Logitech’s “forever mouse” idea isn’t just a poor concept; it’s a predatory approach that’s detrimental to consumers and doesn’t make sense as a product. Recently, Logitech’s CEO, Hanneke Faber, discussed this on The Verge’s Decoder podcast. She described a vision of a high-quality mouse, with continuously updated software and services, ensuring it remains relevant indefinitely.
This sounds appealing at first. However, the catch soon emerged: “The business model obviously is the challenge there,” Faber noted. “So then software is even more important when you think about it. Can you come up with a service model?”
The discussion then veered towards subscriptions. “So you pay a subscription for software updates to your mouse,” The Verge’s Nilay Patel suggested.
“Yeah, and you never have to worry about it again,” Faber agreed. Insert facepalm here.
There are several critical flaws with Logitech’s “forever mouse” idea. Firstly, hardware companies should inherently support their products without extra charges. Secondly, locking features behind a subscription paywall is predatory. Lastly, the notion of hardware as a service is fundamentally anti-consumer and must be challenged.
Good companies already support their products
When consumers invest in a product, they expect ongoing support from the manufacturer. This standard has been in place for years. In the automotive industry, products come with warranties. In tech, products are covered by warranties and extended support. The European Union has even proposed rules mandating manufacturers to service out-of-warranty parts.
This is crucial because most tech products depend on software drivers to function with other applications and operating systems. These drivers allow even decades-old products to operate. Many legacy products still run on modern systems due to continued support from manufacturers until external changes, such as the shift from serial ports to USB, force obsolescence.
A reputable company supports its products without additional fees.
Hiding new features behind a paywall is predatory
Requiring a subscription for mouse software updates is exploitative. I recently reviewed a product offering AI-powered transcription services that promised free lifetime transcriptions but demanded an extra fee for speaker identification and transcription export.
Logitech already provides services without paywalls, such as Flow software for seamless cursor movement between PCs on the MX Master series and AI features like Logi Prompt Builder. The outrage BMW faced when they tried to charge for heated seats should be a lesson. Imagine if Logitech locked essential features behind a subscription; it would be intolerable.
Logi Prompt Builder is available on the Signature AI Edition M750 Wireless Mouse, and Flow is part of the Logitech MX series. It’s difficult to believe that Logitech wouldn’t consolidate all its top features into a subscription model, which would be a disastrous decision.
No more hardware as a service!
It’s puzzling that we’re even discussing this again. HP tried a subscription model for printers and abandoned it after a consumer revolt. The fact that Logitech is considering something similar is bewildering.
We already have an excess of subscriptions, and now they’re infiltrating hardware.
Why is this happening? As hardware becomes more software-dependent, companies like Intel and AMD employ thousands of software developers. Logitech is no different. As hardware advances, it’s becoming more software-like, with permissions, licenses, and subscriptions dictating user capabilities.