The future is wireless!
The spark that ignited this flame for me was back in 2018 when Apple released its flagship phone that year, the iPhone 7, without a headphone jack (Peteron, 2022). At the time, it was all-out lunacy. Bluetooth earphones, earbuds specifically, had abysmal battery life, only lasting a short period of time, and were bulky and a bit of an eyesore.
The phone industry has pushed this wireless trend over the past decade with wireless chargers. However, unlike Apple’s axe of the headphone jack, the wired alternative was at least still an option.
Now the real question is why? Why did Apple remove the headphone jack? What was there to gain? How did this benefit their customers?
Apple clearly saw the future. They understood that with the rate that technology was advancing, the necessary hardware and software would soon catch up and create a much easier and more comprehensive customer experience (also, the rest of the phone industry following suit did not hurt either).
Now this wireless trend, out of all places, seems to be migrating to the transportation industry. Chopra and Bauer (2013) are at the forefront of this trend as they are tirelessly working to implement wireless charging into our roads. The most considerable bottleneck to electric vehicles (EVs) is the long charge time – especially compared to the quick gasoline alternative. However, the bottleneck will be eradicated if EV charging solutions get unplugged. Just imagine a world where you can commute across the United States, Across Europe – even across Russia, with its 11 time zones – without having to stop and charge your car!
Currently, there is a small pilot project in Sweden where 1.6km of road is equipped with wireless charging technology (Carbonaro, 2022). Unfortunately, although the project was successful, the cost to implement such technology at scale is too great (Carbonaro, 2022).
Sadly the age of wireless has not fully been realized, but who knows what will happen next? Maybe Elon is right, and the next thing to get unplugged is us from the simulation.
Carbonaro, G. (2022, June). Wireless charging for electric cars is already here – but the technology isn’t for everybody yet. Euronews. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/06/24/wireless-charging-roads-for-electric-cars-ev-technology-is-here-fiat-stellantis
Chopra, S., & Bauer, P. (2013, January). Driving Range Extension of EV With On-Road Contactless Power Transfer—A Case Study. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 60(1), 329–338. https://doi.org/10.1109/tie.2011.2182015
Peterson, M. (2022, August). Seven years later, Apple was right to kill off the 3.5mm headphone jack. AppleInsider. Retrieved September 27, 2022, from https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/08/17/seven-years-later-apple-was-right-to-kill-off-the-35mm-headphone-jack#:%7E:text=Apple%20nixed%20the%20headphone%20jack%20on%20its%20other%20products%20starting%20in%202018.
Very interesting blog about a wireless future! I could totally imagine that this will eventually happen, but I am also really curious whether it is feasible and sustainable to, for example, create wireless charging technology on roads. Maybe the costs for the environment will not outweigh the benefits for society. Off course the wireless charging of phones and the possibility to listen to music without the annoying wires has already been accomplished by most companies, but it is very interesting to think about the potential of wireless technology in the future.
From a sustainable perspective most wireless devices are not very efficient. They usually have a shorter life span due to the tear and wear of the battery compared to wired (headphone) devices, this forces the customer to buy new devices again just because the battery does not function properly anymore, but other components could still be in good condition. AirPods for example don’t have the option to replace the batteries since it is so small. I think wireless technology definitely helps us but repairability has to be mandatory in my opinion when it comes to battery replacement.