don't normally do my computer shopping at those big warehouse superstores: I mostly shop on line. But the other day I needed a new keyboard and mouse on short notice, so I stopped by the CompUSA store in Central Square.
Before I knew it, my mission to pick up a cheap accessory had been transformed. The bright lights and slick packaging from a hundred different companies changed my purpose. No longer was I a utilitarian drudge; now I was after a fashion experience.
The first thing to catch my eye was a set of Cyber Acoustics MacAudio amplified speakers. Although these $80 speakers can work with any computer, the speakers are designed to complement Apple's fashionable iMac computer.
Each speaker looks like a tiny iMac, and the set even comes with six translucent hoods so you can change their colors to match or clash with the iMac's case. There's also a big white subwoofer that looks rather out of place, but sounds terrific. Find out more at http://www.cyber-acoustics.com/.
It's not hard to understand why the iMac made such a big impact on the consumer computer market. Computers, after all, had long since become a boring commodity for most of us. Apple's genius was realizing that the only way it could attract consumers to its nonstandard operating system was by recruiting those who were willing to ''think different.'' Not surprisingly, one of the easiest ways of appealing to people who think differently from the rest is by offering computers in a variety of different colors. It was the ultimate refutation of today's Henry Fords who inhabit the hallways of Compaq and Dell - companies that are willing to sell you a desktop computer in any color you want, so long as it's beige.
In building the iMac, Apple simply could have used spray paint or colored plastics. Fortunately for us, the company decided to innovate and build its cases from polycarbonate.
Polycarbonate, sometimes known as Lexan and Merlon, is extremely strong, optically transparent, and lightweight. And in the years since the iMac's debut, polycarbonate has become all the rage in the computer industry - especially for building anything having to do with USB.
USB, for the uninitiated, is the Universal Serial Bus. USB is a high-speed system for putting keyboards, mice, printers, floppy disk drives, hard drives, and even CD-ROMs onto a computer. It's architecturally neutral, which means that you can put it on a PC running Windows, a PC running Unix, or a Mac. Although PCs have had USB ports for years, and Microsoft added support for the system in 1997, it wasn't until Apple shipped the iMac with a USB keyboard and mouse that the bus started to really gain popularity.
Because of this close affiliation with the iMac, many USB products to this day have a kind of iMac styling. My D-Link four-port USB hub, for instance, has a translucent green polycarbonate case. The long cable that connects the hub to my desktop has a translucent plastic armor and a braided inner shielding - this, despite the fact that it is plugged into a PC clone running Windows 98.
In the back of the computer store, perhaps four dozen mice and keyboards from different manufacturers were laid out for my inspection.
The big new thing in mice is apparently Microsoft's new Intellimouse Explorer (http://www.microsoft.com/
Mouse/explorer.htm). It's an oversized device with a gray steel top, a red base, and no moving parts. Instead of a rolling bar, the mouse has an optical sensor that watches as you move it across your mouse pad, or your desk, or your notebook, or even your pants. Alas, the $75 device is designed for right-handed folk like me, so I passed it by, since I don't believe in having a mouse that makes my left-handed wife uncomfortable.
So instead of buying another product from Redmond, I decided to get a Logitech cordless wheel mouse. The box contains two items: a small, battery-powered mouse, and a square box that plugs into the back of your computer. The mouse is symmetrical, so it fits in either hand. And with no cord, or tail, it's easier to move across my desk than any other mouse I've ever used. I love it.
To complement my cordless mouse I bought a Logitech cordless keyboard. The keyboard comes in two versions - a conventional keyboard, which costs $59.95, and an ergonomic one with split halves for each hand. The ergonomic keyboard costs $79.95. I decided to go with the cheaper keyboard since it takes up less desk space.
Both of the Logitech accessories use radio frequencies to transmit information to your PC. Logitech claims that the batteries last six months to a year. They also use a special signaling system that doesn't cause interference, even if you have several keyboards and mice in the same room, all connected to different computers. I know this system works because I was so thrilled with the wireless devices that I went back to the store the next day and bought a set for my wife, and we use the two setups side-by-side without any problems. There were also a number of keyboards that relied upon infrared communications, like a television remote. I don't like these systems as much: If you drop a book or something on your desk between the keyboard and the infrared receiver, you suddenly lose the ability to type!
Besides being wireless, my Logitech keyboard has a bunch of extra buttons designed for controlling sound, compact discs, and surfing the Web - a total of 12 extra buttons in all. The most useful buttons, I think, are those that control the volume and mute the computer's sound - very handy features when the telephone rings.
Overall, I think that it's a sign of health and vibrancy that there are so many choices available today for such PC accessories as mice, keyboards and speakers. My only regret is that it took so long for utility to become fashion.
Technology columnist Simson Garfinkel can be reached at http://chat.simson.net/
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