The concept mouse that Faber examined was “a little heavier” than the typical mouse. But what drives its longevity potential for Logitech is the idea of constantly updated software and services.
What software or service updates does a mouse even need?
Like, the crazier mice have software, but it doesn’t really need updated. It’s just for fine tuning DPI and turning off the flashy lights.
When you pay them as long as you use the mouse, they have a business reason to keep it working as long as possible (so to use batter switches) and sending you a new one when one breaks can still be profitable for them. Software updates are less important here.
I guess for end users it will still be cheaper and more convenient to buy a new regular mouse with a one-time payment after the previous one breaks. And that is how electro-trash piles up…
Yep, fun fact: The basic mouse functionality is built into Windows, Linux, presumably macOS, and I believe even Android. Mouses all do similar enough of a thing and have been doing so for long enough, that we just ship a driver in OSs to take care of the core functionality.
The only real software “innovation” happens in offering profiles, LED patterns and whatnot.
Button mapping is also in software for programmable buttons. Otherwise even my G52 Hero doesn’t actually need the software. The beauty and whole point of USB peripherals is plug-n-play so there’s absolutely no point to a subscription service… well, nothing short of a dystopian future where the “lifetime” mouse is “lifetime” because the switches are so terrible they only last a month before needing to send it in for replacements, justified by each switch having a programmable micro-processor that needs to be flashed with proprietary software at replacement, effectively over-powering right-to-repair in the same swoop. At that point, it’s not worth using a computer. I’d learn to carve on stone tablets before accepting that BS.
I have a microsoft trackball, black body red ball thumb driven, was $35 us/$99 cdn and I bought the first of 2 in 2000 it has not been supported for a long time. I saved the drivers to a usb and am still using the combined trackball today. The 1st tracball had 1 board die in it, bought the second the other board died in that one so I combined the 2 working boards and it still goes strong.
What software or service updates does a mouse even need?
Like, the crazier mice have software, but it doesn’t really need updated. It’s just for fine tuning DPI and turning off the flashy lights.
I mainly wonder how they are going to solve a broken microswitch with a software update…
When you pay them as long as you use the mouse, they have a business reason to keep it working as long as possible (so to use batter switches) and sending you a new one when one breaks can still be profitable for them. Software updates are less important here.
I guess for end users it will still be cheaper and more convenient to buy a new regular mouse with a one-time payment after the previous one breaks. And that is how electro-trash piles up…
There is a lesson in there about how we get stupid outcomes from “capitalism”
This right here. But the software is garbage and I’d prefer they didn’t include the disco lights at all. Maybe that’s a way to improve profits?
Yep, fun fact: The basic mouse functionality is built into Windows, Linux, presumably macOS, and I believe even Android. Mouses all do similar enough of a thing and have been doing so for long enough, that we just ship a driver in OSs to take care of the core functionality.
The only real software “innovation” happens in offering profiles, LED patterns and whatnot.
Button mapping is also in software for programmable buttons. Otherwise even my G52 Hero doesn’t actually need the software. The beauty and whole point of USB peripherals is plug-n-play so there’s absolutely no point to a subscription service… well, nothing short of a dystopian future where the “lifetime” mouse is “lifetime” because the switches are so terrible they only last a month before needing to send it in for replacements, justified by each switch having a programmable micro-processor that needs to be flashed with proprietary software at replacement, effectively over-powering right-to-repair in the same swoop. At that point, it’s not worth using a computer. I’d learn to carve on stone tablets before accepting that BS.
I have a microsoft trackball, black body red ball thumb driven, was $35 us/$99 cdn and I bought the first of 2 in 2000 it has not been supported for a long time. I saved the drivers to a usb and am still using the combined trackball today. The 1st tracball had 1 board die in it, bought the second the other board died in that one so I combined the 2 working boards and it still goes strong.