Logitech has no plans for a subscription-based mouse. Let's keep it like that.

It's hard not to create a stir when reporting certain things, particularly when we get all speculative with "coulds" or "woulds". Logitech's recent discussion of a "forever-mouse" caused quite a stir. It was a speculative concept, but one that was understandably worrying for many gamers including myself. The concern was that a "forever" mouse would be a mouse with an annual subscription.

Logitech, in apparent response to the public and media backlash has told The Verge, "there are not plans for a subscription-based mouse" and that "the mouse mentioned was not an actual or scheduled product but rather a glimpse into provocative thinking on future possibilities of more sustainable consumer electronics."

It's great to hear that gamers' concerns have been acknowledged. If there were any doubts about the future of subscription mice, it's a comfort to know that they are not imminent. But "no plans" at the moment does not mean that there will never be.

Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber said in her original words that the "forever-mouse" is "one thing we'd love to get to." That meant that Logitech was toying with the concept of a mouse you would never throw out. It seems that there is already a prototype, even if it's just a concept. Faber said that "one of our members showed me a perpetual mouse with the comparison to watch" and that it was "a little bit heavier, had great software and services you'd continually update, and was beautiful."

We know that a "forever-mouse" is unlikely to be free. That's why The Verge asked if a subscription model was possible when it was mentioned. Faber's initial response to the question of whether they could imagine a subscription-based mouse was "possibly" and nothing in their latest response changes that.

The concern was not about a subscription-based mouse, but rather the possibility that toying around with the idea of an everlasting mouse could lead to a subscription-based model. We can rest assured that this possibility is not in the cards for now. Logitech's recent words on the subject don't seem to take anything Faber has said back but they reassure anyone worried about any imminent plans for an subscription mouse.

Perhaps the battle against subscription peripherals should not be put on hold, but rather a pin should be inserted.