Researchers from the Logitech Innovation Lab have come up with an unusual initiative. What do you think about an eternal mouse?
A decade ago, subscriptions were mainly associated with telephone and television operators, but today, in the subscription model, we can have almost everything – from a smartphone, through games, music and films, to food or coffee. So why not a mouse, since subscriptions are so closely associated with the world of technology? This idea sounds absurd, but according to the CEO of Logitech, there is a method to this madness. However, you will have to pay a lot for such a device.
Logitech goes a step further – one mouse for life
Logitech has been one of the leaders in producing peripherals such as mice, keyboards, and headphones for years. The company’s designers are also quite creative, because it was under Logitech’s wings that they created such unusual – which by no means means bad – devices as the MX Vertical or the POP Keys emoticon keyboard, resembling a typewriter (and in addition, this text was also written on Logitech equipment).
It would seem that Logitech would not go any further with its ideas, but Hanneke Faber surprised everyone in a new episode of The Verge podcast. She proposed a mouse that would stay with the user forever. During this time, new features, updates and security patches would be received in a subscription model.
Update Subscription – Who Will Pay for It?
How often do you replace your mice? Well, I assume relatively rarely – especially when you spend a few hundred zlotys on ergonomic work equipment. However, Logitech designers had a vision of a mouse that would never need replacing. When Faber took over as CEO in October, the innovation department presented her with a not-so-distant project for an everlasting mouse, which was compared to a favorite, reliable watch.
“One day in Ireland, at our innovation center, one of our team members showed me an everlasting mouse compared to a watch. It’s a nice watch (said the team member), not very expensive, but I don’t intend to ever throw it away” – Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber
Well, I know people who don’t see the world beyond the iconic Logitech MX Master 3S, and changing to another model is completely out of the question, so maybe this argument makes some sense. But back to the details and the subscription – the eternal mouse would receive all updates and fixes as part of the subscription, which, combined with the hypothetical possibility of repair, could turn out to be quite a good idea – Logitech is already providing a post-warranty option for DIY tinkering in cooperation with iFixit.
What about the price? Of course, there’s no talk of specifics here, because this project hasn’t made it beyond the closed doors of Logitech’s innovation lab yet, but the company’s CEO mentions a price tag of around $200 in the podcast, which automatically classifies the everlasting mouse as a device for geeks and professionals. That’s a lot, especially when you consider that the mouse is not supposed to differ much from the manufacturer’s standard ergonomic mouse models in terms of design or functionality.
Year after year, however, customers are becoming more accustomed to using rented equipment, and ownership rights are no longer as important as they once were. So perhaps the idea of Logitech researchers is not so stupid, but for the price of $200, they would have to offer something more than just software updates.
Stock image from Depositphotos
