they used to say the cord looked like a tail and the shape of the mouse was like...a mouse. I'm not sure why it's still called that though.

because it resembles one. =)

The two buttons are her ears, and the cable is her tail. Isn't she cute?! Wikipedia claims: The name mouse, coined at the Stanford Research Institute, derives from the resemblance of early models (which had a cord attached to the rear part of the device, suggesting the idea of a tail) to the common eponymous rodent. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse#_note-0 - http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxmouses.html

" On December 9, 1968, Douglas Engelbart of the Stanford Research Institute unveiled the computer mouse, though no one called it so then. It was known as 'X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System'. Once Engelbart could point with his 'Position Indicator', he was able to develop on-screen windows with menus and a hypertext system. The 'Position Indicator' was made of wood, had two wheels on the bottom and a single red button on top. Englebart's team thought the device looked like a mouse, and the name stuck. " http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-109546,prtpage-1.cms

"Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age (ed. Constance Hale, HardWired, 1996, ISBN 1-888869-01-1) says: "What's the plural of that small, rolling pointing device invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1964? We prefer ~mouses~. ~Mice~ is just too suggestive of furry little creatures. But both terms are common, so take your pick. We actually emailed Engelbart to see what he'd say. His answer? 'Haven't given the matter much thought.' "In fact, Engelbart shared credit for the name with 'a small group in my lab at SRI.' Nobody among his colleagues seems to remember who first nicknamed the device, but all agree that the name was given because the cord ('tail') initially came out the 'back' of the device. 'Very soon we realised that the connecting wire should be brought out the "front" instead of the back,' Engelbart notes, but by then the name had stuck." The Microsoft(R) Manual of Style for Technical Publications (ed. Amanda Clark, Microsoft Press, 1995, ISBN 1-55615-939-0) says: "Avoid using the plural mice; if you need to refer to more than one mouse, use mouse devices." Markus Laker reports from the U.K.: "In the early eighties, a few people did selfconsciously say 'mouses', but the traditional plural 'mice' gained ground rapidly and is now more or less universal here."" Source and further information: http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxmouses.html