Given Apple’s current reputation as one of the world’s most sought after and admired tech brands, it’s hard to believe that the company has had more than its fair share of design controversies. While some of these mistakes were products that were simply too far ahead of their time, there were some that were just plain bad designs. If you had to choose the worst Apple product ever created, it would have to be the poorly designed mouse referred to as the “Hockey Puck.” It first arrived on the scene in 1998, and it clearly failed to do the one thing it was designed for: be an accurate pointing device. The shape of the mouse was unsuitable for comfortable use, and the round shape meant people had a difficult time orienting it correctly while using it. If that wasn’t enough, the Hockey Puck’s build quality was generally thought to be bad. The overall consensus was that this product was a terrible mouse. In fact, it seemed to many consumers that Apple prioritized the mouse’s appearance over everything else. However, the Hockey Puck mouse did have a first to its credit. It was the first-ever Apple mouse to use the USB connectivity standard, which is commonplace today.
