, you can just turn it off. I have not mentioned the looks of the mouse because hey, it’s from Apple, so it has gotta look good, right? Take it from me, it does! Gamers might get turned off by the absence of wires (they do not like wireless mice, that lot) but users in general should adore it, even though at $69, it is a bit on the expensive side.

If you think I am going over the top, do try to remember when was the last time we saw something really radical in a mouse. We have been using pretty much the same cyber rodent for a decade now, with only hardcore gamers getting to see some variety -generally in the form of more buttons than you can spot on a Victorian dress. Or in the form of designer stuff like the Arc Mouse, from Microsoft. Apple’s moves in this direction are therefore, more than welcome, as they add some new dimensions to an accessory that has been taken for granted in terms of functionality.

So yes, the new Macs are pretty good, but it is that ‘ere mouse that is going to be the game-changer. You read it first here, gents. And ladies.