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Apple's Blue Ocean

hypercritical.co

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Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#21

Post by foobiekr »

warrenm wrote: post #2

Make battery packs (call them "removable batteries, if you like") 100% completely and totally separate from the device itself - think of it like a UPS for a desktop...no (or practically "no") battery on/in the device, and instead you run the device with a Qi-compatible battery pack IOW - the device becomes 30-50% lighter (on its own), and the buyer determines how heavy his/her experience will be based on which Qi-pac…

I used to feel like you - the non-removable battery thing was annoying, the non-modular flash was a deal breaker, etc.

None of them turned out to matter, at all. What does matter is a solid feel and solid construction and the flash and batteries lasting the lifetime of the product. I'd rather have that than replaceable.

Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#22

Post by crooked-v »

warrenm wrote: post #2

Make battery packs (call them "removable batteries, if you like") 100% completely and totally separate from the device itself - think of it like a UPS for a desktop...no (or practically "no") battery on/in the device, and instead you run the device with a Qi-compatible battery pack IOW - the device becomes 30-50% lighter (on its own), and the buyer determines how heavy his/her experience will be based on which Qi-pac…

This is basically what they're doing with the Vision Pro, though out of engineering necessity rather than preference: the headset by itself only has about 5 minutes of battery life, to give you just enough margin to swap out the external battery pack you keep in a pocket.

Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#24

Post by ChuckMcM »

The short version is: "Wouldn't it be disruptive if Apple went back to replaceable batteries?" but the author stopped short of where that leads.

One of the things that doable "now" that wasn't doable "then" is wireless charging. I love that I can put my phone on a pad next to the bed at night and it charges, pick it up and there is no trailing wire to unplug, put it down and there is no wire to find and plug in. This is a big improvement in my user experience.

Another of the things that have moved us forward is that power efficiency has gone up dramatically, as a result a smaller battery can give the same "run time" as a large battery of old without the bulk associated with the larger energy storage capacity.

Why not combine them?

Why not no battery in the device? Seal it against the elements. Then put in a pocket where a battery that is a wireless "charger" can drop into a slot on the device and provide the power. Current demands on a modern device are low enough that you just go wireless all the time for main power. Now your device takes a sealed "toaster pastry" sized unit that looks innocuous, but slide it into the slot and poof the device powers up, put it on a recharging mat and it starts charging up itself.

Now you have no exposed terminals to "short out", no worries about the battery in your device becoming a "pillow of doom"[1]. And you can carry a couple of extras if you're going to be away from power for a while.

You get all the benefits of replaceable batteries and none of the downsides with the possible exception of a "slot" in your device that looks funny when there isn't a battery in it.

I totally should have patented this :-)

[1] Just Google it :-)

Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#25

Post by highwaylights »

foobiekr wrote: post #21
warrenm wrote: post #2

Make battery packs (call them "removable batteries, if you like") 100% completely and totally separate from the device itself - think of it like a UPS for a desktop...no (or practically "no") battery on/in the device, and instead you run the device with a Qi-compatible battery pack IOW - the device becomes 30-50% lighter (on its own), and the buyer determines how heavy his/her experience will be based on which Qi-pac…

I used to feel like you - the non-removable battery thing was annoying, the non-modular flash was a deal breaker, etc. None of them turned out to matter, at all. What does matter is a solid feel and solid construction and the flash and batteries lasting the lifetime of the product. I'd rather have that than replaceable.

But the batteries dont last the lifetime of the product.

Most iPhones are still very useful devices by the time their batteries have deteriorated below 70% original capacity.

Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#26

Post by LeafItAlone »

warrenm wrote: post #2

Make battery packs (call them "removable batteries, if you like") 100% completely and totally separate from the device itself - think of it like a UPS for a desktop...no (or practically "no") battery on/in the device, and instead you run the device with a Qi-compatible battery pack IOW - the device becomes 30-50% lighter (on its own), and the buyer determines how heavy his/her experience will be based on which Qi-pac…

> instead you run the device with a Qi-compatible battery pack

And lose 20% percent efficiency? A bigger battery for the same usage time and my device is constantly warmer? Sign me up! /s

Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#27

Post by todd3834 »

I really enjoyed the first half talking about how Apple and Nintendo followed a blue ocean strategy. Then the second half ranting about removable batteries felt totally out of place. I’m not sure I buy the blue ocean strategy of that, although well written.

Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#28

Post by rzzzt »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #24

The short version is: "Wouldn't it be disruptive if Apple went back to replaceable batteries?" but the author stopped short of where that leads. One of the things that doable "now" that wasn't doable "then" is wireless charging. I love that I can put my phone on a pad next to the bed at night and it charges, pick it up and there is no trailing wire to unplug, put it down and there is no wire to find and plug in. This…

AKA spicy pillows, there is a subreddit with the same name dedicated to those puffed up bastards.

Re: Apple's Blue Ocean

#29

Post by silisili »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #24

The short version is: "Wouldn't it be disruptive if Apple went back to replaceable batteries?" but the author stopped short of where that leads. One of the things that doable "now" that wasn't doable "then" is wireless charging. I love that I can put my phone on a pad next to the bed at night and it charges, pick it up and there is no trailing wire to unplug, put it down and there is no wire to find and plug in. This…

That's pretty close to how power tools work, minus the wireless charging of course. My first concern would be warmth, my phone always warms up when wireless charging. Doing something CPU intensive would probably get the device blazing.

My second concern would be size - is the total package going to get a lot bigger here? If we forgo the pocket and just use magnets at each corner maybe it gets slimmer, but can it be about as slim as they are today?

If we could overcome those two hurdles, I'd be a huge fan of the idea.

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