Apple USB Mouse


The Apple USB Mouse, commonly called "Hockey puck", is a mouse released by Apple Inc. It was first released when it was included with the Bondi Blue iMac G3 in 1998 and included with all successive desktop Macs for the next two years. It was the first commercially released Apple mouse to use the USB connection format and not the Apple Desktop Bus. It is widely considered one of Apple's worst mistakes.

Design and criticism

Unlike the Mouse II that preceded it, the "hockey puck" mouse used a circular shape; it has a single mouse button located at the top, like previous Apple mice. The mouse's round shape is widely considered clumsy, due to its small size and tendency to rotate in use. The graphite mouse has an indentation on its button showing where to press. This was a major cause for the success of the Griffin iMate ADB to USB adapters, as they allowed the older, more comfortable ADB Mouse II to be used with those iMacs. There were some products like the iCatch, a shell that attached to the USB mouse to give it the ADB mouse's elliptical shape.
Another flaw introduced in the Apple USB Mouse, shared across all of Apple's USB offerings, is the atypically short cord. Though intended for use through the integrated hub in Apple's keyboards, Apple's transition to USB coincided with the relocation of ports on their notebooks from the center to the left edge.

Legacy

In 2000, the Apple USB Mouse was replaced with the Apple Pro Mouse.

Available colors

ColorReleased with
Bondi BlueiMac G3
BlueberryiMac G3 and Power Mac G3 Blue and White
StrawberryiMac G3
GrapeiMac G3
LimeiMac G3
TangerineiMac G3
GraphiteiMac G3 DV Special Edition and Power Mac G4 Yikes and Sawtooth