http://www.compaq.com.au/dynamouse/productinfo.html
"For years, engineers have tried to make laptop batteries more efficient,
with only marginal success. That's why Compaq gathered a team of its top
designers to look at the problem.
Five years and $120 million dollars later we have come up with the solution.
The breakthrough came by chance when Research Team Leader, Dr Annette Curton
noticed her watch was losing time. Head of Artificial Intelligence,
Professor Sean Lam showed her his new autowind kinetic watch and the idea
for Compaq Dynamouse was born.
The next step was to find a way to harness the mouse ball's rotational
kinetic energy. The team set themselves a seemingly impossible task - to
make the world's first Super Conductor Dynamo, small enough to fit inside a
mouse casing. Today Dynamouse is a reality. A mere 45 seconds of Dynamouse
motion will give your battery 5 minutes of extra life.
And if your Dynamouse hasn't been used for a while? Not a problem. Our
virtual reality racing car game Motormouse F1 makes recharging fast and
fun - the movements of your mouse guide a racing car around famous
racetracks of the world. You can either race against the clock or compete
with others linked to your network. And should track conditions become wet,
you can even change your 'slick' ball for a treaded one. With Dynamouse
you'll never again have to worry about running out of battery power in the
middle of a task.
The Y2K-ready Dynamouse comes in a range of exciting new colours including
Compaq red and British racing green."
Pretty cool. Shame it's an April Fool's joke.
James