Replaceable Batteries

Europe - in general - does a good job in taming the entrepreneurial gallop to satisfy consumers' desires. I remember the times when every mobile phone had a replaceable battery. It was practical to the extent that the battery could be removed as a last problem solving resort.

But then came the iPhone and in the race for ever thinner and cooler looking devices the battery eventually got sealed inside a case which cannot be opened (even by most service shops, including the official Apple). To have the battery replaced the entire device must be sent to the factory.

Apple actually has mastered the replacement program and basically you can have a device swapped for another one with a new battery. And yes, the new device you get is a different device. Which means all the hassles of migrating data. Wouldn't it be great if we could just swap the old battery with a new one?

So the EU has come now with a set of new regulations mandating replaceable batteries in all kinds of electronic devices. Of course Apple and the like will lament. Just don't listen to this lament. We all will like to have the replaceable batteries back.

Apart from saving the environment a bit and reducing waste (remember - a battery swap in a MacBook includes a mandatory swap of the touchpad, the speakers and the keyboard, as all these are glued together), it will save all of us a lot of time. The time (and frustration) spent now on restoring / rebuilding the configuration of the device after the swap.