Logitech mouse too revolutionary for own good?

Stan Beer
Monday, 28 August 2006 12:35

Opinion and Analysis

The computer mouse, invented by Douglas Engelbart, developed by Xerox, made famous by Apple and expanded upon by Microsoft, is a beautiful device because of its inherent simplicity. Mouse maker Logitech intends to make waves with a revolutionary new super mouse. However, not all revolutions succeed initially.

The Logitech MX Revolution appears to be an attempt to implement the next step in the evolution of the lowly mouse as a simple point and click device to a genuine handheld computer navigation control panel.

From all reports, the US$99 device suceeds in its intention spectacularly. An intelligent context sensitive scroll wheel, another wheel to switch between applications and zoom in and out of text, a button that can not only highlight text but call up searches on it are all fantastic innovations.

However, there are two pressing questions that need to be answered. Firstly, will the innovations resonate enough with ordinary users to make the relatively pricey Logitech Mouse a must have device? Secondly, and perhaps the most worrying question concerns robustness and reliability.

On that second point, reports indicate that the MX Revolution is the most engineered mouse in history. In order to achieve its superior  functionality, the MX Revolution is made up of 420 separate components, including a motor, making it more than 20 times as complex as an ordinary mouse.

With that number of components and level of complexity, the challenge to Logitech will be to prove that its new mouse can stand up to the normal wear and tear of every day use for any respectable length of time. If not, chances are users will think twice before spending the extra money again to replace it with anything other than a stock standard mouse.