Apple “puck” mouse named one of the worst Tech products of all time


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The Apple hockey puck shaped mouse shipped with iMacs in 1998. It was hard to hold, uncomfortable, and cheap feeling. It was a terrible mouse. The guys at cNet UK think it was SO terrible that it’s one of the worst tech products ever invented.

I tend to agree that it was an absolutely horrible mouse. One silver lining, though. As is often the case with Apple products, even when they get something wrong – they get something right. The hockey puck mouse was the very first mouse to ever use USB as the standard for connectivity.

The rest of the list is interesting as well…I don’t recognize most of the products listed, but there is one that I am familiar with. It’s name? Windows Vista.


Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

12 Comments

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  1. I beg to differ, I thought the round mouse was just fine, thank you and so did many others. I know quite a few iMac owners who are still using their’s to this day. Sure, the big meaty ham fisted types didn’t like this mouse, they preferred the big lump that the Microsoft mice offers, but to anyone who moves the mouse around with their fingertips, the round mouse was great.

  2. The only complaint I had with the round mouse was that it would get rotated about 5 or 10 degrees and I would end up being just a little bit “off” when trying to click something.

    Later versions of the round mouse introduced a little dimple on the button which helped solve that problem.

  3. It was a little harsh to say Vista was one of the worst in history lol.

    However I’ve never liked Apple mice, I hated the puck and the current one. I really hate how it feels when you hold it, MS mice on the other hand are amazing fit like a glove, so snug. If there’s one thing MS can do right is make keyboard and mice sets. Now if they only used Bluetooth instead of their crappy wireless technology.

  4. If you held it under your fingers and not the palm of your hand, it worked. As for Microsoft (and everyone else’s for that matter) mice, it’s like holding a misshapen rock. They don’t fit. Apple’s mice, on the other hand (heh) fit perfectly under the hand. Hold your hand out and now place it over an Apple mouse. See? Your hand hardly moved at all when it fit over the mouse. That’s ergonomics done right. You have to force your hand around other mice while under your breath you say “Please, God, make my hand like the other one”. Remember that joke?

  5. I agree. When I got my new iMac, the first thing in my mind was “Wow, I like this Mac but goddarn this mouse is difficult to use.” True, there are people who actually swear by it but I think this are the few. Everybody else kept the mouse in the box and bought a another mouse.

  6. I am STILL using that mouse! (Right now in fact.) I can understand why people might dislike it but it has been perfect for me. My old G4 is long gone but I am still using that beautiful mouse! For me, it’s been just about perfect.

  7. The iconic iMac mouse was the perfect complement to the totally new and different iMac. Every detail on this machine was thought out beforehand. The power cord was translucent bondi blue as was the plug. The machines innards were faintly visible through the translucent sides, the fold out stand underneath let you position the computer for the preferred angle for viewing, the keyboard was like nothing else before from Apple or any other manufacturer, Of course the mouse had to be different. It’s two-tone ball could be seen shifting colors through it’s housong as it span, but of course, the breakthroughs on this machine were it’s total adoption of USB for all external devices. Of course, they did not invent it, but the PC world was afraid to abandon their legacy ports, so the usb connected peripherals were a thin sliver of the available market till Apple took the chance. We won’t even go to the (doomed to make it fail) dispensing with the floppy drive. Once again, Apple saw the future before the rest (or did they make it happen?) Anyway the mouse was a small part of that whole package, and it fit perfectly. As for the Apple Mouse haters, I guess you hate all mice, because they all came from the Mac to begin with. (and by the way, Logitech made that mouse).

  8. At first I had trouble with that mouse, but then I realized that you weren’t supposed to either click the button or hold the mouse with your *fingertips*. You simply cupped your relaxed hand over the mouse, fingertips resting on the desktop, and let the cord protrude between your index finger and your middle finger. In that position your hand is at rest on the desktop/mousepad and a mouse click is achieved by a very very slight depression of your fingers.

    Most Logitech, Microsoft and other mice require you to hold your hand aloft above the mouse in a continual state of tension, lest you relax your wrist and allow an inadvertent mouse click because the buttons are hypersensitive.

    Apple gave up on the puck mouse after bad publicity etc. but their current mice still offer similar ergonomics. No effort is required to hold your hand in the right position. Just rest it on the table, in a natural position, but with the mouse beneath, let your fingers relax, and only exert a slight downward pressure to click the button(s).

  9. I loved that mouse because it reduced the aches and pains in my hand. It was one of the best-designed mice ever made, and I still use it.