What’s With All The VoIP Phone + Mouse Combos?

There’s been a spate of VoIP phone/ mouse combos, and it makes me and others [Engadget] wonder what the heck is going on? I’ve reviewed (or read reviews of) at least 5 mouse/ phone combos since July and I’m sick of them. Personally, I think they are a bad functional design, unhygienic, and totally unnecessary. There is nothing wrong with separating functionality. Seriously. Why don’t you come up with a “comunicator” instead, if you want to conserve space? Like one commenter said at the Engadget post, maybe someone could combine an electric razor at the same time. Beautiful. But please, don’t do it. This keyboard/ phone combo, on the other hand, is okay.