How to foster self-regulation in internet discussion forums (and turn flamewars into profit):

via flickr

When it comes to portable electronic gadgets, there are three major annoyances.

1. The three hour limit must fall

   

   There is an unwritten rule when designing portable computers:

   The battery will last three hours.

   Once technological advances allow the next generation to run longer – be it thanks to more efficient hardware or more powerful battery technology – the manufacturers decide to shrink the battery, capping the device back to the three hour limit.

   Three is a nice psychological figure. “Lasts three hours? – not too short!” “Less than three kilogramms? – not too heavy!” After all these years, today’s 3 kg laptops usually still run for 3 hours or less.

   This must end.

   Three hours is not enough for a true mobile device (especially since the advertised three hours of battery time usually result to less than two in real use).

2. Batteries should be replaceable

   

   A rechargeable portable device that doesn’t allow the user to replace its battery is a disposable item, it was made to break.

   Enforcing planned obsolescence by making it hard to replace the device’s consumable parts is a design choice that should be opposed.

3. We need a standard battery for gadgets

   

   This is the hardest task for the future and it’s unlikely to happen soon. But we desperately need a new battery standard.

   Good luck when you try to find the battery type used in a laptop or cellphone at a reasonable price just few years after its release.

   The AA battery‘s format was standardized 60 years ago. Battery technology has improved since then, yet you can still use today’s AA in a 1980s walkman or a 1950s flashlight.

   There are several manufacturers. You can buy AAs anywhere in the world. Recycling is possible.

   It’s insane: Gadget manufacturers keep a stock of fast-aging device-specific batteries for a limited time and sell them at premium prices. There are no or few competing offers and formats change with every new device generation.

   We need standard battery formats just like AA for laptops, cameras, cell phones and other portable gadgets.

#1 is just my personal requirement. The technology exists to design sub-500-gramm computers that run for a whole day, but few customers buy them, so unless people decide that a three hour MID isn’t really such a mobile internet device, the industry has no reason to change.

But #2 and #3 are ecologically disastrous and I’d even welcome government regulation to enforce these if the industry doesn’t come up with solutions by itself.

Photos via flickr by AndyArmstrong, merfam, Eva the Weaver.

This article was written for umpcportal.com.

Illustration: http://www.tsamedien.de für c’t

# /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vdr-etobi-hanno.list
# SECTION = standard | multipatch | extensions
deb http://www.hanno.de/vdr-experimental hardy base backports addons vdr-#SECTION#
deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free

# /etc/apt/preferences
Package: *
Pin: origin www.hanno.de
Pin-Priority: 1000

Viel Spaß! Have fun!

# /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vdr-etobi-hanno.list
deb http://www.hanno.de/vdr-experimental hardy base backports addons vdr-multipatch
deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ hardy free non-free

# /etc/apt/preferences
Package: *
Pin: origin www.hanno.de
Pin-Priority: 1000

“Information does not want to be free. Information wants to be tied up and spanked.”
via

Die Telekom in Altona hat sich also mit den Punks verbündet, die im Sommer jeden Tag genau vor diesem T-Punkt herumhängen und die Fußgängerzone mit ihrem Ghettoblaster beschallen.

Several requests for OGG in Internet Tablets, but no definitive answer why not.

Now there is an answer: According to Nokia, Ogg is “proprietary technology” and they fear that it is “encumbered”. The reasoning behind this appears to be “risk of submarine patents”.

Which is curious, since Nokia is one of the supporters of software patents in Europe. So do they like software patents or not? It’s not clear. This particular choice of OGG being risky is also curious, since Linux, Gnome and Mozilla and other software foundations of Maemo Internet Tablets are IMHO equally at risk of being plastered with submarine patents.

There are other companies happily selling OGG-capable hardware and software. Why is (e.g.) Samsung not afraid of the very risk that Apple and Nokia fear?

So, what is the problem with OGG? The whole explanation doesn’t add up. And the way we handle patents still sucks.

Yay, so finally there’s an a cappella song about Web 2.0.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi4fzvQ6I-o]

And who’s behind it? People who claim to be working at Pixar, Google and various startups…

via isotopp