Charging Ahead

Laptop chargers: great. They should be 12 V, so instead of supplying a charger, hotels etc could just provide a 12 V outlet. Which would also work with 12 V devices made for your car or off-grid house. One standard for low-voltage DC power.

Batteries: there is a pretty big difference in the capacity of AA and AAA batteries, and AA is the single most common battery type. Doesn't make sense to kill AA. (Maybe get rid of AAA in favor of N, though?) We probably don't need both C and D anymore, one of those could go. The real place to simplify is button batteries, there are scores of types which could usefully be distilled into 2-3.

Shoe size: I'm not so sure, when I compare shoes I often find the shape is different, not just the length. Since feet are not standardized (I blame the manufacturer!), I would hate to have shoes standardized to a foot shape that doesn't happen to fit me.

On the other hand, clothes seem to vary even in the sizes which are supposed to be measurements. If I buy clothes with a 38" waist, how hard is that to actually live up to? Apparently pretty darn hard. I find that, even in the same brand, same type, same color, the waist and inseam may be off by as much as an inch. I don't think clothes need 0.001% precision, but 2-3% error seems a little high.

Computer ink: sure, but that's their business model. Will never, ever happen.

More than just the incompatibility of such devices, there's the deliberate use of solid copper(or too few strands of copper)conductors in these charger cords, which is intended to make sure that the otherwise usable charger will fatigue and break, requiring replacement. Seven strands (one in the center, surrounded by six more of the same size) is better than solid, but 19 strands (one strand surrounded by six, surrounded by 12) is far better. The manufacturers are perfectly aware of this-- it's planned obsolescence, and it should be mandatory that all extension cords and cords for other devices have at least 19 conductors.

If you still have any devices from 1970 or before, you'll see that it never occurred to the manufacturers to use fewer conductors, because they all had the intention of making durable goods-- but not any more. I suspect many of these companies have specialists just to devise ways to assure that the products they make today will last just long enough to outlast any warranty, and to fail soon thereafter.

We can require mandatory use of 19 or more strands in all conductors used outside of a device (extension cords, etc), since they can and do start fires when the cords break. Many people die every year due to electrical fires, and studies of these fires should surely show that many of these people have died due to poor-quality cords. Manufacturers should not be able to sell us anything they want just because it will improve their bottom line.

Other matters:

Cell phones, GPSes, MP3 players and similar devices should be waterproof-- just a few drops of rain or other accidental water exposure is enough to kill the device.

Plastics used in automobiles should be required to be made of UV- and IR (infrared)resistant materials, or the manufacturers should at least be required to list whether their materials are resistant; all car and home windows and eyeglasses should be made of UV-blocking material.

Portable electronic devices should always have readily accessible batteries that can be replaced-- my Garmin GPS not only has a sealed case so there is no way to replace the internal battery, but the charge cord has also needed to be replaced twice since I bought it 14 months ago. And if you use a USB charge cord by any other maker, it will only charge the battery-- it will not allow you to use the GPS as long as the charge cord is plugged in, and it will not allow you to turn off the screen, which assures that the device will wear out that much sooner. I will never buy any more Garmin devices!

Portable electronic devices should have standard, replaceable displays-- their tiny screens often shatter from bumps or pressure, and they should be replaceable by the owner.

I'd like to see a non-profit organization similar to Consumer Reports to have regular TV programs that embarrass manufacturers about such issues, warning consumers about issues with inferior products, and ranking companies by their use of planned obsolescence.

I fully support moves to standardize connectors and chargers for laptops and cellphones. I've never understood why manufacturers choose to make these common items unique to their own products - and sometimes even within their own product lines, there are different power blocks.

Likewise for batteries for laptops and smaller devices. Given that there are basically a few different laptop sizes, maybe standard three battery sizes (and shapes) would be good - say, small for netbooks and then two more for larger units.

For the AA batteries, I learnt long ago the value of choosing cameras with standard batteries rather than the fancy proprietary types which cost a lot to buy and were not always available in shops. A friend of mine had bought a new Canon which uses AAA batteries and I think it was the first to use these smaller batteries. We were impressed but then one time when we were in a jungle, his batteries ran out and the shops just didn't stock AAAs; they had lots of AAs and other sizes though.

So I've made it a point to always choose cameras which run on AAs. Yes, I know that the proprietary ones may be more powerful but a)they need to be recharged and b)if they die on me suddenly when I'm covering an event, I'm dead. As a compromise, I do use rechargeable AAs now and that saves some money.

My only thought that I feel like writing down is that many cell phones may require different voltages and amperages to charge properly. Does that mean the batteries will be the same too?

Laptop and gadget chargers:-----
Plugs (input): Does NOT embed from the transformer so not to waste sockets. At least half-foot long, replacable with the polarized two-hole or three-hole transformer-facing end.

Transformer: Compact supports multiple source voltages like laptop transformers, yet generates multiple currents for devices of all sizes, desktop-replacement notebooks at the highest end. Input side supports both two-prong and three-prong sources, when three-prong plug cable used will be able to generate higher currents. Optional: emits wireless power.

Output side: For lower voltage gadgets, a polarized replaceable cable with multiple output lines, same idea as firewire, usb or eSata, carries different voltages, a return and a ground. One of the outputs will charge a device, while some gadgets can accept two or more, e.g. in vehicles versus in buildings. Wireless power should also be available for minimal power devices like phones, handfrees, MP3 players and watches that must also be waterproof, while occasionally can be wired for quick charge (requires opening a watertight lid).

Laptop batteries:-----
Rectangular or odd-shaped batteries are just cells when opened with a little bit of circuitry (to measure charge or battery's life). So instead of bundling everything together, move each cells out, perhaps use "e-ink" to indicate if the battery needs recharge or recycle.

Authentication:-----
Applications and web browsers should support fingerprint scanners and RFID keychains/bracelets for direct authentication, not as a password manager.

Ink:-----
The cartridges should be standard AT LEAST for the same brand, with RFID chips and paid recycling address etched on them. Same RFID idea for electronics and recyclable glass and plastics to help the sorting, extract or recondition process. The RFID chip itself should also be reusable so that the IDs never run out.

Standardizing Printer ink would be difficult because much of the technology of the printer is in the ink. Ink consistency, print heads, colors, all of this is part of making printer A better than printer B. And all of this is contained within the cartridge. Though 99% of people won't be able to tell the difference anyway, so maybe they could be standardized.

I would like a standard screw driver. Torx, Roberston, Phillips, Allan, Flat Head, those weird triangle ones...Do we really need that many? Lets just pick one type, and make all screws use that type. If we need a few different sizes that is fine as long as they are all the same type.

Isn't there something called the International Standards Organization that can take care of standardization, like the name says? I'm not too hopeful about that because we can't even agree on one worldwide electrical outlet configuration, or even whether to drive on the left or right side of the road.

Ink cartridges will be standardized when it is in the interests of the printer companies to do so. Translation: Never! It makes more sense for them to lure us in with cheap printers then lock us in with inflated cartridge prices for years after.

There's this worldwide campaign against vampire appliances that use power even when not turned on, so why don't celphone chargers come with on/off switches or some widget that turns power use completely off when no phone is plugged in? Is that too much of a genius idea for the celphone makers? I prefer to leave my chargers plugged into strategic locations around the house where I can use them when convenient. Better yet, they can come with a pass-through outlet so I can leave them plugged in and still have the outlet available for other devices.

How about one system for TV/Disk Player/sound system remotes? And how about a built-in beeper thingy so if I can't find a remote, I just have to press a button on the device it's supposed to control and the remote will sound off and tell me which pillow it's under? Many cordless phones do this, so why can't remotes? I bet that remotes are lost far more often than cordless phones are.

I can't believe we have to point these little things out ourselves. Don't they spend billions on design and marketing people that can come up with these common sense ideas on their own? Geez!

Universal battery chargers in everything- Like when you plug in your cell phone or electric shaver. Not only should we have a standard battery, like a AAA. You should be able to swap it around and charged it in any device. Like cordless power tools, except with regular batteries. Everyone knows rechargeable batteries don’t last forever; and all but 15% of the population that are living under a rock, know you can hack all of these devices and put in new rechargeable batteries. So why not make it easier on everybody? Let’s use a standard size battery that can be charged in any camera, phone, tom-tom, shaver, toothbrush, drill, or mp3 player. Plus if you’re remote batteries die while channel surfing you could swap them with the batteries in your wife/girlfriend’s cell phone.

Octopus charger- Since they are making a universal charging cord, they should make it have multiple ends on it, so you can charge your mp3 player, cell phone, and camera at the same time and use only one plug. (They should do the same thing with USB cables.) Like a reverse power strip or USB hub. Instead of the devices being plugged into the hub/power strip, plug the hub/power strip into the device. The cords on this should also be retractable so things can stay neat as possible.

the manufacturers will make unique power supplies as long as the consumers will buy them. They can then sell high price replacements when they are lost or damaged. If they're all the same, the generic models will own the market

http://beecherbowers.com

Different connector for power or communications cables is a gold mine for the manufacturers. Standardization drives prices down. We'll see if everyone complies in 2012 ...

www.trezora.com

patches396
i am tired of having to use a different ac adapter for every device i own and wondering if i will be able to get a replacement for it if it is lost or broken!
I will be very happy when this becomes a problem of the past.
patches396

Required to list whether their materials are resistant; all car and home windows and eyeglasses UV-blocking should be made of material, I think this is a very complicated issue,I hope not to 2012, this technology to successfully implement http://www.firmoo.com/