Logitech will pull a Nintendo — only European mice will come with replaceable batteries
Logitech will pull a Nintendo — only European mice will come with replaceable batteries
罗技将效仿任天堂——仅欧洲版鼠标将配备可更换电池
“Very few people will do this,” Logitech’s new gaming boss says. “几乎没人会这么做，”罗技新任游戏业务负责人表示。
In June, Nintendo announced a new version of the Switch 2 that should let you easily replace its battery pack — but only for Europe. Logitech will do much the same. User-replaceable batteries will be the law in Europe in February 2027, but instead of bringing them to the rest of the world, Logitech plans to ship one version of its wireless mice to Europe and a different version everywhere else. 今年 6 月，任天堂宣布推出新版 Switch 2，允许用户轻松更换电池组——但仅限欧洲地区。罗技也将采取类似做法。根据欧洲法律，自 2027 年 2 月起，电子产品必须支持用户更换电池。然而，罗技并未打算将这一设计推广到全球，而是计划为欧洲市场生产一种版本的无线鼠标，并在世界其他地区销售另一种版本。
That’s the word from Logitech’s new gaming boss, Robin Piispanen. We talked about it over iced vanilla lattes at my local cafe, right after discussing how Logitech isn’t sure it wants to make another gaming handheld. 以上消息来自罗技新任游戏业务负责人 Robin Piispanen。我们在当地一家咖啡馆一边喝着冰香草拿铁，一边讨论了这件事；此前我们还谈到了罗技对于是否要继续开发游戏掌机持保留态度。
Why? Logitech believes that less-repairable peripherals might actually be superior, once you consider the tradeoffs. 为什么？罗技认为，如果考虑到各种权衡因素，那些较难维修的外设产品反而可能更具优势。
“It’s not just the cost, you’re also adding weight,” Piispanen tells The Verge. He says that Logitech typically ships devices with a lightweight soft-sided lithium-based battery inside, with a very thin cable, because the company knows most people won’t take them apart. “But that is not safe for you to operate on, we can’t give that to you in good conscience and say, hey, go replace a soft-pack battery.” “这不仅仅是成本问题，还会增加重量，”Piispanen 告诉《The Verge》。他表示，罗技通常在设备内部配备轻便的软包锂电池和极细的电缆，因为公司知道大多数人不会拆解它们。“但这种电池对用户来说操作并不安全，我们无法凭良心把它交给你，然后告诉你：嘿，去换个软包电池吧。”
Instead, Logitech’s wireless products in Europe will ship with a hard-pack battery, a more rigid design that’s harder to puncture accidentally. (Not to overstate the risk, but punctured lithium-based batteries can quickly start fires.) For extra safety, Piispanen says Logitech will offer certified replacement batteries in Europe, too. 相反，罗技在欧洲销售的无线产品将配备硬壳电池，这种设计更坚固，不易被意外刺穿。（并非夸大风险，但锂电池一旦被刺穿可能会迅速引发火灾。）为了增加安全性，Piispanen 表示罗技还将在欧洲提供经过认证的替换电池。
But he says he won’t ship them to the United States, for example. He says Logitech ran the numbers, and its forecasts suggest few people will bother replacing those batteries. 但他表示，这些产品不会销往美国等地。他说罗技经过测算，预测显示很少有人会费心去更换这些电池。
“How many people are going to open up their own mouse, take out the battery, put in a new one because the battery ran old?” he asks. Piispanen says replaceable batteries make more sense for expensive products like laptops or phones, but that people tend to replace Logitech’s $50 to $100 wireless mice as they wear down. “有多少人会因为电池老化，就去拆开自己的鼠标，取出旧电池，再装上新电池呢？”他反问道。Piispanen 认为，可更换电池对于笔记本电脑或手机等昂贵产品更有意义，但对于罗技售价 50 到 100 美元的无线鼠标，用户通常在磨损后倾向于直接更换新产品。
While I agree that Logitech’s mice are currently disposable products, I strongly disagree that they should continue to be that way. Isn’t the right-to-repair movement about changing that outlook on the world? Would consumers change that behavior if the devices were easier to fix? 虽然我承认罗技的鼠标目前确实属于“一次性产品”，但我强烈反对它们继续保持这种状态。维修权运动的目的不正是为了改变这种世界观吗？如果设备更容易维修，消费者是否会改变这种消费习惯呢？
So I ask Piispanen, who says he believes in right-to-repair: Why doesn’t Logitech actually sell the wear-and-tear parts for its mice, despite claiming it does? Why doesn’t it sell the rubber grip pads on the side of my Logitech G502 Lightspeed, which I’ve now worn a hole through, or the mouse switch that’s beginning to double-click on the side of my mouse? 因此，我询问了声称支持维修权的 Piispanen：既然罗技声称提供维修服务，为什么实际上并不销售鼠标的易损件？为什么不销售我那款 Logitech G502 Lightspeed 侧面的橡胶防滑垫（我已经磨出了一个洞），或者开始出现双击问题的微动开关呢？
It sounds like the answer is: Logitech isn’t actually ready to trust consumers with repairs themselves. 答案似乎是：罗技实际上还没准备好信任消费者能自行进行维修。
“Mouse switches means you have to open up the whole mouse, and you’re most likely going to break something,” he says. Replacing the grips means cleaning up old adhesive and replacing it with new adhesive — “that’s a process for you to do it well.” “更换微动开关意味着你必须拆开整个鼠标，而且你很可能会弄坏某些零件，”他说。更换防滑垫则意味着要清理旧胶水并换上新胶水——“这需要一定的操作流程才能做好。”
“I don’t want to like, sell you a part just for you to screw it up and then be sad about it,” Piispanen says later. “我不想卖给你零件，结果你把它弄坏了，最后感到难过，”Piispanen 随后补充道。
That said, he says he sees the passion in the community, how some people are willing to void their warranty to modify their Logitech gear, and he seems to take my point that Logitech isn’t fulfilling its “wear and tear” right-to-repair promise yet. 话虽如此，他也表示自己看到了社区的热情，看到有些人愿意放弃保修来改装罗技设备。他似乎也接受了我的观点，即罗技目前尚未完全兑现其关于“易损件”维修权的承诺。
He says that “the bigger question” is how Logitech can design new products that don’t wear out as quickly. “The mouse you’re talking about, that was seven years old, and I salute you for really wanting to keep on using it,” he says. 他表示，“更重要的问题”在于罗技如何设计出不易磨损的新产品。“你提到的那个鼠标已经用了七年了，我向你致敬，因为你真的想继续使用它，”他说。
But he also tells me he’ll take a look at those mouse grips: “I want to see what spare parts we’re lacking that is wear and tear, because if we’re talking about things that we actually could do, I want to look into that.” 但他同时也告诉我，他会关注那些鼠标防滑垫的问题：“我想看看我们在易损件方面还缺少哪些备件，因为如果我们谈论的是我们确实能做到的事情，我愿意深入研究一下。”