Linked by David Adams on Fri 20th Feb 2009 17:15 UTC
Oh, batteries -- technology's weakest link. Back when we mostly needed them to run pocket calculators and wristwatches, things were good. The future was now, and the world was electrical. Now that the world really is electrical, and gadgets the size of those pocket calculators are sporting the computing power of yesterdays Crays, we're in trouble. Please excuse the fanboyism, but I'm a big fan of the iPhone, for all its flaws. With all battery-powered computing devices, you have to make some tradeoffs between processor power and battery life, but I think Apple did a pretty good job. Nevertheless, if you sit down for a protracted web browsing session, the combination of the screen and the radio really drain that battery. After an hour, you're pretty much dead. What to do?
Thread beginning with comment 350154
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE: Back to the drawing board Apple
by darknexus on Sun 22nd Feb 2009 04:45
in reply to "Back to the drawing board Apple"
Member since:2008-07-15
Couldn't agree more. Funny how they seem to be moving further away from this fundamental, sensible design even on their Macbook line. The Air already had this problem, now the new 17-inch mbp does. How long until they simply refuse to have easily replaceable batteries on every product they make? Seems to me they're going backwards.
Weren't legislators in the EU trying to pass a law regarding this, specifically that any consumer device must have a user-replaceable battery? Anyone know what's happening with that? I don't live in the EU but, if such a law were to get passed, Apple would have to rethink this design flaw if they wanted to sell to the EU.
RE: Back to the drawing board Apple
by mkone on Wed 25th Feb 2009 02:34
in reply to "Back to the drawing board Apple"
Member since:2006-03-14
Any consumer electronics device should have a removable battery, unless the device is really tiny in size. This is such a fundamental design principle. When I go shooting with my digital camera, I always take a spare battery with me, because sometimes it runs out when I'm in the middle of something important. Maybe Apple don't realise it, but it's actually quite useful to be able to easily swap the batteries.
A user replaceable battery makes the gadget bigger, heavier, bulkier. Take your pick.
I don't mind a smaller battery, as long as I know the limitations well beforehand, I don't have a problem with short battery lives. Apple decided, and the market seems to be rewarding them with higher sales. And as for the macbook pro. Battery life is so long, it's almost not a tradeoff to have a non user replaceable battery. And what I would do for that warranty on a battery.
Recent Original Stories
Recent Comments
Headlines
Random Comments
Random Stories
Random OS Link
Member since:
2007-04-20
Any consumer electronics device should have a removable battery, unless the device is really tiny in size. This is such a fundamental design principle. When I go shooting with my digital camera, I always take a spare battery with me, because sometimes it runs out when I'm in the middle of something important. Maybe Apple don't realise it, but it's actually quite useful to be able to easily swap the batteries.