In this hyper-connected, networked world, many more of our devices are getting linked to the cloud, whether we want them to or not. That's sometimes good, and sometimes bad, so when a basic device like a mouse requires a user to go online and set up an account to activate all of its functionality, people are understandably going to ask why?

We've seen really bad implementations of cloud connectivity for devices that simply don't need it. Witness Cisco's "Connect Cloud" program that replaced the traditional management interface for wireless routers with a cloud-connected one that was less useful and contained some bizarre anti-porn and anti-piracy terms of service. Users protested in what we think was a completely justified rebellion, and Cisco quickly back-pedaled to save face.

Now we have a new entry in the saga of "Why the hell does this thing need to connect to the Internet?" In this case, the company on the receiving end of the backlash may not entirely deserve it, but hasn't done a great job avoiding confusion among customers.

Please activate your mouse

The subject is Synapse 2.0, a "cloud-based unified driver for gamers" offered by Razer that saves gaming preferences online, including the user-defined settings and configuration of gaming mice. This lets gamers log in from anywhere in the world, or switch to a new mouse and play with their personal settings intact. The activation server for Synapse 2.0 went down a couple of times recently due to Hurricane Sandy and some server usage spikes that the system couldn't handle. That's relevant because an uproar against this service building this week seems to have originated from a forum post by a customer who purchased a Razer Naga gaming mouse, and apparently tried to set it up during one of the outages. The user writes:

This really took me by surprise. Just bought a new Naga 2012 mouse, installed the software and get greeted by a login screen right after. No option to bypass it to use the software to configure the mouse, set the options, sensitivity, shortcuts, macros etc. So I go ahead and create an account and try to log in. Nothing. Try several more times, and still nothing. Try to make new accounts with different email addresses and it still wont work. Finally call Razer who tells me the activation server is down, and I wont be able to use the mouse until it goes back up and will only be able to use it as a standard plug and play mouse til then. I ask about a workaround to use the mouse offline and they say there is none. Supposedly once the mouse is activated on the computer offline mode will work, but it needs to upload my profile and activate my account first and since their server is down its not going to happen. I ask for a supervisor to confirm this is the case and ask again for a workaround to use it offline. He said sorry theres nothing they can do, tells me the call center is closing and hangs up on me. Im pretty shocked Razer thought it was a good idea to do this to customers. Nowhere on the box does it say anything about needing an Internet connection to "activate" a mouse. If the servers go down in the future, anyone who buys this mouse is out of luck. Honestly the last time I buy a Razer product. Absolutely ridiculous.

While the user's post acknowledges the mouse does work out-of-the-box, without an Internet connection, it goes on to say that advanced functionality gamers depend upon is not available without one:

Razer forces you to create an account with them before you can use the software with the mouse. You can't configure the mouse in any way until you make an account with them and activate your computer and account through their server. … Yes, you can use the mouse as plug and play with basic functionality if you choose not to make an account and activate your computer, but who pays $80 for a basic plug and play mouse? The reason people buy the Naga 2012 is the configurable buttons and to change the DPI, polling rate, set up macros and profiles along with everything else. Razer has no right to lock this away from customers who paid for these features. For the Naga 2012 mouse, there is no other offline drivers to revert to. Synapse 2.0 is your only option.

The user's post led to a variety of complaints about Razer blocking functionality and forcing "always-on data mining" and DRM schemes onto its users. The complaints may be overblown, but at the very least Razer hasn't done a good job informing gamers about the differences between Synapse 1.0 and Synapse 2.0.

Save your settings in the cloud

Razer's Synapse 2.0 FAQ could be read to suggest that a Synapse 2.0 account is required to create macros and key bindings. "All Razer products function as plug and play devices," the FAQ states. "Razer Synapse 2.0 offers a service above and beyond basic functionality to enhance your Razer product's capabilities. This includes features like configuring and saving macros, key binds, and preference settings. Razer Synapse 2.0 also maintains your devices in optimal condition by automatically updating and downloading driver and firmware updates, in addition to its cloud-syncing ability. Razer Synapse 2.0 is not compulsory software to get your Razer peripherals working—but it is advisable if you want to get the best out of them."

However, further statements by Razer in response to the controversy suggest that Synapse 2.0 is needed only for syncing settings across devices, not for creating the settings in the first place.

Razer Creative Director Min-Liang Tan addressed the controversy in a lengthy Facebook post yesterday, and our old friend Ben Kuchera of Penny Arcade declares the hullabaloo a tempest in a teapot. After investigating the matter, Kuchera concluded "You only need to go online once to register the product, the company claims no information is being collected, offline mode is available once you create an account, and if you want to bypass this craziness you can just stick to an earlier version of the Synapse software or not use Razer’s drivers at all. But DRM? Spyware? That doesn't look likely."

The Synapse 2.0 registration page asks for first and last name, phone number, e-mail, and street address. Even if you never create a Synapse 2.0 account, you can still configure a Razer mouse, it seems. "For the DeathAdder [a gaming mouse], for example, you can still program your buttons, but you have to do it through the game or Windows, not through the driver," a Razer representative told Penny Arcade. "Some adjustments would need to be made through the driver on some mice or via a switch on other mice."

While I don't have one of these mice to test it out for myself, Tan writes in his Facebook post that the functionality requiring a Synapse 2.0 account is mostly for syncing settings online, not for creating the settings. There is an exception that could limit a gamer's functionality, though, in that the Synapse 2.0 drivers are necessary to sync keymappings between mice and keyboards. Here's what Tan says:

Our products work perfectly out of the box. Unlike DRM games or other media that require an always-on connection, you can use any of our peripherals right out of the box, even if someone doesn’t install Synapse 2.0, and whether a user is offline or online. Synapse 2.0 provides for additional functionality in the form of cloud storage for settings, inter-device communications, etc. Once registered, Synapse 2.0 provides additional functionality of almost limitless memory in the cloud. It does the same with mapping physical functions, affording myriad options for an array of applications. The amount of information required to register the product is minimal. Again, we make a range of products that, to some degree or another, benefit from cloud-based functionality, but it is not a requirement for our products to work. There are great gamers out there that don’t regularly use Synapse 2.0, which speaks to the inherent quality of our products.

Tan goes on to say that once a mouse is registered with Razer's servers, all of the Synapse 2.0 functionality can be used offline, with settings stored locally instead of being synced to the cloud. However, Tan acknowledged Razer needs to take "steps to clarify the situation." For one thing, Razer now plans to make Synapse 1.0 drivers and other legacy drivers available shortly on its support site, although this only applies to "applicable legacy products." Razer will also add what Tan called a "manual offline mode" letting users keep their mice offline even when their computers are connected to the Internet.

Currently, users have to check a setting to allow the mouse to enter offline mode when the Internet connection goes down. "At this time, Synapse 2.0 works seamlessly between online and offline mode, and is unobtrusive to the user," Tan wrote. "If an Internet connection goes down and if the user has enabled offline mode by checking the "stay logged in" box, Synapse 2.0 automatically goes into offline mode."

More offline mode, please

There may not be much to worry about in this particular case. But it's hard to consider the matter totally settled, as Tan's explanatory post raises some questions. For instance, he says, Razer is moving toward cloud storage because "we realized that as firmware, profiles, macros and other settings stored in onboard memory became more complex, more memory space was required."

While Synapse 2.0 in its current form works offline once you've created an account, Tan's statement suggests a belief that mice are on the verge of gaining more advanced functionality that cannot be delivered without access to cloud storage. But if the settings can be stored in the cloud, why can't a user who prefers not to have an account at all just store them on their PC instead? Even today, if Synapse 2.0 works perfectly offline once you've created an online account, why not just let Synapse 2.0 (minus cloud syncing) work offline without creating the account in the first place? With all the storage gamers have on their desktops, citing a lack of storage space doesn't seem like a strong argument.

The fact that Razer is now rushing out a release of the older drivers and is creating a new type of offline mode suggests the company was trying to tie its products' functionality to the cloud a little bit faster than its customers wanted them to. And if Razer or any other company makes further moves customers dislike, those customers can do what they've always done: protest until everything is set back in its proper place. After all, the customer is always right.