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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 11 December 2009 |
Wouldn’t life be simpler if everything used the same charger?
It sounds utopian, I know, but just think how much having a single charger for every electronic device you own would be.
In doing a quick mental inventory between my home and office, I counted no less than six devices I use on a regular basis that each require a separate charger.
And since I am so far behind the times technology-wise, I know that is a conservative figure compared to a lot of people.
Cell phones, digital music players, portable data assistants, GPS units, recorders, cameras… the list is seemingly endless.
Until they get around to inventing the ultimate multi-tasker, that combines all these functions into one, easy to afford unit, there will always be a need to power these devices. And none of the manufacturers can seem to come up with one cord to do the job.
My new cell phone was the same model as my old one, just a newer version. So why do I need to have an entirely different charger?
There must be a lot of money to be made in the charger business, for that can be the only reason everything requires a different cord. Plus, you are going to need a separate one for your car and home… and probably it wouldn’t hurt to keep one at work. So that is three cords for one device right there!
And that brings up another problem: when I purchase a new electronic gizmo, I am stuck with yet another charger. Compounding this problem, I have a severe aversion to throwing anything away so I have a box filled with a rat’s nest of tangled chargers and useless devices.
I found five different remote controls from VCRs and DVD players that have long since ceased to function. No less than 12 chargers from old cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players. Others belong to some item that I can no longer remember, let alone find.
Yet, rather than tossing them all into the garbage, they went back into the box with the fanciful belief that they may all be useful again one day.
What is wrong with me? I can’t even toss out an old charge cord. I wish there was an easy way to recycle them, and I don’t think there is a market for them since you could go to your local electronics store and buy a new charger for about $15.
I imagine that I could list them on an auction site, since there has to be someone looking for a power cord to a Commodore 64 computer out there, but I don’t think that is worth the effort.
I am not one to ask for congressional assistance, what with all the other “important problems” they are already working on (sarcasm), but there should be a law that all rechargeable devices should have a universal charge port so that a single cord could power them all.
After that, they can get back to holding hearings on the White House Gate Crashers. |
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