An Environmental Issue We Can All Agree With

[admin]

My desk is messy, but I never really thought about why until I read this recent article on an industry group aiming to reduce the number of power adapters in the world through standardization. It seem that if consumers had the power, they’d banish most of the power adapters in their homes. At least, that’s the primary finding of a new nationwide survey, conducted by Synovate for Green Plug, which revealed that more than 60 percent of American consumers regard the status quo in consumer electronics as “wasteful” or “frustrating.”


Discuss "An Environmental Issue We Can All Agree With" here. Read the article.

[birdonthebeach]

yeah, I could go for that. One step in this direction seems to be the USB cable, of which many of my newer devices can share for power. I'd love to see standardization though!

[AdrianMills]

Every time I travel I think half the weight and volume of my hand luggage is taken up by power adaptors; it's a freaking PITA and it's about time someone tackled the issue.

[gliz]

I am a bass player and I have effects pedals each one seems to have a little different power adapter on is center positive one is center negative. Gets old standards would be great for this application for sure

[corysmith01]

This seems like one of those "no-brainers" for the electronics industry. The amount of raw materials used to make all of the various power adapters makes me sick to think about. And, to benefit manufactures, wouldn't standardization mean lower costs? If they're all the same and everyone is using the same, wouldn't manufacturing costs go down with regards to a cost-per-unit? This seems like win-win all around. I don't understand the thinking behind having all of these different power supplies for all of your different electronics.

[majorloser]

Ok, I admit I remember the old days. Back when we weren't worried about how small and compact a device case was made. Back when the transformer was built into the device.

Yes, manufacturers went smaller and more compact for the consumer. But we also went to "two piece" devices.

I HATE WALL WARTS!

[corey]

While we're at it, how about standardized USB cables too?

[kleinwl]

This is not going to be easy. The main reason for all the different power cords and adapters is because most electronics do not run or charge on the same voltage. The whole point of having a unique adapter is to make sure that someone doesn't accidentally plug a 3.3V charger into an electronic system designed for 1.5V, frying the delicate electronics. It's not reasonable for small handheld electronics to have a transformer built in, since this would increase the size of the system significantly. It is equally unreasonable to have a standard charging voltage, since this is determined by the thermal dissipation capability of the system (obviously the higher the voltage, the faster the charging, which means the higher the thermal "heat" generation).
The only way of getting around this is having variable transformers that receive charging information from the product they are charging so that they increase/decrease the voltage they are providing to the product in question. The problems with this is that the charger would be pretty large, fairly inefficient, and would only be able to work with the components it's programed to recognize. Still, it's a workable solution.

P.S. What is not standard about USB cables? Male/Female, Type A, Mini B. What more do you want?!!?

[yettitheman]

I prefer the old days where the power supply is INSIDE what you want to use.

Well... the old PS2 and PS3 have internal PSUs.... I like that because I can use a standard computer cable.

The XBOX 360... external. Oh boy. Laptops... it makes sense why it's external.

[niget2002]

P.S. What is not standard about USB cables? Male/Female, Type A, Mini B. What more do you want?!!?

I want companies that make scanners and digital cameras to stop swapping the TX and RX pins so that I can use a standard cable with them... or for media card readers to put the 4-pin connector on the edge of the device instead of so far in it that only their extra long connector will reach it.

I know there might not be that many companies out there that still do this, but I seem to be a magnet for them.