Logitech's 'forever mouse' could mean peripherals go the way of coffee beans, TVs, and printer ink by pushing a subscription

One thing that's increasingly played on my mind over the last few years is the fact that more and more things seem to be turning into services rather than products. Cloud and server tech has long since brought about the dominance of software as a service (SaaS), and it now looks like our beloved peripherals could be heading in the direction of other subscription products such as coffee beans, TVs, and printer ink.

Hanneke Faber, Logitech's CEO since October 2023, recently told The Verge that the «forever mouse is one of the things that we'd like to get to.» If we had any doubts (and thanks to some straightforward questioning by The Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel), Faber says she can «possibly» envision that this «forever mouse» would be a subscription mouse.

This is right after a discussion about ongoing service dependency, where Faber says, «We do design-led, software-enabled hardware, and that software component in the age of AI is more important every day.» This software, of course, is often open to ongoing services, possibly via paid subscription. 

This service component of Logitech's software seems to in part be justified by its employees' «passion for sustainability,» a passion that was discovered after the company invited «7,000 employees to come to co-creation sessions around the world» where they asked them what «three things you’d like and three things you want to add or change» about Logitech's strategy.

It makes sense that a subscription mouse might, in theory, be more sustainable: Just buy it once, pay for updates and fixes, and you're good. There'd be less manufacturing required, less packaging wasted, and so on.

The question is whether a subscription-based mouse would offer all that we currently get out of a mouse. Faber's focus seems to be mostly on keeping its software up-to-date, since the mouse itself would be «fantastic-quality» and «well-designed,» like a Rolex watch that you never have to upgrade.

The difference, however, is that nobody who