Google knows a thing or two about good software programming, but what does it know about hardware design? Enough, apparently, to come up with its own mouse, and the good news is that it's made out of recycled plastic.

Google wireless mouse (GooglesStore.com)

As I first learned at Shiny Shiny, the mouse is wireless as well, equipped with a Wi-Fi dongle for easy connection to your computer.

Available in red or blue, the Google Recycled Mini Wireless Mouse is smaller than average and therefore quite portable, but it's large enough to include a scroll wheel, and it offers 800 dot-per-inch resolution, enough to make its on-screen action acceptable to most users. Even its packaging is made from recycled materials. The cost: a seemingly random $19.20. Why not $18.99 or $19.99?

At this stage of the game, 27 years into the PC revolution, it's interesting to me that the vast majority of us still rely on mice to move around the screen. Very few computer users have ever warmed up to trackballs even though they're easier on the wrist, and pen input has never gotten anywhere, even though those who use it in the photography and design industries love it. (Pen input is a great way to work with Photoshop, for example.)

Ah, well... as long as mice control the input market, at least it's good to know that a few of them are made from recycled plastic, perhaps acquired from some of the millions of dead mice out there.