Here's a collection of some small hacks that were often performed more for the fun of it than for real practical use, although each hack still has the potential to be useful in some way. For instance, I use the hacked ADB II mouse on a regular basis.
More hacks coming soon!
People who have used a Mac in the mid to late nineties, should be familiar with the Apple ADB II mouse. It is widely regarded as the prototype for the ideal computer mouse shape. The ADB II mouse could be seen in the majority of computer-related adverts from the late nineties and beyond, even those that had nothing to do with Macs. This was probably not only due to its pleasing aesthetics but also its instantly recognisable shape. The only (debatable) flaw that could be attributed to this mouse is its single button, a principle that Apple only gave up when introducing the Mighty Mouse in 2005.
We had a bunch of these mice lying around at home, most of them jobless since the transition to USB Macs. I also had a Logitech USB Notebook mouse which I used with my MacBook Pro, but I didn't like its shape. Inspired by the nice ADB I to USB hack by command-tab, I decided to have a go at fusing the classic ergonomics of the ADB II mouse with the modern internals of the Logitech. If successful, I would have — as far as I know — the first ADB II mouse with two buttons and a scroll wheel, the dream of many a Mac user in the nineties.
As you can see, it worked out and the mouse works perfectly. With the help of a dremel tool, a fretsaw and some epoxy glue, the internals of the Logitech fit nicely inside the ADB casing. By sawing the single button in two halves with a hole in between, the transformation was complete. The only problem were the switches: I had to move them forward on the PCB to make the protrusions in the sawn-in-two button line up. This involved interrupting traces and drilling new holes in the PCB. Finding the right distance between the buttons and the switches was a matter of trial-and-error.
I didn't go as far as looking for a matching USB cable. The scroll wheel is black anyway so the black cable is acceptable. For the finishing touch, I restored as much of the original ADB II sticker as I could, and used some teflon tape to replace the worn-out original teflon pads.
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