Gaela informs me that utopia is not far off:
MIT team experimentally demonstrates wireless power transfer, potentially useful for powering laptops, cell phones without cords.
... for laptop-sized coils, power levels more than sufficient to run a laptop can be transferred over room-sized distances nearly omni-directionally and efficiently, irrespective of the geometry of the surrounding space, even when environmental objects completely obstruct the line-of-sight between the two coils. Fisher points out: “As long as the laptop is in a room equipped with a source of such wireless power, it would charge automatically, without having to be plugged in. In fact, it would not even need a battery to operate inside of such a room.” In the long run, this could reduce our society's dependence on batteries, which are currently heavy and expensive.
As for what the future holds, Soljacic adds, “Once, when my son was about three years old, we visited his grandparents’ house. They had a 20-year-old phone and my son picked up the handset, asking, ‘Dad, why is this phone attached with a cord to the wall?’ That is the mindset of a child growing up in a wireless world. My best response was, ‘It is strange and awkward, isn’t it? Hopefully, we will be getting rid of some more wires, and also batteries, soon.’”
I don't want those ugly coils in my living room, but as soon as they can be small enough to hide in a cupboard, I'll definitely get some.
Posted by: Janean | July 23, 2007 at 10:20 AM
Wireless power? Sign me up. I wonder how efficient the transmitters are. How much power does it take to send power?
Posted by: Chris R | July 24, 2007 at 08:30 AM
dude. they are letters. add a third and they'll be up on stewf's wall next week.
XXX phone charger.
Posted by: gaela | August 08, 2007 at 06:57 PM
His son's question is so cute, but also shows how far technology has advanced since the days of the rotary phones.
Posted by: Deborah | January 19, 2008 at 06:22 AM