Mice need to change, and here's why

[Chris Cook]

I have a mouse that I have had for a couple of years now that I spent $150 CAD on.  and now I am starting to experience issues with it where buttons aren't registering clicks anymore even though it still has that perfectly good clicky sound to it.  And then that got me thinking.  Mice are an eWaste time bomb waiting to happen.  and why is that, because once something goes wrong with them, and it is usually a button,  we're forced to just outright replace them.  So why aren't mice repairable.  why aren't they designed more like a keyboard, where you can pop the buttons off, get at the switches and clean them if need be or even replace said switches.  I mean it shouldn't be to hard to do, so why are all of these mouse  manufacturers not doing such things?  

 

Some of the benefits I see of a repairable and or customizable mouse.  

• Change the grip of the buttons, give the more of a tactile feel
• Allow repair of said buttons and or switches, improve or make cleaning easy 
• Make mice more adjustable and customizable for people who are both LEFT or right handed.  
• Prolong the usability and keep a perfectly good optical sensor and or laser assembly out of the landfill that much longer

So what are you throughs on the subject, any ideas that the community might have.  Would you like the ability to be able to DIY your own mouse using some sort of framework or kids, Or do you think that mice are just fine and you're happy just to replace the whole thing when something goes wrong?

[Glenwing]

My Logitech G700s started intermittently releasing clicks while I was holding the button down. I opened it up and replaced the switch just fine. Are there no screws on the bottom of yours? They're often underneath the pads.

[Bad5ector]

12 minutes ago, Chris Cook said:

So why aren't mice repairable.  why aren't they designed more like a keyboard, where you can pop the buttons off, get at the switches and clean them if need be or even replace said switches. 

I am going to replace my wife's Omron switches that are failing to register on her Corsair M65 RGB Elite tonight with some Kailh switches that we bought off of Amazon for like 14dollars.

 

[Chris Cook]

I am actually using a Razer Lancehead TE and most likely the screws are underneath the pads.  And I guess the point I should have made clearer then, it's not that these things aren't completely unrepairable.  but it could be made a lot easier to do so.  like as I had suggested, the ability to pop off the mouse buttons like you can your key caps on keyboards.  

[shoutingsteve]

A while ago there was a documentary called " The Light bulb conspiracy".  It basically talks about how things used to be built so they could be serviced and repaired.  But then they weren't.  The idea was that people were told they should want new things every so often: "Planned Obsolescence" it's called.  

 

 

[Bad5ector]

2 minutes ago, Chris Cook said:

the ability to pop off the mouse buttons like you can your key caps on keyboards.

While you can simply pop the caps off a keyboard and replace the caps, not all of those keyboards support hotswapping the switches, which is what I think you meant. Most mechanical keybaords, you are stuck with the switches that it came with unless you are willing to tear the keyboard down and do some de-soldering. 

 

Though I would agree with you that Mice these days seem to be built to fail almost immediately, if the Newegg and Amazon reviews are to be believed.

[seon123]

2 hours ago, Chris Cook said:

because once something goes wrong with them, and it is usually a button,  we're forced to just outright replace them

Yes. Replace the failed switch. It's simple through hold soldering, so if you want, you can do it, almost  as easy as with a keyboard. Replacement mouse feet are cheap and readily available, and there are ways of removing mouse feet without damaging them too much.

 

If a mouse fails within the warranty period, you would RMA it, just like with a keyboard, or any product.

2 hours ago, Chris Cook said:

why aren't they designed more like a keyboard, where you can pop the buttons off

You drag a mouse around on your desk, while a keyboard just sits on the desk. The microswitches inside mice don't attach to the mouse shell, the part that you touch just rests on it. Many mice have the button as a part of the shell, so you can't just remove it. E.g. Razer Deathadder, Corsair M65 variants.

2 hours ago, Chris Cook said:

Change the grip of the buttons, give the more of a tactile feel

Not sure what you mean by the grip of the buttons. If you want to change the texture, there is grip tape available. The tactile feel depends on the switch, which you can easily replace.

2 hours ago, Chris Cook said:

Allow repair of said buttons and or switches, improve or make cleaning easy 

See above, I've never really felt the need to clean the inside of my mouse, unlike my keyboards.

2 hours ago, Chris Cook said:

Make mice more adjustable and customizable for people who are both LEFT or right handed.  

Ambidextrous mice are a thing. If you're thinking of those silly replaceable sides that are attached with magnets, they add weight and cost. For the majority of people, who use their mouse right handed, it's often better to have a mouse that's fully optimised for right handed people, than making a compromise so you can use either hand on the mouse. The extreme end of this would be vertical mice like the MX Vertical. How would you propose modifying that to be ambidextrous, without adding too much weight?

2 hours ago, Chris Cook said:

Prolong the usability and keep a perfectly good optical sensor and or laser assembly out of the landfill that much longer

I'm not sure how a mouse would have to fail for the sensor and PCB to be perfectly fine, but for the mouse to be useless otherwise. Switches can be replaced easily, scroll wheel can be replaced, etc. Some popular mice seem to also have their shell available for sale by third parties.

2 hours ago, Chris Cook said:

Would you like the ability to be able to DIY your own mouse using some sort of framework or kids

I'll assume you mean kits. For me personally, no, I would not like that. I would rather have a lighter mouse, optimised for right handed users, and a price that's not too high. If I want to change the texture of the buttons, I'll add grip tape, and if a switch fails outside of the warranty, I might replace the switch or the mouse. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

Contrary to what some conspiracy nuts think, it's not about mUh PlAnNeD oBsElEsCeNcE, but rather just optimising for other things.