I use an RGB mouse pad in the office and I’m not ashamed

Not too long ago, The Verge’s evaluations workforce has been making an effort to do away with a number of the historical merchandise now we have mendacity round our workplace. We’ve donated or thrown away some actually prehistoric devices. However there was one machine that, the second I laid eyes on it, I knew I wanted to rescue. It was the Razer Firefly, a seven-year-old mouse pad with a glowing RGB lightstrip across the edge. It was a superbly foolish and additional machine, and I knew it was made for me.

I’ve now been utilizing the Razer Firefly at my desk in The Verge’s Manhattan workplace for a number of weeks. It presents 16.8 million customizable colour choices. It sits at my facet all day, flashing purple, pink, purple, yellow, blue, and every little thing in between. “However what does it do?” numerous folks have requested me as they stroll by. It does completely diddly squat, I inform them. It’s an aesthetic, a vibe. However some days, that vibe is every little thing.

It’s definitely enjoyable to hate on obnoxious RGB setups. (And I’ve been identified to do it myself as a result of I keep that some coloured merchandise are actually extreme — Asus ROG Strix line, I’m taking a look at you.)

However daily I exploit the Firefly, I heat extra as much as the thought of a (barely) coloured setup. For these of us who typically work in solitude (both as a result of we’re distant or as a result of most of our co-workers are), existence can really feel like a little bit of a hamster wheel — we work and work and the work continues, and whereas co-workers and buddies exist as names and icons that reside on our screens, there are factors the place it’s exhausting to persuade ourselves that it’s all going wherever, that anybody in any respect is listening.

So whereas I do know it couldn’t be extra mid-2010s basement gamer of me, I’ll proceed to permit myself the mouse pad. Whereas the solar cycles and capitalist routines develop into so instinctual as to really feel monotonic, one can by no means predict which colour will subsequent seem on the Firefly.

The workplace round me could also be grey and empty, however the Firefly is vibrant, blissful to be right here, and really a lot alive. That LED strip is a twinge of mindless enjoyable on a desk stuffed with utility, and that twinge is a reminder that there are small pleasures, there are stunning joys, and there’s a world outdoors these partitions.