- cross-posted to:
- techtakes@awful.systems
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So if you miss a payment your mouse shuts off?
How is your standing policed, with an always online requirement? So if I move and need to wait to get my internet up, I can’t use my mouse?
Are they legally liable for lifetime support or are you signing away that right in the EULA and they can end support for your “lifetime” mouse on a whim?
I’d rather rent my furniture than subscribe to a mouse, but both practices are exploiting this world’s rampant financial illiteracy.
They could probably do that in windows by adding some service that checks if the mouse is valid… Since on windows it’s using Logitech drivers.
On Linux it’s open source so no way they can do anything.
Nah, you just have the mouse do a cryptographic handshake with the driver software and tie it to a server-side validation check, and thus if there’s no handshake and validation, there’s no working mouse.
Easy!
(Please don’t read this Logitech.)
Now we need internet to use a mouse. Brilliant. :)
All we need to do now is somehow make it have an AI assistant and maybe put it on the blockchain somehow and wait what the fuck? They do?! https://www.logitech.com/en-us/software/logi-ai-prompt-builder.html
They are desperately looking how to actually use their AI investments… Companies are spending billions and they have no idea what to actually build that will be useful.
Probably end up using AI for ads. Fuck.
I can’t wait for some shitty computerized voice to start telling me that, as a large language model, they highly recommend that I consider Taco Bell for dinner, because Taco Bell contains all the food-like products your body needs.
How is no one pointing out that a mouse subscription would make it so that if you missed a payment then (the majority of) people literally wouldn’t be able to re subscribe since, you know, most people use a mouse to do things on the internet.
HP ink enters the chat
Dumbest shit I’ve heard this week.
Switches that last forever would be interesting. Subscription models and sw updates for a mouse are the very opposite of interesting. I’d pay not to have either.
There are industrial switches that last practically forever. I’ve made some test robots for wearing out limit switches and the decent ones could be hammered constantly for days on end without a single miss.
Another component that doesn’t wear out is a photo gate. It doesn’t click or spring, though.
Actually just a decent keyboard switch would probably put up with a lot.
But it’s cheaper to go cheap and you get more repeat business.
My $50 mouse has switches rated for 20 million clicks. Had it for 5 years and it still works flawlessly, but if they do ever wear out I can replace them.
I have a (mostly) forever mouse already. It has high quality Omron switches rated for millions of clicks, an Aliexpress page bookmarked as well as a soldering iron for when they need replacing. Anything that is “forever” only needs good quality components and the ability to repair whatever may go wrong. Any company that claims to sell something that either will not break or wear out is one to avoid. A good example I can think of is BMW who no longer put drain plugs on their transmissions for fluid replacement, their reasoning: “The fluid is for lifetime usage.” while the small print states the “lifetime” is roughly 120k miles. Similar story with their “lifetime” timing chains too, except those weren’t even lasting the small print mileage. Didn’t stop them trying to sell customers the whole replacement engine too.
Source: God, don’t make me replace another BMW transmission. I’m tired.
What mouse if you don’t mind sharing?
My Logitech G602 technically has high quality Omron switches but only on left/right click, the middle click and the rest use crappy little tactile switches that last about 6 months before I need to replace them.
I’ve got a G502 Hero. I’d heard lots of complaints about the line after buying it but I haven’t had any issues despite having it for a good few years now. I also had a M305 for something like a decade. A very simple little thing but lasted a long time. I replaced the switches for higher grade switches than factory and only replaced it because the rocker mounting for the mouse wheel tilt snapped, which I’m pretty certain was caused by a house move than any lack of quality.
What’s the point of a mouse that lasts forever if your purchase doesn’t?
You could almost call it… a mouse trap
(I’ll show myself out…)
Don’t do it, Logitech. Don’t go full HP.
So what they mean is we have received expensive garbage that had a short shelf life from the very beginning and they would now rather make a “quality” product and milk us dry for owning it? Sure sounds like a good idea for shareholders.
If i could choose one job it would be to fuck CEOs and shareholders with rusty razor blades.
OK, so, you’re right. Let’s be fair, though: this is capitalism. There are companies that make quality mice, and they are more expensive and don’t compete at the same scale Logitech does. If Logitech made quality mice, they’d be more expensive, and even more consumers would look at and choose cheaper mice from their competitors.
Part of this is absolutely “margins & profit.” Part is the veiled curse of online shopping: when you can’t feel and handle the product, much more of shopper decision comes down to simply price: this is the T-Shirt Effect: if two online products look identical, but one is less expensive, most people are going to opt for the less expensive one. It’s put established companies known for quality out of business, or driven their product quality down to compete. Part of it is that there are few reliable, authoritative review sources; many are barely disguised paid ads, or star-manipulation. The end sum is consumers voting with their dollars, and companies responding accordingly. Sales are down, your competitors’ are up, people are choosing products you know are cheaper crap, and so it’s obvious people prefer cheaper crap, so you make it.
It’s a lose-lose for everyone except those companies able to quickly clone reputable products, but with lower-quality components, and flood the online market with them.
Low-quality, low-cost mass manufacturing has put products in the hands of people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them. But it’s also driven down quality, and driven waste up; the same decision process being used by low-income folks is also used by middle-class, and with nearly all shopping being online, consumers have few options for a better process.
The equation changes when you get to the wealthy, who can shop with companies who aren’t competing on volume, but reputation and margins: the Bang & Olufsens; the Breguets, and the Urban Jurgensens. People who can afford to shop with artisans shop differently, but all t-shirts look the same online.
I have no problem with buying more expensive, high quality stuff. The problem is that the higher price often simply means meaningless features instead of good durability. The mouse i am using right now cost me 150€ and i hoped it was more durable but the right click is already not working properly. Garbage.
If i could trust companies to actually put out stuff that lasts a life time i would love to have it. This however simply sounds like another move to increase the companies value for its shareholders.
Clothing is a whole other matter and again as consumer it is really hard to know whether your money goes to quality or simply marketing and “good feeling”.
When everything you buy as a consumer tends to break fast they will have no real choice but to go for cheap crap.
A good mouse already lasts practically forever. I have been using the same MS Trackball Optical since 2002, original switches, new bearings after 15 years. As long as it directly translates XY motion and clicks in real space to XY motion and clicks in screen space the device is feature complete, no more value can be added via subscription service.
I guess I’m not surprised enshittification of physical objects is becoming more of a trend than an oddity, but it’s still happening sooner than I expected. :/
Have you used a TV in the past 10 years?
Not one that required a subscription to operate, but I’ve heard those are out there too.
I haven’t see any logi mouse which woudn’t break after a year, quality is gone for 5+ years now for that brand. I’m more than happy with a noname Hama brand mouse costs half, lifetime 10x :D
I’ve probably used a few for closer to a decade. Especially the three button ones in the 90’s (in Sgi granite) were nice.
Actually there’s an optical wheel mouse of some sort right here on my desk that I think I got used with a computer in maybe 2012. Model stickers have fallen off, the plastic is worn down and even the metal plate at the top looks as if it had been sanded down. It says Logitech, though.
But those naturally aren’t current models.