this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2024
97 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

37719 readers
64 users here now

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:


This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber recently discussed the possibility of one day selling a mouse that customers can use "forever." The executive said such a mouse isn't "necessarily super far away" and will rely on software updates, likely delivered through a subscription model.

Speaking on a July 29 episode of The Verge's Decoder podcast, Faber, who Logitech appointed as CEO in October, said that members of a "Logitech innovation center" showed her "a forever mouse" and compared it to a nice but not "super expensive" watch. She said:

I’m not planning to throw that watch away ever. So why would I be throwing my mouse or my keyboard away if it’s a fantastic-quality, well-designed, software-enabled mouse? The forever mouse is one of the things that we’d like to get to.

Having to pay a regular fee for full use of a peripheral could deter customers, though. HP is trying a similar idea with rentable printers that require a monthly fee. The printers differ from the idea of the forever mouse in that the HP hardware belongs to HP, not the user. However, concerns around tracking and the addition of ongoing expenses are similar.>>>>

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Disgusting. Utterly disgusting. This idea belongs in the garbage bin.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Most reasonable consumers won't go for this. it's a greed play.

Give me mice that I own; not mice to rent.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Right now, companies are chasing LLM's and subscription services. I'm terrified of what's going to come next, lol. At what point does late stage capitalism stop?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Sometimes I am glad that super cheap Chinese hardware is a thing and I can always switch to those in case these greedy companies all became shit

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Subscription-based hardware should be illegal.

If you're renting something, you rent it and give it back to be rented out again if you stop paying. There is no common good argument for this remote sabotage bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 months ago

ssm has an idea for a "forever list" of companies he will never buy from

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Nobody tell them that generic mouse drivers are part of every USB driver devkit.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago

They know. And that's the "problem" they're trying to "innovate" around.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago

This is nothing but rent-seeking.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago

I love how the community can smell bullshit miles away.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 3 months ago

[click click, click click click click] Hmm, why's it not... Honey, did we pay the mouse bill this month?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

I have never had to replace a mouse ever. I swear the mouse I'm using is from the early 2000's

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

What's a mouse?
I use a trackpad
The lenovo version of trackpad on my thinkpad has buttons on the top & bottom along with trackpoint that works when nothing else will..
I even have a usb keyboard with a trackpad

I bought a gaming mouse [not logitech] to set up a distro that wouldn't install by trackpad for $12 once the install finished, it sits on a shelf

A forever mouse is a solution in search of a problem

The customer base of people who use mice is shrinking, most people use their phones or pads a majority of the time

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

what you wrote sounds completely insane to me. sure i don't use a mouse on my phone very much, but no way would i ever prefer a trackpad to a mouse for a desktop or laptop. and tons of people still carry a mouse to use with their laptops, based on my observations. i really think you may be an outlier here.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

My wrist will not tolerate using a mouse for more than a few hours
You use a mouse on your phone?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

not very much. honestly, only once or twice, for a laugh, which is probably still more than most folks lol

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

My experience is so different, and so are the market statistics. A "forever mouse" is a dumb idea just looking for a subscription cash grab, but the PC mouse market is expanding year over year as more people get desktop computers, and especially for PC gaming, an expanding market in its own right. The customer base of people who use mice might be shrinking in some Linux communities, but stating that across the board is just incorrect.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago

This is as stupid an idea as Wendy's 'surge pricing' nonsense.

load more comments
view more: next ›