Hey, does everybody remember the old "light-up iMac mouse" controversy? Reminisce with us, as we travel back to those tempestuous months between the iMac's spectacular launch and its eventual appearance on store shelves. Oh, the arguments that one little blue computer can ignite! Let's see, now... The proponents for at least one expansion slot were going head to head with those who agreed with Apple's philosophy of consumer-level simplicity, the SCSI folks were butting heads with the USB brigade, and we were absolutely convinced that the "no floppy drive" issue would eventually lead to a bloody coup. And yet we at AtAT were far more concerned with the fact that the iMac's mouse no longer seemed to light up. (That's us-- always with the finger on the pulse of today's most important technological issues.)

It's all flooding back to you now, isn't it? Several initial eyewitness accounts from the iMac's official unveiling indicated that the iMac, or possibly just its mouse, actually lit up when the system was on. Apple later claimed that this was not true, but that people had been confused by the stage lights dispersing through the iMac's translucent enclosure. Later on they stated in no uncertain terms that the iMac's mouse had never lit up-- until someone pointed out a QuickTime movie straight from Apple's marketing department that clearly showed the iMac mouse glowing like a Christmas tree. After that, Apple admitted that it was indeed a feature that had gone away long before the iMac would ship. That settled that argument-- but it still didn't help those of us who wanted a light-up mouse.

Of course, some adventurous soul eventually posted detailed do-it-yourself instructions on how to install one's own light in a translucent mouse, and while those instructions are very cool, not everyone is comfortable soldering an LED into the innards of their precious Bondi-and-ice hockey puck-- and particularly not everyone in the iMac's typical un-geeky family target audience. And so it's iLight to the rescue! These guys will take your iMac mouse and, for $19.99 plus $3 shipping, will transform it into a light-up beauty. And if you can't bear to send in your little translucent rodent for minor surgery, iLight will also sell you a brand new non-Apple light-up USB mouse for $49.99. This enterprising service won't begin until sometime next month, but there's a really entertaining list of frequently asked questions and their answers posted for your edification and-- dare we say it?-- illumination. At last! Luminescence for the masses! Of course, the process voids the mouse's warranty, but hey, that's a small price to pay for admission to the Legion of Cool.