Not related to this but the other day I was searching for a good external trackpad that would work with macOS and there are very few (and not good) and every discussion was about how nothing comes close to Apple magic trackpad. The question is why can't other companies create such a good trackpad for macOS, it turns out they can't because the whole protocol for touchpad/gestures etc are proprietary and closed on macOS side so essentially any 3rd party trackpad has to emulate a mouse device. Thats what you get when a company makes computer and its OS and also its accessories and also software services, the whole stack, you either use their whole thing or not.
Your explanation isn’t true at all. It’s very easy to spoof NSEvents. Many tablet drivers and mouse drivers do this and have been for decades. The software side is easy to create.
The part that makes the Apple trackpad good isn’t even the software integration with the OS. It’s the actual trackpad hardware, its surface and haptics. On the software side it’s largely just good acceleration curves.
I’d argue the reason very few competitors exist is just cost and lack of understanding what feels good and why , much like your own comment does.
ankurdhama · · focus · HN ↗
dagmx · · focus · HN ↗
The part that makes the Apple trackpad good isn’t even the software integration with the OS. It’s the actual trackpad hardware, its surface and haptics. On the software side it’s largely just good acceleration curves.
I’d argue the reason very few competitors exist is just cost and lack of understanding what feels good and why , much like your own comment does.