Not to mention replacing batteries on yet another bluetooth device...
I've asked it before, but never actually found out the answer.
Why can't we do wireless power? Someone told me that it was impractical, but not impossible. Anyone care to explain this to me? Seems like wireless power would solve worlds of problems.
The radiant energy needed to transmit power wirelessly would destroy your office. The biggest issue is that wireless signals drop in intensity with the square of distance, so you have to pump out gigantic amounts of power to get decent current in a device at a small distance.
Alternatively, you can pump all the energy through a collimated laser that would blind you if you accidentally caught a glint of it. Even then, you'd be fighting the poor efficiency of a photodiode on the other end.
From what I could discover from a quick search of the internet, wireless power is the transmitting of electricity through electromagnetic waves. In it's current form, we need to place wireless devices on top of some mouse pad-type of device to recharge. The mouse pad device need to be plugged into an outlet.
Seemingly, you only save one step. You still need to take it to the pad. You still need to have a open outlet. The only difference is that you don't have to plug the device into a charger. You simply place it on the charger.
I'm going to speculate from this point on. This technology seems to be a waste of money for me because: 1) This method of charging seems inefficient. Maybe it wastes power? 2) People are concerned about cel phone radio waves causing cancer. Wouldn't they be concerned about electromagnetic waves with many watts of power that constantly and freely flows through their living room?
As I said, this is based on a quick search of the internet. Anybody with more knowledge, please contribute.
I think it would be more likely for Apple to add an iSight port on top of the 'books. It would proabably resemble a flash hot shoe on a 35mm camera, though smaller in size. It would be impossible (and perhaps unnecessary) for the cinema displays though, since ADC doesn't carry firewire.
Comments
800mbps (peak firewire)
800x the difference...
Originally posted by sunrein
Not to mention replacing batteries on yet another bluetooth device...
I've asked it before, but never actually found out the answer.
Why can't we do wireless power? Someone told me that it was impractical, but not impossible. Anyone care to explain this to me? Seems like wireless power would solve worlds of problems.
Originally posted by DMBand0026
Why can't we do wireless power?
The radiant energy needed to transmit power wirelessly would destroy your office. The biggest issue is that wireless signals drop in intensity with the square of distance, so you have to pump out gigantic amounts of power to get decent current in a device at a small distance.
Alternatively, you can pump all the energy through a collimated laser that would blind you if you accidentally caught a glint of it. Even then, you'd be fighting the poor efficiency of a photodiode on the other end.
-- Mark
Seemingly, you only save one step. You still need to take it to the pad. You still need to have a open outlet. The only difference is that you don't have to plug the device into a charger. You simply place it on the charger.
I'm going to speculate from this point on. This technology seems to be a waste of money for me because: 1) This method of charging seems inefficient. Maybe it wastes power? 2) People are concerned about cel phone radio waves causing cancer. Wouldn't they be concerned about electromagnetic waves with many watts of power that constantly and freely flows through their living room?
As I said, this is based on a quick search of the internet. Anybody with more knowledge, please contribute.