Home Forums FineTunedMac Community Lounge Have you got the mouse-tail blues? Solution!

Light-hearted thread warning (alt)

Have you got the Mac Mouse "tail" blues? I did, but with what we in the UK call "Heath Robinson", it's been fixed.

The wire on the wired mouse on my main Mac has been bugging me for some time. Plugged into the r/h USB port on the keyboard, the wire would:

a) get in the way of the numeric keypad on r/h side ALL THE TIME
b) flip up any papers lying within the curve of the wire coming from k/b to mouse
c) tip up the corner of the mouse-mat, to such an extent that I had to repair that corner with sellotape
d) force the mouse to sit on said pad in an inconvenient position, leading to constant repositioning

I tried to turn the mouse upside down, so that the "tail" comes out of the bottom. This is more logical design. Why do I have to think of everything? But then the mouse didn't work as it should, because it was upside down.

Couple of days ago, in extreme exasperation, I put a thin rubber band around the mouse, trapping the wire alongside and resolving all above irritations. However, then the rubber band underneath the mouse rubbed on the mouse pad when in use, but I tolerated this ftm.

Today! My boss had to use this Mac, and instantly came up with Heath Robinson's solution. He removed the rubber band, and stuck the wire to the side of the mouse with masking tape. Brilliant.

Now I'm wondering why the wire comes out of the top, when ergonomics let alone logic decree that it should come out of the bottom of the thing.

ps. wireless mice. I know. Had one. They EAT BATTERIES and are also much heavier.

Nice solution! The Robinson reference reminded me of another cartoon: Dilbert. I wonder how that might resonate with you and your situation.

Anyway, your dislike of wireless mice may be based on outdated experience. There are now several models that either have rechargeables built in and charge in their storage cradle, or use replaceable batteries that last months instead of weeks. Rechargeables will work here too, but a full charge tends to last not quite as long as regular batteries.
Of course, the weight/mass of battery-containing mice is something to get used to. FWIW I haven't used anything else for over a decade, and much prefer them.

Hi Alt, thanks for replying.

Does anyone have any idea at all, why the wire comes out of the top of the mouse? Just being whimsical here, it is called a tail, after all..... and mouse tails don't come out of their heads, do they?

Why oh why don't computer mice wires come out of the bottom of the device? I think we should be told.

Pre-emptive response: because they were designed by men, not women, and that's the way they stuck for ever afterwards.

With the advent of Lion and Mountain Lion and their support for multiple gestures to control screen actions, I solved the mouse tail problem by converting to an Apple Wireless Trackpad. Yes it still has batteries that need to be replaced or recharged, but after a week or two getting accustomed to the mousepad, I would not go back to a mouse, or trackball of any description. As an added fillip, I installed Magic Numpad which allows me to switch the trackpad between being all trackpad and half trackpad half numeric keypad. All in all it beats a mouse all hollow.

I have a Logitech wireless mouse that cost $20 that uses one AA battery, which needs replacing maybe twice a year. and I generally leave it on all the time. I have one for each computer.

as for the wire coming out the top, I assume it does that because that puts it closer to the usb port. there would be even more wire in the way if it came out the mouse's butt.