The subscription model has gotten a bit of a bad rap lately At least according to Yahoo Finance, the average American pays $925 per year for 45 subscriptions

Now, personally, I'm all for the subscription model for things like the best streaming services Because it gives consumers the choice to choose where and how they want to spend their money If there's nothing good on Disney Plus this month, they can cancel and get it again in a few months

But when I saw the news (thanks, MacRumors) that Logitech is considering charging a subscription fee for mice, my eyebrows were certainly raised in interest Yes, it is literally a piece of computer hardware that you probably use every day

To be clear, the company is not going to take the product back if you cancel your subscription Rather, in exchange for the subscription fee, Logitech will provide you with stable software (and security updates) Also, the second caveat is that this is not yet a real thing, and there are currently no plans to release a so-called "forever mouse"

On the Decoder podcast, Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber explained that it will be a premium product designed to last for years She likened this to an expensive watch, explaining So if a mouse or keyboard is great quality, well designed, and software ready, why would I throw away my mouse or keyboard?" A mouse forever is one of the things we want to achieve"

There is a lot to unpack here, but I can sort of see what Faber is trying to do In terms of sustainability, we all agree that we need to limit e-waste and therefore this idea has merit Also, the idea of a steady stream of income in exchange for software updates, rather than constantly researching, developing, manufacturing, and ultimately shipping new products, would probably be attractive to Logitech's shareholders and to the company's bottom line

Another idea Faber suggested is to make mice returnable through a trade-in program with a retailer like Best Buy However, it is not clear whether this would be at a discount or at the same price In an interview, Faber said that customers spend about $26 for a mouse, which is "really cheap" for something they use every day

My problem with Logitech's proposal is twofold First, there are many reasons why consumers may need to upgrade or change their mice Perhaps they need an ergonomic option, a portable solution, or their physical environment has changed and they need to reflect that in their peripherals

And second, customers who have the disposable income to pay a monthly subscription to a mouse probably have enough cash to buy one of the best mice and will probably use it for several years anyway I have been using the same (relatively inexpensive) Microsoft wireless mouse for seven years and it continues to perform as well as ever

Finally, there are many very good mice available at reasonable prices See, for example, our recent review of the Keychron M7 Sure, Logitech makes some great peripherals, but do they have enough clout to make you crack open your wallet and pay month after month to get the occasional new, non-hardware feature? I am skeptical

So I think the idea is almost DOA, but I'd like to hear what others think If you have an opinion on whether or not to pay a subscription fee for hardware peripherals, please share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post