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Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

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Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#81
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A more complicated design costs more money to build/test and introduces more modes of failure in the final product.

I'm not too worried. Removable batteries were standard fare for decades before Apple came around and set negative precedent. I don't recall it ever causing issues.

It's amazing how quickly we forget

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#82
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the more likely explanation is that there was not sufficient market motiviation to include the additional requirement of a user-swappable battery. ie. people care, but they don't care enough or in enough volume for Nintendo to decide it's required. I celebrate user-swappable batteries and I think I like the battery regulations. I just don't think the Ghost of Iwata is under your bed twirling a Wario moustache…

Disagree. The market will not decide on that, at least for the nintendo product. Your or your kid want the switch and the pokemon and mario and others game, you're buying the switch, you don't switch to something else because the something else allows battery switch. That's Nintendo's entire business model and the reason why they've been thriving since for ever in gaming and even the bad times where actually positive…

I don't think customers need to be protected from themselves. If they don't like the hardware but buy it anyways because they really like the game, that's a choice. And I feel that when we're dealing with luxury goods, we should give consumers very broad discretion to vote with their money.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#83
post #3

Amazes me they don't just sell it like that everywhere because it sounds a lot like a product improvement... > The revised products will be available on a rolling basis in territories where Nintendo of Europe conducts business, either directly or through a distributor, namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,…

I would prefer the current versions without anything replaceable. I have the Switch bought on day 1 and a Pro Controller which is 9 years old. Yes, the Switch was mostly used docked, but the battery is last thing failing there, it rather has issues with the fan, the screen scratches etc. The controller works perfectly and I charge it once a month. The replaceable battery would only make it less solid.

The biggest Switch issue by far is joystick drift on joycons. I've replaced 3 on my Switch 2 already and we have the same issue on the new Switch 2 in the office.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#84
post #80
post #22

"There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries." So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.

I expect smartphones to look more like the Pro Controller tradeoffs than the joy cons. The issue with replaceable batteries is you need the extra space for the battery structure so unless phones grow they'll have lower capacities. There's also IP ratings, phones have pretty good IP ratings these days often surviving drops in puddles etc where none of these products have any official IP rating to preserve when adding…

I'm baffled that we still are thinking that we want thin phones. We have a gigantic camera bump that would be removed if the phone was thicker. Who wants a razor in their pocket, like really?

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#85
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phones used to work like that too. I think all my feature phones and first Android phone worked if it was plugged in with the battery removed.

The thing about the TI powerbook was, it didn't have to be plugged in to hot swap the battery. You could do it when running on battery power . (It had a tiny internal battery, that could run it for like 20-30 seconds, so long as the screen was closed). It did also run when plugged in with the battery removed, which is good 'cause the battery eventually failed. So this way I can still run it.

Oh! Cool!

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#86
post #54
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except for an up-to-16% reduction in capacity, and slightly increased weight, depending on the product.

You mean an up-to-5% increase in capacity, and slightly decreased weight, depending on the product? The truth is that the product with the 16% reduced capacity (Switch 2 Pro controller) is 7g lighter and the one with the 5% increased capacity (Gamecube controller) is 5g heavier. Besides those two, the general idea is that the capacity is the same with 2-3% extra weight.

Some of these are no change because the existing versions already have pretty user replacement friendly batteries. The JoyCons for example already use the hard sided cells with plugs so I'm not sure what the change will actually amount to. If I had to guess it's maybe to change the glue or method of holding the battery in place to satisfy the ease of replacement requirements.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#87
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that they didn't care, it's that they did care in the wrong way. A non-replacable battery means people will be more likely to buy a whole new device if (when) the battery fails.

I think the more likely explanation is that there was not sufficient market motiviation to include the additional requirement of a user-swappable battery. ie. people care, but they don't care enough or in enough volume for Nintendo to decide it's required. I celebrate user-swappable batteries and I think I like the battery regulations. I just don't think the Ghost of Iwata is under your bed twirling a Wario moustache…

Consumers do not decide anything, they will buy whatever is in the store.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#88
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disagree. The market will not decide on that, at least for the nintendo product. Your or your kid want the switch and the pokemon and mario and others game, you're buying the switch, you don't switch to something else because the something else allows battery switch. That's Nintendo's entire business model and the reason why they've been thriving since for ever in gaming and even the bad times where actually positive…

I don't think customers need to be protected from themselves. If they don't like the hardware but buy it anyways because they really like the game, that's a choice. And I feel that when we're dealing with luxury goods, we should give consumers very broad discretion to vote with their money.

This is victim blaming. The customer is not the one deciding make the batteries non-removable. This is protection from Nintendo.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#89
post #48
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

16% less battery life in a controller is pretty significant!

Yes but it's limited to only the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller. The basic Joy-cons have no change to their battery capacity.

It's because they're basically already using user replaceable batteries, to the point I'm not sure what the SKU revision will actually do. My best guess is they won't be gluing the battery down any more? Otherwise there's not anything I can see they would need to change.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Joy-Con+Battery+Replacement/113...

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#90
post #38
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazes me they don't just sell it like that everywhere because it sounds a lot like a product improvement... I'm not so sure. The first laptop I bought, a Titanium Powerbook, had replaceable batteries. And even better than that: you could hot-swap them while the laptop was running on battery power, and the laptop wouldn't even shut off. It felt leagues ahead of even modern replaceable battery functionality, and hon…

Compulsory Apple-defending post is compulsory. Non-replaceable batteries are worse for consumers and worse for the environment. The fact that you "do not miss" a better world, does not mean it is not better.

Easily swappable batteries do have significant downsides, you either need to compromise on capacity or form factor.

Of course that doesn’t mean they should be hard to replace with some tools and effort.

To be fair back in those days laptops only lasted on battery power for a few hours at most (also old batteries had a very short lifetime compared to modern ones) so being able to swap it was an actually useful feature.

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