After integrating the same artificial intelligence into some of its wireless mice, Logitech has now abandoned the fact that it is develop a new mouse prototype that would be very special by receiving new features through software updates.
I have to say that Logitech has acquired significant brand value which allows it to go too far in certain margins, as seems to be the case with this new mouse prototype according to the interview given on The Verge’s Decoder podcast.
The goal is that This mouse always stays with the user and there is no need to buy a new one. You will receive news as they do with their new releases and of course it will include a subscription model as is the case with Netflix or other services.
It is an economic model that is being openly used by companies outside the technology sector and BMW itself grants greater capabilities to some of its cars if a subscription is paid annually. Pay that much monthly and your car will reach that speed or have that other feature.
These subscriptions reach users in multiple ways and when you add them all up, the monthly price tag reaches levels that were simply unattainable years ago. Hanneke Faber, CEO of Logitechgave some clues and where the idea of having a mouse forever came from.
A mouse forever
And the truth is that in the face of this from the point of view of the infinite consumption of devices in which society is currently immersed (updating the mobile phone every year, buying a television every x years …), this has a quite positive point. He argues that in the Logitech Innovation Center worked with a mouse that lasts a lifetimeand with this central idea that he refers to: why should we throw it away if it has sufficient quality in materials, design and behaves in a terrifying way?
For now, it’s a conceptual idea that Hannake pitched on The Verge podcast, and surely will not be greeted by the mere thought of having to pay a subscription for a device that usually lasts for years until it needs to be replaced with another one without paying extra. But in today’s perspective, and with laws like those in Europe that require the use of a single USB Type-C cable to avoid the huge amount of electronic waste generated each year, the proposal, when examined, is very important.
A fact: in the European Union, 7.6 million tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment collected in 2012 to 13.5 million in 2021 (source Eurostat (2021)). Thus, from this point of view, keeping a Logitech mouse for life with a subscription would avoid changing the physical product, maintain the company’s business model and the user would continue to receive improvements and software updates.
This is a trend that is seen with mobile phone manufacturers offering more years of support for Android updates, or even Samsung’s AI becoming paid; would have a technological product that would not need to be modified for years and would continue to receive improvements in software user experiences. This proposal by Hanneke with Logitech could show some light at the end of the tunnel in which today’s society finds itself with the endless consumption of mobile phones, accessories, devices, peripherals and more.