Environmental impact of wireless charging

[YellowJersey]

Thought this was rather interesting. It raises two interesting considerations. First, having your phone stuck to a charging pad is less convenient than having it plugged in. This is why I've always thought wireless charging has been gimmicky at best, hence why I've never seen the practical value in current wireless charging (First 5 minutes of the video cover this). However, the more important consideration is efficiency (Start at 5:00 in the video). The amount of extra electricity that needs to be generated to compensate for the inefficiencies of wireless charging is enormous, and this could have serious environmental implications.

 

[Defunct Lizard]

I agree, damaging the environment just for a gimmick is pointless.  

[YellowJersey]

1 minute ago, floppy disk mayhem said:

I agree, damaging the environment just for a gimmick is pointless.  

Well, if wireless charger were limited to your phone being stuck on a charging pad, I'd agree. However, the technology is moving past that point to the point where it's not so gimmicky anymore, as shown with LTT's latest video and in the video above about charging electric cars wirelessly.

[Llamas]

As the tech progresses it gets more refined and significantly better. 
We still don't drive around with crank start cars that have a peak of 1hp do we? Plugging in does more damage to the environment in a way to. It's quicker to destroy the battery life therefor the battery can end up in landfill or who knows if not disposed properly. If you trickle charge the battery has an extended life.

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

I don't really see the appeal of wireless charging other than avoiding the step of having to grab a cable to plug it in.

 

But I don't do that to charge my phone over a wire because I have a dock for it, like one of these https://www.amazon.com/iMoreGro-Charging-Desktop-Docking-Station/dp/B0786B429Z/

[emosun]

i like how people today are so confused by wires. god forbid they have a device that has a wire.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

5 minutes ago, emosun said:

god forbid they have a device that has a wire.

or ports to plug wires into. 

[Christophe Corazza]

29 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

or ports to plug wires into. 

 

Apple...

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

1 minute ago, Christophe Corazza said:

Apple...

not just Apple.. ethernet ports are becoming very rare on Windows devices too.. 

[helgehelge123]

39 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

I don't really see the appeal of wireless charging other than avoiding the step of having to grab a cable to plug it in.

 

But I don't do that to charge my phone over a wire because I have a dock for it, like one of these https://www.amazon.com/iMoreGro-Charging-Desktop-Docking-Station/dp/B0786B429Z/

I broke 2 of my 4 usb ports on phones. I won't let that happen again to my S8, thus I mostly charge it while fooling around at the computer. If i get a massage, I can take it, reply and put it back without dealing with a strangled cable.

[Christophe Corazza]

7 minutes ago, firelighter487 said:

not just Apple.. ethernet ports are becoming very rare on Windows devices too.. 

 

I was actually referring to the headphone jack ;-)

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 minute ago, helgehelge123 said:

I broke 2 of my 4 usb ports on phones. I won't let that happen again to my S8, thus I mostly charge it while fooling around at the computer. If i get a massage, I can take it, reply and put it back without dealing with a strangled cable.

How the heck does that even happen? I've only broken one of my device's USB ports only because I had it in a position that wasn't a great idea anyway.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

1 minute ago, Christophe Corazza said:

I was actually referring to the headphone jack ;-)

oh okay. that's annoying too, but i depend on the ethernet port somewhat for education so.. yeah.. that one pisses me off more if it's missing.. 

[Christophe Corazza]

The ethernet port on laptops is indeed also something that is quietly being faded out. However, on the more bulkier laptops (gaming and workstation type) you can still find them though.

[Canada EH]

People living close to wind generation have been reported having health problems.

Same goes for main power lines.

The brain is so precious, that you have right up to your ear, who knows whats happening.

Wireless charging, who knows!

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

58 minutes ago, Christophe Corazza said:

The ethernet port on laptops is indeed also something that is quietly being faded out. However, on the more bulkier laptops (gaming and workstation type) you can still find them though.

yep, but my laptop is an ultrabook from it's time, and it has one..

[Drak3]

1 hour ago, Llamas said:

It's quicker to destroy the battery life therefor the battery can end up in landfill or who knows if not disposed properly. If you trickle charge the battery has an extended life.

Except wireless charging causes excessive heat due to the inefficiency of wireless, which damages the battery. That can't be mitigated by a charge circuit.

Whereas modern consumer devices have charge circuits that mitigate damage to the battery by reducing power draw when appropriate.

[Llamas]

22 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Except wireless charging causes excessive heat due to the inefficiency of wireless, which damages the battery. That can't be mitigated by a charge circuit.

Whereas modern consumer devices have charge circuits that mitigate damage to the battery by reducing power draw when appropriate.

You miss the whole point of my statement. To increase technology that tech has to be used and advanced. Get rid of the headphone jack and wireless tech is advanced. Get it? You dont go from 0 to 100 by skipping 1 thru 99. Rome wasn't built in a day.

[Drak3]

48 minutes ago, Llamas said:

You miss the whole point of my statement. To increase technology that tech has to be used and advanced. Get rid of the headphone jack and wireless tech is advanced. Get it? You dont go from 0 to 100 by skipping 1 thru 99. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Except wireless charging will always have that issue. Wired will not.

Like how wireless audio/video will ALWAYS be subject to more interference.

Like how wireless internet ALWAYS has higher lag and packet loss.

 

Advanced =/= better.

[YellowJersey]

59 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Except wireless charging will always have that issue. Wired will not.

Like how wireless audio/video will ALWAYS be subject to more interference.

Like how wireless internet ALWAYS has higher lag and packet loss.

 

Advanced =/= better.

 

1 hour ago, Llamas said:

You miss the whole point of my statement. To increase technology that tech has to be used and advanced. Get rid of the headphone jack and wireless tech is advanced. Get it? You dont go from 0 to 100 by skipping 1 thru 99. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Not to mention removing the headphone jack had less to do with advancing wireless tech as it did getting rid of a standard that apple couldn't make money off of and replacing it with proprietary tech that they can make money off of to the detriment of their customers and thereby basically reinventing the wheel.

 When it comes to wireless charging, I get that people want convenience, but when it comes to wireless charging, it comes with a significant cost that's not readily apparent. Again, for many applications, wireless charging seems reinventing the wheel rather than providing a substantial benefit. That said, there are certain applications where wireless charging does have benefit.

[Mornincupofhate]

This is like saying cell towers cause cancer. They don't. 

People worry too much about this stuff.

[Christophe Corazza]

3 hours ago, firelighter487 said:

yep, but my laptop is an ultrabook from it's time, and it has one..

 

Keep it, treasure it, frame it... since you can use it to educate your grandkids about how laptops “in your time” still had I/O ports :-D

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

6 hours ago, Christophe Corazza said:

Keep it, treasure it, frame it... since you can use it to educate your grandkids about how laptops “in your time” still had I/O ports :-D

right now it's still functioning perfectly fine. that's one advantage of intel's lack of performance increases in recent years. old systems still feel quite decent. so i'll probably keep using it for a few years.

 

but yeah i'll probably keep hold of it. or donate it to a museum in 30 years. it can be on display with a sign saying "back in 2013 humankind had the engineering to make a thin laptop that was actually useful in it's time" 

[helgehelge123]

12 hours ago, M.Yurizaki said:

How the heck does that even happen? I've only broken one of my device's USB ports only because I had it in a position that wasn't a great idea anyway.

I'm not really careful with my devices. If I buy something i wanna use it efficiently, not carefully, thus I jammed the plug in there. 

I know it's my fault, but the wireless charging dock solves that problem for me.

[Llamas]

20 hours ago, YellowJersey said:

 

Not to mention removing the headphone jack had less to do with advancing wireless tech as it did getting rid of a standard that apple couldn't make money off of and replacing it with proprietary tech that they can make money off of to the detriment of their customers and thereby basically reinventing the wheel.

 When it comes to wireless charging, I get that people want convenience, but when it comes to wireless charging, it comes with a significant cost that's not readily apparent. Again, for many applications, wireless charging seems reinventing the wheel rather than providing a substantial benefit. That said, there are certain applications where wireless charging does have benefit.

Hmm yeah so all of the mobile industry said lets get rid of the headphone jack too? People want bezel-less phones ultra thin etc. etc. They provide to that market not the ones who want a phone that has useful features by removing the headphone jack wireless technology advances whether you want to admit it or not. 

 

Removing a headphone jack isn't going to earn them money as much as leaving one in the phone would have. Think about the cost of all the manufacturing and research/design to get it to work and look good. Proprietary tech doesn't earn them money if you are not stupid enough to lose the included adapter they sell or you know 3rd party chinese ones.