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Thursday, August 12, 2004 Zoop.
The screen went black on my Titanium Powerbook, which is not unusual, except I'd awakened the Powerbook just 10 minutes before the battery died. Ugh.
No problem! I'll just get the AC adapter from my bag, plug in and I'll be good to go... wha? Where's the adapter? It's at home, on my desk. Double ugh.
Worse yet, I was at a local cafe, coffee in hand, awash in a virtual sea of free WiFi net access. Triple ugh.
My morning episode served as a reminder. As cool as technology might be, battery powered technology will eventually go kaput. And, it will most likely fail you when you least expect it, or can afford it.
Buying a replacement battery is of course an option, though maybe not the most sensible one. I don't take the laptop fully wireless very much (normally the adapter is along for the ride if I go mobile). Besides, 200-some dollars for a replacement battery seems much better saved and spent on a future Powerbook.
Next time I'm going to stuff the AC adapter in my pockets and tie the cord round my arm — at least until the old TiBook is retired in favor of something new. :-)
Reader Comments (4)
As we brits say 'Been there - done that'
Battery tech needs a real boost - and who ever cracks it will make a fortune.
We had a count up of chargers at home last week (well it was raining!) and counted a total of 15! - we barely have enough sockets to allow us to charge everything at the same time - and if we did the power company would be on the landline phone (2 - both rechargable wireless) asking us what we are upto.
Cheers
I almost always purchase an extra battery with my laptops. It allows me to swap them at charge cycles, prolonging their life. BTW, Apple's KBase articles suggest that being fully tethered all the time (i.e. charging the battery all the time) isn't good for battery life.
Go forth and unplug, sir!
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=581&ncid=581&e=5&u=/nm/20040819/tc_nm/tech_apple_recall_dc