Categories: Articles

The Perfect Mouse Trap

While Marketers try to figure out how to build a better mouse trap, it turns out that I’m busy trying to buy the perfect mouse. You know that little computer peripheral that you spend most of your day with. I know the perfect mouse exists for the desktop, but what about us computer users that are more upwardly mobile (re: on the go).

Just yesterday, I picked up the new Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks. So far, excellent experience. It got me thinking about what would be the perfect mouse for the mobile user. Here’s my list (in no order or relevance or importance):

1. Thin.

2. Bluetooth enabled.

3. Tiny (if not invisible) USB receiver (why is a USB receiver not built into all computers?).

4. Optional sleep mode.

5. Battery life indicator.

6. Smooth scroll button.

7. Built in presenter buttons for PowerPoint presentations.

8. Built-in timer (for presentations).

9. Laser pointer.

10. Easy stowaway area for USB receiver.

11. Simple carrying case that does not add bulk.

It makes me wonder if we are at a point where the technology does not allow it, or if the manufacturers simple don’t think there is a big enough market to make a financial win of this. As a Marketer, I don’t spend my whole day thinking about how to get customers to buy stuff. As you can see, I spend a majority of my time thinking about how companies can make better – more remarkable – products that gets people talking.

Maybe this Blog posting was about creating the better mouse trap after all.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.