Given Apple’s modern popularity as one of the world’s maximum popular and trendy tech brands, it’s tough for plenty to agree with the employer has had greater than a handful of layout controversies. While a number of those errors had been merchandise definitely too beforehand in their time, there had been a few different objectively terrible designs just like the first-gen Apple Pencil’s Lightning charger that shouldn’t have long past beyond the preliminary layout phase – not to mention rework right into a prototype and become withinside the hands of a consumer (pretty literally, on this case).
If you choose any random Apple fanboy from the late ’90s and ask them approximately the worst Apple product they’ve used, there’s an excellent risk you’ll listen the term “Hockey Puck.” A lot. As it turns out, Apple’s tryst with poorly designed pointing devices (additionally referred to as the mouse) began out lengthy earlier than the times of the Magic Mouse and its notorious bottom-dealing with charging port.
In fact, the Hockey Puck mouse — which first arrived at the scene in 1998 — frequently tops the listing of the worst Apple merchandise ever made. What certainly ailed the Hockey Puck mouse and why it’s miles the recipient of such ire, even from die-tough Apple fanboys?
It had a horrible layout
The Hockey Puck mouse spectacularly did not do the only element it become designed for: be an correct pointing device. The form of the product become unergonomic and mistaken for cushty use (through The Mac Observer). The spherical form additionally supposed humans had a tough time orienting the mouse efficiently whilst the usage of it.
If this wasn’t enough, the Hockey Puck’s construct excellent become usually concept to be terrible. The universal consensus become that this product, in general, become a horrible mouse (through Gizmodo). It appeared to a few purchasers that Apple prioritized the mouse’s look over the entirety else.
In hindsight, the mouse gave the look of an identical accent to the iMac G3 — the original “Bondi Blue” iMac from 1998. But then, as a pointing device, it had plenty greater to do than simply appearance the part. As expected, the mouse become panned through reviewers on the time, and those who sold the mouse opted to search for different well matched mice that might update the Hockey Puck mouse.
However, the Hockey Puck mouse did have a primary to its credit. It become the first-ever Apple mouse to apply the USB connectivity standard, that’s not unusual today.
Apple fast moved on
Given the quantity of terrible press it obtained on the time, it wasn’t sudden to peer Apple gave up at the mouse for the duration of its subsequent product cycle in 2002 whilst it launched the iMac G4 and the Apple Pro Mouse. The new pointing device, despite the fact that now no longer perfect, did now no longer be afflicted by the equal layout pitfalls because the Hockey Puck mouse and become usually well-obtained.
Interestingly, the Hockey Puck become now no longer the remaining example of Apple messing up a mouse layout. Over a decade later, in 2015, Apple launched its notorious Magic Mouse 2, which, agree with it or now no longer, had a bottom-dealing with charging port. Most contemporary-day Apple customers will factor to this product as certainly considered one among Apple’s maximum poorly designed contemporary-day merchandise. Old-timers and legacy Apple fanboys could have a robust opinion on how the Magic Mouse couldn’t keep a candle to the Hockey Puck mouse, though, as a minimum as some distance as terrible layout goes.
