From the category of “what were they thinking” Marubeni Infotec Corp. is marketing a computer mouse called the Play Mouse that is made of natural wood. This optical mouse was jointly developed with Yamaguchi Kogei, a Fukui Prefecture company specializing in wooden products.

Measuring 53 x 88 x 27mm, the mouse is available in two types of wood maple and walnut.  The mouse has a smooth immaculately sanded finish and both mouse buttons are made of wood as well. It is being sold for 9,800 Yen ($96 USD) and is the ultimate melding of nature and technology.

If wood computer mice were not enough they are also selling wood flash drives in the shape of animals. The animals available are the dog, the hippopotamus, the elephant, the swan, and the pig. Available in two types of wood walnut and maple the flash drives have a capacity of 1 gigabyte and will connect to your PC using a USB cable. The USB drives are 90 x 18 x 60 mm in size and will cost 7,980 Yen ($78 USD).

When products such as these are announced it makes you wonder what the thought process was that went in to them. Who the target market is, who are they competing with, who would value a wooden hippo flash drive that can only hold a gigabyte and cost four times as much as competitor products? My guess is these products could be targeted to the extremely eco conscious, people with too much money, or the small segment of the planet who just want electronics made of wood.