Crazy Convergence, Part 1: Mice that aren't...

"Convergence" is usually understood to be a good thing: combining features commonly used in similar situations into a single device, to increase convenience and efficiency. Cell phones and PDAs have finally converged into Treos, Blackberries, and iPhones; home printer/scanner/copiers have come together, too. But sometimes convergence can be taken too far - there's no real reason to actually combine the unhappily-mated products, and the result performs poorly in all of its functions.

Today, two computer mice definitely take convergence too far: these rodents were bred with calculators (Sanwa, via Gizmodo) and label printers (Casio, via Engadget), and the offspring ain't pretty. The calculator at least has a glimmer of reason - less distance to move your hand in order to make quick onscreen calculations - but the sacrifice in ergonomics (and accidental calculator keypresses?) more than obliterates it. And the label printer is simply ludicrous - there are better label printers, and better mice, and no reason to slap them together!

Come back next time for more of the good, the bad, and the ugly of convergence...