With the proliferation of laptops with built-in trackpads and optical mice that can mouse over just about any surface, not many people think about the surface they use their mouse on.
Things aren’t always as they appear.
When metal-surfaced mouse pads started to make their appearance, we got a lot of requests to start carrying them. Based on a number of reviews and brand requests, we chose a popular manufacturer and started working with them.
Unfortunately, the quality left much to be desired. Scratches on the top surface were the norm, and I even saw one with severe bands of discoloration on a supposedly “gray” surface. More disturbing, though, were the rough chunks out of the edges of many of the pads. One of our IT department staffers even managed to cut a finger open on one of them.
“Okay,” we thought, “maybe this was just a bad batch.” So, we contacted the manufacturer.
“No,” was the reply to our inquiry, “those pads are 100% salable, and of our highest quality.”
I’m not an engineer, but I have countless hours of experience working with precision-cut metals; back before I became “OWC Chris S.”, I worked at my family’s suction filter business. I won’t bore you with the details, but one of my jobs was checking in fittings that we used in these filters. If we’d received parts with this level of relative quality, the whole batch would have been rejected and sent back. As I see it, if it isn’t good enough to stick in the oil tank of a backhoe, it isn’t good enough for someone’s desktop.
Anybody who actually saw one of these pads would know in their heart of hearts that they were not—in any way, shape or form—“salable.” In fact, I would believe that any manufacturer claiming that those pads were “quality” either doesn’t know about quality control or flat out doesn’t care about their product and/or the customers who use them.
That’s not the kind of product that we want to sell; we’re dedicated to giving you a high-quality product and the customer service to back it up. A manufacturer who has that much disregard for its customer base is not something we want to be connected with, so we decided on the next best solution: we’ll do it ourselves.
Anything they can do, we can do better.
After the disappointing offering from this third-party supplier, we jumped in and decided to rebuild from the ground up – and that’s just what we did. From the natural closed cell sponge rubber bottom (instead of the cheap matting usually used for shelf liners, like on other models) to the clear, anodized finish (produced with the same process as used for medical supplies), we made sure this was a mouse pad you’d be proud to display and use on your desk.
This 100% Made in the U.S.A. metal mouse pad is made from precision laser cut, aircraft-grade aluminum, and wonderfully compliments the aluminum cases of iMacs, Mac Pros, MacBooks and MacBook Pros, while fitting in with even the most stylish decors.
That’s why we’re proud to announce the Newer Technology NuPad Forever. It’s available now, and comes in two sizes:
Did we have to go to such lengths to bring you something as simple as a mouse pad? Probably not, but we think our customers are worth it.
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