General > General Technical Chat
EU votes to mandate removable batteries in smartphones
Monkeh:
--- Quote from: tom66 on June 19, 2023, 01:17:20 pm ---Sure, I wouldn't want a battery powered SDS hammer-drill for going through brick or the like*, that kind of has to be mains powered for endurance, but a lot of power tools work fine on batteries for 'home DIY' levels of usage and given their proliferation in the professional market it seems like tradespeople agree too.
*That said I know an electrician who has one because he's not sure if the job-site will have power available when he needs to drill. But I can imagine their endurance is not great given my one pulls 1200W at full speed. I guess buy a few spare batteries if you expect to need that.
--- End quote ---
Actually, I have a battery SDS specifically for drilling brick - it's a lot more capable than a combi, no more duplication of bits, and I don't have to drag a giant case and 25m extension any time I want to drill a hole. I wouldn't go running a 40mm TCT core with it, of course, but I wouldn't go drilling a 250mm diamond core with my corded SDS, either.
The only people who find corded tools more convenient for light duty are the ones who leave them in a drawer 360 days of the year - which is where my corded SDS lives. And my corded combi. And my corded circular saw. And the corded angle grinder. All of these I have cordless alternatives for, all of which have been out and about several times this month just for odd jobs at home.
eugene:
Not sure how (why) the discussion drifted to the relative merits of corded vs cordless hand tools, but the only important point I see is that the choice is entirely mine. No overfed lawmakers are mandating how the manufacturers builds their line of tools. Maybe it's a US vs EU thing, but I find it baffling.
switchabl:
--- Quote from: james_s on June 19, 2023, 06:58:31 pm ---There are only a couple of different connectors on phones now for around a decade, Apple has their lightning connector and everything else is micro USB or more recently USB-C, and all of these cords terminate on the other end with USB A or C. The government didn't need to mandate anything here, the market already settled on something and as usual the government is a decade behind. At some point in the future when USB-C is long obsolete it will still be mandated by these laws which will still be at least a decade behind.
--- End quote ---
The EC has been pushing for a common charging standard for a long, long time now: https://www.engadget.com/2009-06-29-nokia-apple-rim-and-others-agree-on-micro-usb-phone-charger-st.html
It is certainly possible that the market would have converged on USB without political pressure and the threat of legislative action (I have doubts). You can also argue that they have mostly succeeded already and the mandate is not necessary. EC probably would have preferred that but the "soft" approach will eventually lose its power if you let a big player (Apple) get away with doing their own thing and never follow through on your threats.
In any case, the narrative that they are somehow "a decade behind" and just jumping in on this is frankly preposterous.
David Hess:
Even with micro USB or USB-C, there are multiple charging standards. Some of my devices are just dumb and try to draw 2 amps from either connector, while my phone and 18650 charger look for the QC standard, and my laptop only works with the PD standard. So now we have fewer physical connectors, and multiple incompatible charging standards.
SiliconWizard:
--- Quote from: eugene on June 19, 2023, 07:44:42 pm ---Not sure how (why) the discussion drifted to the relative merits of corded vs cordless hand tools, but the only important point I see is that the choice is entirely mine. No overfed lawmakers are mandating how the manufacturers builds their line of tools. Maybe it's a US vs EU thing, but I find it baffling.
--- End quote ---
I agree with this for the most part, but don't think the US will be immune to that. It's coming to the US too. The days of historical american freedom are IMO counted. But that's another story.
Regarding the discussion, I don't think this is a drift. Actually one of the main current issues with rechargeable batteries is that we just put them everywhere just because it's trendy and looks cool, even in gear than doesn't even require to be cordless to begin with. This has a gigantic environmental and financial cost.
Then the point becomes, if we are not able to act responsibly but just consume stuff as if we were kids, then we end up getting what kids get when they misbehave, orders and punishment.
You can't act a a kid and expect to be treated as an adult.
That aside, obviously some devices do require rechargeable batteries, like smartphones. The (relatively) short lifetime of current Li-ion batteries is a concern, although one could argue that by the time the battery of a typical smartphone needs replacement, usually said smartphone has itself become "obsolete" by the software ecosystem. So the underlying problem is much wider than just batteries.
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