Sep 3

Wireless Gadgets - Ha !   Posted by sharps, tagged with

It's ironic that my life is full of gadgets that claim to be "wireless" - all supporting the latest standards in wireless technologies; IrDA, Bluetooth, 802.11, GPRS, EDGE, CDMA, etc. when in fact all of these things are anything but wireless - they all require hooking up to the PGE umbilical a couple of times a week (at different times I should add).

In fact my car (after all just another gadget) is probably the most "wireless" - it only needs to be connected to the "umbilical" a couple of times a month and even then the "recharge" time is only a couple of minutes (though very expensive).

You may have observed the strange behavior of business travelers at airports - sprawled on the floor around a power outlet so they can connect "wirelessly" to the web - I have even seen people forming little communities and sharing a power outlet. Next time you trip over one of these wireless encampments take a look in their laptop bags - you'll see a minimum of three power adapters - PDA, laptop, cell phone as well as the usual assortment of international adapters, adapters for cars, plane seats, etc. My house is full of these little black umbilicals - every time I buy a new gadget - half of the box is taken up by the adapter and they are all different - every manufacturer of gadgets has a different adapter and they change them every time they change the model (not improve - just change).

I should add at this point that I am (or have been) one of those afformentioned "wireless" business nomads - so I feel qualified to rant and offer suggestions (if that matters)

So my suggestions to gadget industry are:

1. get together, learn from Java and create the JDBC of power adapters - any gadget to any outlet, anywhere (I know there are universal power adapters available - but that is a whole new product line I have to invest in)

2. improve battery life - I'd say the majority of time the majority of the typical gadget is doing little or nothing - so make it smart enough to realize when this is

3. invent the 'one gadget' and sell it for much, much less than the combined price of the standalone gadgets

Oh, and someone invent a wireless Tesla coil type thing that will charge any gadget placed close enough (without frying the gadget or my testicles) without the need for wires (or lead underwear).

OK, back to indexing my power adapter collection.