Skip to Content
Uncategorized

The Life of Batteries

Dell’s recent recall of batteries has sparked renewed interest in power sources for modern technology.
August 24, 2006

Dell’s recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries has renewed the discussion about the effectiveness of modern power sources. For the last decade, mobile technologies have become more pervasive and smaller and chipsets have become more powerful. It’s been a wonderful time for handheld devices and laptops.

However, advances in batteries – and whether this fact is true or perceived is still up in the air – have lagged behind advances in memory and computing power. (The New York Times has an interesting article about the current developments in battery research.)

More often than not, the biggest impediment for me, as I cart around a cornucopia of devices, is hauling the mass of wires and power sources I need to make everything go for extended periods. In other words, we’re facing the same problem today – the power supply problem – that Nicholas Negroponte wrote about in his 1995 Being Digital.

Here is a snippet from the book:

If the progress in battery technology developed at the same pace as integrated circuits, we would be commuting to work in cars powered by flashlight batteries. Instead, I carry more than ten pounds of batteries when traveling in order to feed my laptop on a long flight. Over time, batteries for laptops have gotten heavier, as notebook computers have acquired more functions and brighter displays. (In 1979 Sony’s Typecorder, the first laptop, used only four AA batteries.) 

A few years back, I talked with researchers in one of IBM’s battery research groups. What struck me – and this thought came back as I re-read Negroponte’s work and skimmed the Dell articles – was IBM’s research focused on reducing battery power leakage. That, they thought, was the best chance for improving battery power, even though their work would lead to only minimal gains.

It’s an interesting quandary for mobile computing, one that is likely to hamstring the industry for some time.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

ChatGPT is going to change education, not destroy it

The narrative around cheating students doesn’t tell the whole story. Meet the teachers who think generative AI could actually make learning better.

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.