Boom Shakalaka!

Interpretations

The ubiquitous mouse. Remember that piece of equipment you gimped on when you first bought your computer? You managed to spend a fortune on the video card, sell a kidney for the RAM and sold your soul to the devil for the CPU. But the mouse… well, that was purchased with the change you found in between the seat cushions of your couch.

I can't count the times I have seen a two-dollar mouse sitting next to a great computer. Sadly enough, I can't even excuse myself from that category. In this case my frugal instincts will come in handy. Reviewing the Razer Boomslang gave me the opportunity to get the feel of a self-proclaimed "genre defining weapon." Weapon? Wow, I thought I was just reviewing a mouse...

The Kärna Razer Boomslang has an intriguing name. The first part, Kärna, is the name of a great warrior in the Mahabharata, an Indian epic. Razer, well that seems to be one of those words that drips of manliness. Boomslang, this one had me a bit baffled. It was neither masculine nor mythological in nature. After a little Britannica action, I figured out that it was a snake. Thus, explaining the green squiggles on the box.

I tend to read into names a little bit too much. A quick look at the Boomslang's web page showed me that Kärna was not a reference to some mythical warrior. Instead, it is a word Swedish word meaning "seed," some reference to their light encoder technology. I think I liked my interpretation better.

Le Box

Cookies?

The Package

Without even plugging in the mouse yet, the Boomslang seems to have broken quite a few firsts. Most mice I have purchased are lucky to have a twisty tie around the wire, and a plastic bag is a huge bonus. Our Boomslang arrived in a dark gray box with three green snakes on it. Upon opening the box, we found a cylindrical metal tin. Kind of like those Danish cookies tins, just more menacing. Inside is a foam structure that houses the Boomslang, and the USB adapter. The instruction manual is even circular in shape, to match the tin of course.

All this seems to verge on excess for a mouse. Alas, I was reminded, that the Boomslang is no ordinary mouse when I read the quote: "You're one of us now." I was curious as to whether I was supposed to be laughing, or taking this seriously, after all this is a mouse we are talking about.

I don't believe I have ever seen a mouse with as much testosterone. In fact, I don't think I have ever had a mouse that tried to appeal to that side of me. The Razer Boomslang just oozes of machismo. The name shows it; the shape shows it, even the manual attempts to show it. Reading the labels was akin to watching a B-rated action flic. I was waiting to read a one-liner that somehow involved a mouse and something getting blown up. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), that didn't happen.