Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber appeared in a recent episode of The Verge's Decoder podcast to discuss several topics, including the company's hopes to cut its carbon footprint by 50 percent.
However, while Logitech's environmental goals are welcome, Faber's comments on a recent visit to the company's innovation center in Ireland have turned heads online.
Faber mentions how one of the innovation center's team members showed her a "Forever mouse," a presumably future-proof peripheral designed for users to make far longer use of. Faber compares it to a watch. Not in form or function, but more in the sense that a watch can be kept forever with the right upkeep.
While there's no harm in owning more than one watch, there's no real need to dispose of the old one — especially if it's a quality, well-designed product. However, it was the notion that this upkeep could be tied to a paid subscription that raised eyebrows.
The Forever mouse
To be clear, there is currently no future release of a forever mouse expected, though Faber seems to welcome the concept, if it's possible to figure out the right business model for supporting it.
While Nilay Patel, EIC of The Verge, suggests they'd be willing to pay upwards of $200 for a mouse that would last 'forever,' Faber appears to steer the concept into the area of a service model (similar to Logitech's video conferencing services) — meaning a subscription-based model that would see hardware owners pay for continued software support of their forever mouse.
The forever mouse fits snugly within the Logitech CEO's carbon emission goals going forward, with Faber stating that the company hopes to release "Products that last longer because they’re superior and because we can continue to update them over time."
However, that's not to say that everyone else is welcome to the idea of being required to pay a subscription to keep the hardware they own up-to-date. Perhaps this sentiment is best exemplified by Digital Foundry's John Linneman who took to X to share his thoughts on the concept by saying "I’m still using mice from 30 years ago without issue. Putting a subscription on a mouse would mean never buying from Logitech again."
I’m still using mice from 30 years ago without issue. Putting a subscription on a mouse would mean never buying from Logitech again. This would be such a bad idea. “Forever mouse”? No thanks. https://t.co/rTntqVKtKbJuly 31, 2024
Has the computer mouse peaked?
Comparing the forever mouse's hardware to that of a Rolex watch, Faber points out "Our stuff will have to change, but does the hardware have to change? I’m not so sure." Faber's comments would appear to indicate that the build of the forever mouse would supply everything needed for users as a long-term investment and that software would be the key to its success going forward.
With modern computer mice now adopting 8K polling rates, featuring sensors that can accurately track across virtually any surface, customizable DPI, and having been refined in design over the years to maximize ergonomic comfort, maybe Faber has a point.
It's entirely possible that the overall hardware of the computer mouse has somewhat peaked, and that it's now up to the software to improve the features and customization available to Logitech's peripherals going forward.
One of Logitech's most recent innovations saw its Signature AI Edition M750 wireless mouse outfitted with an AI prompt button. However, the backbone of this new feature was Logitech's Log AI Prompt Builder tool (a ChatGPT-powered app that gives rapid access to generative summaries, revisions, or contextual replies to on-screen text), and not the button itself.
However, this type of service is costly for companies to maintain and could be part of the reason why Faber is open to a subscription model for future hardware, allowing Logitech to continue supplying its users with high-quality features going forward.
