I'm a guy who impulse bought 5 Grape puck mice the other day. Here they are:
So, just a nice photo-op, and that's all, right?
Not quite.
I'd heard that the Puck Mice were manufactured in multiple different facilities, and was curious to see if there was any evidence for that. Fortunately, there was, and I didn't even need to look at the motherboards.
Out of the 5 pucks I bought, 3 of them had a very similar serial number, starting with "LC9" and ending "FL8". These three all looked relatively the same, so no surprises there, they were probably made in the same factory.
Then we have an older puck without a notch. Some will be aware that these pucks had a minor revision done to them at some point in 1999 (but I can't work out when), in which a notch was added to the button.
Here is a picture of a notched model beside the older no-notch, because I couldn't find any picture online that actually shows the difference. (Without the right camera angle, you can't even see the difference.)
The no-notch model has the serial number "LC9" and ends "F9P". The plastics all look the same to me, so perhaps this was done in that same factory. Personally, I don't like the notch; it was an unnecessary 'improvement', and the button feels better without it.
Then we have our real outlier. The last puck is clearly different, at least in person. The plastics are much more translucent, with the green motherboard being quite visible. The purple plastic is less milky and much shinier. It also feels smoother to the touch.
And sure enough, the serial number is completely different, including the font:
This model has a notch, so it can't be an original model. But to add to the confusion, the ball inside it is white/grey rather than white/blue, which was the ball only meant to be found with the original Bondi Blue pucks. Perhaps this was not the original ball that came with this exact puck, but nonetheless, more mystery...
Furthermore, anyone who has used a puck mouse will know it makes a substantial, satisfying clicking sound. But this strange puck has a rather tinny click, like the kind you'd expect on a five dollar mouse. I do admit, this puck looks pretty cool, even if it isn't a correct model.
So, did Apple fail with its quality control on some of its puck mice? From a sample size of five, I can't really guess how many of these extra-tranluscent pucks were made. I think Apple's main quality control concern was that the purple colour was correct and matched the iMac G3 and keyboard; perhaps the degree of translucency and the click-feel was not as important.
Anyway, here endeth the ramblings. I'd love to hear from more puck owners what their serial numbers are, and whether they have noticed any of these differences on their own mice.
Oh... and I almost forgot: I'm trying to collect every colour of puck mouse. If anyone is willing to help me, I would be most grateful and am happy to pay for them. But there's a catch – I only want pucks without the notch!
So, just a nice photo-op, and that's all, right?
Not quite.
I'd heard that the Puck Mice were manufactured in multiple different facilities, and was curious to see if there was any evidence for that. Fortunately, there was, and I didn't even need to look at the motherboards.
Out of the 5 pucks I bought, 3 of them had a very similar serial number, starting with "LC9" and ending "FL8". These three all looked relatively the same, so no surprises there, they were probably made in the same factory.
Then we have an older puck without a notch. Some will be aware that these pucks had a minor revision done to them at some point in 1999 (but I can't work out when), in which a notch was added to the button.
Here is a picture of a notched model beside the older no-notch, because I couldn't find any picture online that actually shows the difference. (Without the right camera angle, you can't even see the difference.)
The no-notch model has the serial number "LC9" and ends "F9P". The plastics all look the same to me, so perhaps this was done in that same factory. Personally, I don't like the notch; it was an unnecessary 'improvement', and the button feels better without it.
Then we have our real outlier. The last puck is clearly different, at least in person. The plastics are much more translucent, with the green motherboard being quite visible. The purple plastic is less milky and much shinier. It also feels smoother to the touch.
And sure enough, the serial number is completely different, including the font:
This model has a notch, so it can't be an original model. But to add to the confusion, the ball inside it is white/grey rather than white/blue, which was the ball only meant to be found with the original Bondi Blue pucks. Perhaps this was not the original ball that came with this exact puck, but nonetheless, more mystery...
Furthermore, anyone who has used a puck mouse will know it makes a substantial, satisfying clicking sound. But this strange puck has a rather tinny click, like the kind you'd expect on a five dollar mouse. I do admit, this puck looks pretty cool, even if it isn't a correct model.
So, did Apple fail with its quality control on some of its puck mice? From a sample size of five, I can't really guess how many of these extra-tranluscent pucks were made. I think Apple's main quality control concern was that the purple colour was correct and matched the iMac G3 and keyboard; perhaps the degree of translucency and the click-feel was not as important.
Anyway, here endeth the ramblings. I'd love to hear from more puck owners what their serial numbers are, and whether they have noticed any of these differences on their own mice.
Oh... and I almost forgot: I'm trying to collect every colour of puck mouse. If anyone is willing to help me, I would be most grateful and am happy to pay for them. But there's a catch – I only want pucks without the notch!
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