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What Finally Killed AirPower

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Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#131

Post by LIV2 »

quotemstr wrote: post #76
judge2020 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would risk even one pacemaker failing in light of 'technical progress'?

Well, yeah --- just like I'd risk one person getting hit by a train in order to achieve the "technological progress" of rail transport. Every new technology comes with risks. If we focus on the risks and ignore the benefits, we can't make progress, and it's progress that ultimately benefits more people than any amount of harm avoidance.

There are plenty of wireless chargers out there, I don't think it's worth someone dying so you can have another apple toy

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#132

Post by pablasso »

accatyyc wrote: post #115
zaphirplane wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Constantly recharging your phone is suppose to reduce your battery’s max capacity over time I.e your battery lasts less

Constantly charging causes fewer power cycles and extends your battery life.

Who is right here?

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#134

Post by ex3ndr »

xenospn wrote: post #107
tedivm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're just going to remove local syncing and stick with cloud based solutions.

Doesn't really work when you're developing locally, tho. Can you imagine loading binaries from the cloud into your phone every single time?

It is already works like this and works just fine.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#135

Post by quotemstr »

isoskeles wrote: post #93
quotemstr wrote: post #36

> The FCC rules for wireless charging devices like AirPower are quite strict, and limit exposure to 20 cm (8 in) above the device to 50 mW/cm^2. Who's to say that 50 mW/cm^2 is the right field strength limit? Remember when we couldn't use cell phones on airplanes during takeoff because of the theoretical possibility that something, somewhere might interfere? As it turns out, there was no interference problem, cell ph…

I want to give you the benefit of the doubt here, in what way did the ban on cellphones on planes stall progress ? It seemed more like a minor annoyance / inconvenience, but I could be misunderstanding or not have context.

One thing: it's become increasingly common to ditch in-seat entertainment units and just have people watch airline-provided entertainment on their own devices over wifi. This approach saves weight and money. Would it have been viable if electronic devices were still banned during takeoff?

Regardless, utility matters. This argument from frivolity --- that we shouldn't allow thing X that has rare side effect Y because X is just a "toy" --- is dangerous, because everything in modern civilization, from the right perspective, is frivolous. The whole point of technology is to make life easier, so it's not fair to argue against thing X merely because thing X exists to make life easier. Everything we really needed for survival was invented a long, long time ago.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#136

Post by stordoff »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

The thing that gives me pause is that we have spent two decades worrying about standby power, but now we are willfully adding an inefficiency. It feels like the wrong direction to be moving in.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#137

Post by yason »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing?

If you haven't figured it out and you're happy with a cable, stick with it. There is no greater disservice in life than relieving yourself from something you're happy and perfectly content with in search of something better. In the worst case you become acutely aware of the downsides of both methods and you're no longer happy with either.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#138

Post by bobsil1 »

brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

Aligning a Lightning cable in the dark without scratching the stainless steel iPhone frame is a pain in the butt.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#139

Post by NeedMoreTea »

_bxg1 wrote: post #53
brian-armstrong wrote: post #11

So my phone is charged by a cable. It plugs into the wall on one side and then plugs into my phone on the other. This system works great - I plug my phone in when I go to bed and unplug it when I wake up. The cable is long enough to plug into my phone even if I want to use it in bed. It's easy, cheap and failproof. What is the draw of wireless charging? What is it that I'm missing? Did anyone ask for this?

It takes something easy and makes it effortless . Like AirPods, this has a surprising number of implications that you really don't think about until you try it. If I'm just setting my phone down on my desk and it's at 50%, and my cable is right there, I may not bother to plug it in. Especially if I might get up again in 5 or 10 minutes. But if I can just set it down in a particular place and regain a couple percentag…

This is what I never understood, even slightly. Why not just give an iPod / iPhone dock without all the wireless bullshit? I prefer a dock as it holds phone at a handy angle, syncs, and doesn't have the myriad of drawbacks of bluetooth.

Smartphone battery life is so shit, on every model, that I always plug my phone in. Even if the cable / socket is only going to be around for minutes. So no saving here. In the days of docks, I dropped phone on dock every time I was at my desk.

My first few phone models (Motorola StarTAC etc) had a battery life in weeks, and I usually had a charger/dock with space for keeping the phone and a spare battery fully charged.

So from here it sounds like you've made a feature of going backwards at a rate of knots.

Re: What Finally Killed AirPower

#140

Post by sbhn »

I first discovered air charging many years ago. I was in the office, and outside wad a digger working on the road, and its engine noise was causing the walls to vibrate. I thought, i could put some kind of capicitor on the wall positioned to exploit the vibration, and charge my phone with that. Brilliant i thought. I got to work immediatly on the invention. And then realised that running a noisy tractor outside everytime i charge my phone, is going to cost me significantly more money than using the supplied usb charging cable and adapter.
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