Logitech CEO Considering Mouse You Have to Pay a Netflix-Style Subscription to Use
by Noor Al-SibaiAug 2, 10:54 AM EDT
Mouseketeers
Logitech's new-ish chief executive has some bold new ideas about the future of the business's flagship offering — including the beyond-parody concept of selling mouse subscriptions.Appointed as CEO in October, Logitech's Hanneke Faber told The Verge's Decoder podcast this month that workers employed with the company's "innovation center" had shown her a prototypical mouse that requires, yes, a Netflix-style subscription.
During the interview, Faber compared the so-called "forever mouse," which is a "little heavier" than normal, to a nice but not outrageously expensive watch.
"I’m not planning to throw that watch away ever," she explained. "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."
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Later in the interview, The Verge's editor-in-chief Nilay Patel first suggested to Faber that such a mouse could cost roughly $200 and then asked her if she thought it might run on a subscription model that would convince people to pay more for it. The CEO responded affirmatively to the latter question, making both free marketing suggestions all the more infuriating."You never have to worry about it again," Faber said of the potential "forever mouse." She pointed out that the company already has such services for video conferencing, too — its Logitech Select subscription, which gives customers access to 24/7 customer support and more memory.
If the prospect of a heavy and expensive mouse you have to pay to use in perpetuity seems less than desirable, you're not alone — though as the Logitech CEO intimated in her discussion with The Verge, it might appeal to those who still use physical computer mouses.
"So the mouse built this house," she told Patel, citing a company adage. "Is that a traditional category? Will it go away? Is it old and tired? We don’t believe so because only about 50 percent of people use a mouse and a keyboard today, a separate keyboard."
That said, The Verge, the Decoder podcast, or EIC Patel should at least be getting some kind of commission for giving Logitech the idea.
