Logitech's 25th anniversary ClearCase mouse
Opinion
The ceo of Logitech caused a stir, musing about charging a subscription for software that helps its hardware (source). We would be paying over and over again to use a really well-built, $200 mouse, she reflected. The idea was laughed off the pages of the tech press, the idea was retracted.
Good Idea
I think I understand why Logitech broached the idea. It writes software that lets us customize how the mouse works -- its buttons, its wheel, its motion, even options specific to specific applications. This costs money.
Then, Logitech frequently updates the software, and this costs more money -- from which the idea came from to use subscriptions to fund updates. After all, everybody else in the software world seems to have customers on the hook for subscriptions, so why not for mice? I sense the frustration arising from missing out on covering an expense, as well as a possible new revenue stream.
Logitech has been making mice since 1982, and I have its 25th anniversary ClearCase mouse, and many others. Over time, it came up with good ideas. One of Logitech’s brilliant ideas is a mouse works with three computers, useful for someone like me who does just that.
The Triathlon M720 mouse communicates triply as follows:
- One regular 2.4GHz dongle connection (Unifying receiver)
- Two Bluetooth Low Energy connections thru Multipoint tech
(Bluetooth Multiploint lets one Bluetooth device, such as headphones or mouse, connect to two computers, phones.)
A button on the top of the mouse switches between modes, so that the one mouse works with two (or three) computers. An LED light on the mouse reminds you to which computer it is connected. Logitech has MultiFlow software that takes this a step further: just move the cursor from one computer to the other -- but I could never get Multiflow to work.
Bad Idea
The charge-users-for-subscriptions idea was poorly thought out, as Logitech has no monopoly on mice. It seems that nowadays everybody and his kid brother puts out a mouse. You wanna charge us to use your mouse? Forgetaboutit.
So, on the one hand, Logitech makes some excellent mice (which I, for the most part, use). Perhaps the top tier was the older Performance MX, which is my work mouse -- big, heavy, and reliable. But then in recent years, Logitech released some duds, such as the newer replacement MX Master, which is a poorer successor with a side scroll wheel replacing side buttons.
The software from Logitech for customizing mice for many decades was the oddly-named SetPoint (80MB). More recently, Logitech came out with two more: the mysteriously-named G Hub (40MB) and the generically-named Options (246MB). So, you might, conceivably, need to have all three installed: one for an older mouse, one for a gaming keyboard, and one for a newer mouse.
Anther error made by Logitech was to made the 2.4GHz dongle so small that it under certain circumstances communicates erratically with the mouse. The solution is to use a short USB cord to locate the dongle further from the computer. This is, without doubt, the most popular tip on my WorldCAD Access blog (source).
I don’t care for mice with rechargeable batteries, such as the Performance MX. These batteries don’t last as long (two months) as plain alkalines (two years), and so I keep my wireless MX always plugged into a USB port -- oh, the irony.
For a time, Logitech left out the double-click function from its SetPoint software for certain models. This was for me infuriating, as it is the only function I add to a new mouse. There is a complex workaround, which I describe athttps://www.worldcadaccess.com/blog/2014/10/logitech-removed-double-clicking-from-its-mice-how-to-get-it-back.html.
It costs money to research and develop new technology, and so the desire to have customers cover the cost is understandable. But then companies mimicked the ideas Logitech came up with.
Stolen Idea
The primary drawback to western firms having firms in China manufacture products that they designed, is that the communist Chinese government requires them to “partner” with local firms, and tell them how the technology works. Effectively, it is a no-charge technology transfer. As a result, China makes better iPhones than iPhone, better electric Volkswagens than Volkswagen, and (arguably) better Logitechs than Logitech. I’ve never understood why western firms would stand for intellectual property theft, but they do.
I wondered if Chinese firms had been able to match Logitech, and found a couple of similar models on Amazon that intrigued me.
From Rapoo, I got its M300 Silent multi-point mouse in blue for $13 (source). It works nearly as well as the $40 Logitech Triathlon, handling three connections. It comes with software for customizing buttons. Perhaps the only shortcoming is that the battery last 9 months, as opposed to two years in Logitech mice.
I find I actually like using it, the ergonomic feel is pretty good. I take it with my on trips -- the blue makes it harder to “lose” in a sea of black equipment and black luggage (like I did once with my black cell phone).
From INPHIC, I got its A1 for $20 (source), which is somewhat similar to the $100 MX from Logitech. The A1 is triple-mode (two Bluetooths, one 2.4GHz), and recharges with through a USB-C connector. It lacks a software driver, but I have read that buttons can be customized with X-Mouse, which I have not yet tried. See https://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/XMouseButtonControl.htm. I haven’t really used this mouse much, as it is not as nice in the hand.
Concluding Idea
From the China models I purchased, I found that they are not as good as equivalent Logitech models. But they are so much cheaper, and -- provided they come with button configuration software -- are sufficient for casual users.
Being cheap, yet useful, I suggest taking them on trips. Should you lose it, no biggie; your excellent mouse is safe, back at home.
In the end, I am guessing that it was the overwhelming competition to Logitech’s mice that might have caused the turnaround in thinking.
TIP: Instead of taking your good (and expensive) laptop on trips, take along a cheaper model that you can afford to lose. My home laptop is a Dell with 32GB RAM and 2TB drive, but my travelling laptop is a svelte HP Elite X2 that I got second-hand from eBay.
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