Technology

37750 readers

219 users here now

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

497

I just wanted to take a minute to appreciate interchangable batteries (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

131 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I know these are currently out of fashion but I'm still thankful they exist.

Let's remind ourselves of devices that use(d) these standardized batteries:

Toys
Digital cameras
Torches
Gadgets like fans
Wireless keyboards
TV remotes

Thanks to having a standardized system of batteries,

You can use the same battery across several devices. This is a no brainer but it's very practical.
Batteries can charge quicker thanks to being put in a dedicated charger and not being limited by USB cables. (But yes I concede that USB has been updated for faster charging over the years)
Devices don't have down time when their battery is charging. To charge, the battery is removed from the device and can immediately be replaced with a fresh one.
You'll never have to trash a device due to an expired battery. Just buy a replacement. And building on this...
Any improvements in future battery technology can be retro-fitted into your existing devices. And there is a high incentive for future improvement, because...
An accessible (due to easy replacement) and large (due to many devices) battery market is very attractive to competition.

If you look at the pros I listed, they all happen to be things that would be very useful for electric cars. So I think it would aid the adoption of electric cars if their batteries were standardized too.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

That's true for kinda sorta everything? Battery manufacturers don't want to have to deal with creating a bunch of custom battery runs, so they end up standardizing and higher level manufacturers buy from there. This is especially true in situations where space isn't at an absolute premium (like it is in a phone). Open up the battery pack for your cordless drill and you'll find very standard batteries inside there, probably hooked up in series to get to the desired voltage.