The Mobile Device Charger Scandal
I generally come back to my home base several times a day and usually I put my Samsung phone on its charger, to make sure it doesn’t drop me in it, when perhaps I need it urgently.
Not that I depend on my phone for anything important. Away from base, I use it to make phone calls, send and receive text messages and occasionally I’ll log in to the Internet using wi-fi on a train or in a cafe.
I never use it as a navigation device, except in an emergency and I don’t run any apps. I haven’t even used it as a calculator.
The BBC has an article about the lack of battery life in mobile devices today. The first paragraph is the only positive thing that it says.
The European Parliament is voting on whether to have a single charger for all phones. With shorter battery lives many are a prisoner to their chargers, notes Harry Low.
The rest of the article is mainly about everybody’s paranoia about not running out of power.
The industry wouldn’t like it, but in my view it would be a good idea. Especially, if as would probably happen, the United States would have a different standard charger than the European Union.
The real solutions are either technological or psychological.
My Nokia 6310i used to last a whole week on one charge and this should be the standard. It will be attained in the future by better battery technology and lower power chips. But then people will just do more on their devices.
The psychological route will be increasingly important. People will have to develop strategies that fit their device usage to their work and leisure lifestyle.
But simple changes will happen to the mobile device environment.
Having just lost my mobile phone at Gatwick to great inconvenience, I feel the networks could do better.
We change our clothes to the circumstances, so why don’t we change our phones? Sometimes, I go back to my Nokia 6310i, if all I’m going to do is make and receive calls and send and receive texts. But then I have the problem of swapping the sim card between the phones.
Why can’t I have two phones with the same number on the same account?
Obviously, there needs to be some on-phone technology to tell the network, which phone you are using. But a lot of my problems in Marrakesh, would have been solved if I’d had a second phone in my bag.
It seems silly, that we travel with something that is so important to our lives and no backup. You might travel with only one pair of shoes, but if they failed you, in most places you’d be able to get something to put on your feet.
The Anonymous Widower 
I was under the impression that in the EU all new phones had to have a mini USB connector and charge through a USB compatible source. I know that Apple had ignored this directive and have not been taken to task, but that is the power of a large organisation.
Some years ago it was not uncommon (oh dear a double negative that the pedants won’t like) to have two mobile phones on the same number, as I did at the time. I had one in the car and one I carried. In fact the one I carried was a Nokia 6310i which I found more convenient than the Motorla that linked through the BMW systems. I have no idea whether two phones on me number is still possible, but I do recall that it wasn’t without cost.
Comment by John Wright | March 15, 2014 |
I use my phone to listen to music, via bose headphones, which does use a lot of battery, i look things up on internet for example if I am shopping and come across an ingredient I am not familiar with I will check it out and make sure it isn’t derived from a gluten containing grain. I check my email if I am out, and I have the Kindle app, so use it to read if I am waiting around somewhere. I have several versions of Bible on it, and quite a few other reference books. And I can and fairly often do, retrieve documents from my home PC via iCloud. And if I am in a coffee shop or similar and someone mentions a book which they think I would like I have a tendency to order it via Amazon one-click from my phone. And I make calls via bluetooth when I am driving, as it is hands free, and I make other calls, and use texts quite often.
So yes, I use my phone a great deal, but still don’t have much a problem with power supply. I put it on charge when I go to bed, and take it off charge when I get up. But I rarely use more than 60% of available charge in day.
I think one issue for many people is that if they plug the device in to recharge, it will show as fully charged within half an hour, but it uses that charge quickly, whereas giving it a few hours is much better – I suspect the fully charged symbol doesn’t mean 100% charged.
Comment by nosnikrapzil | March 16, 2014 |