The period of the Aqua Mouse lives on, however provided that you reside in Australia

Key Takeaways

Enjoyable and colourful tech merchandise as soon as dominated the patron electronics scene.
Within the 90s and 00s, many PC peripherals — together with optical mice — shipped with translucent casings and even liquid-filled interiors.
The so-called Aqua Mouse lives on, however provided that you are fortunate sufficient to reside in Australia.

The 90s and the early 00s have been a time to be alive — we had sit-down Pizza Hut eating places, Blockbuster video rental shops, and even the downright legendary AOL Immediate Messenger. This time interval additionally gave start to a very artistic tech product: the aqua mouse.

Aqua mice hit the scene at a time when tech producers weren’t afraid to get artistic. Translucent shopper electronics have been all the fad, with their semi-see-through casings and shiny colorways. This was the period of the bondi blue iMac G3, the atomic purple Nintendo 64, and the clear yellow Tamagotchi.

Aqua mice adopted this identical design mantra, however with a twist: injecting fluid inside their clear casings, whereas suspending collectible figurines or different floating decorations inside these aquatic chambers. It is not an exaggeration to say that at one level within the late 90s, aqua mice might be discovered on desktops the world over.

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The Cat Aqua Mouse is a vestigial reminder of the great previous days

This heavy responsibility machinery-themed mouse is not fueled by diesel, however quite by nostalgia

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As of late, it is practically inconceivable to search out an aqua mouse on the market outdoors of the used market. The model’s distinctive mix of translucent plastics and fluid-filled interiors fell out of trend within the mid 2000’s, and hasn’t reemerged since. However, one holdout nonetheless stays, and it is referred to as the Cat Aqua Mouse.

One TikTok user by the name of ratgirl.333 went on a mission to search out herself an aqua mouse nonetheless in energetic manufacturing, and he or she stumbled upon what could be one of many closing choices nonetheless in the marketplace. Say hiya to the Cat Aqua Mouse: a $17 AUD (roughly $11.30 USD) optical mouse offered by the Aussie-based Cat gear supplier WesTrac.

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As you would possibly anticipate, the Cat Aqua Mouse leans closely into its equipment aesthetic. It is a wired USB-A mouse with a outstanding Cat design print, and it incorporates a floating D11R Cat machine reproduction inside its liquid-filled base. In accordance with the WesTrac storefront, the peripheral is appropriate with Home windows 98, NT, 2000, ME, and XP machines. Whereas there isn’t any phrase on compatibility with newer variations of Home windows or different working techniques, I might think about little or no tinkering can be required to get it up and working on Windows 11, macOS, and even Android.

As you would possibly anticipate, the Cat Aqua Mouse leans closely into its equipment aesthetic.

Sadly, the Cat Aqua Mouse is available for purchase completely inside Australia, and there isn’t any choice to ship internationally. In the event you’re like me and reside 1000’s of miles away from the island nation, then you definately’ll should expertise your serving to of nostalgia vicariously by ratgirl.333.

Cat Aqua Mouse

An optical USB mouse that hearkens again to the great previous days of enjoyable PC peripherals, with a translucent casing and a floating D11R Cat machine reproduction.

Might we be in for an aqua mouse renaissance?

Aqua mice in all probability will not be coming again anytime quickly, however translucent units look like on the rise

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Sadly, I do not anticipate aqua mice to make a triumphant comeback within the shopper area anytime quickly. As enjoyable and distinctive as they undoubtedly are, their fluid-filled insides are restricted by sensible manufacturing constraints. Modern PC mice have lots occurring internally nowadays, cramming lithium-ion battery packs, Bluetooth radio antennas, USB-C sockets, and complex optical sensors right into a quite small bundle.

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That being mentioned, we’re bearing witness to one thing of a resurgence in translucent shopper tech merchandise on a broader scale. The UK-based Nothing smartphone brand is arguably main the cost with its lineup of smartphones and Bluetooth equipment, together with the agency’s new semi-transparent Nothing Ear (Open) earbuds. Even business juggernaut Samsung has jumped on the bandwagon with its newest Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro fashions. It is unclear whether or not this development is just a play on nostalgia, or if it is a real design ethos with legs.

On a private stage, I’d like to see the return of Nintendo’s legendary atomic purple colorway.

On a private stage, I’d like to see the return of Nintendo’s legendary atomic purple colorway in its upcoming successor to the Switch gaming console. A translucent Magic Mouse would even have me grabbing for my pockets, however Apple’s latest USB-C refresh of the peripheral makes this an extremely unlikely prospect.