Is "week long battery life" really a killer feature? As long as a phone has enough battery to make it through the 16 hours per day most of us are awake, anything more is just gold plating.
Just how big is the "week long battery life" niche?
Just how big is the "week long battery life" niche?
When I was in college, a hurricane knocked out electricity on my block for about a week. By careful rationing of my UPS battery I was able to briefly use the internet a few times a day, just enough to check my e-mail and get updates on the situation. I think keeping a few low-power "backup" devices (and a portable solar panel or hand crank) seems like a decent investment.
edit: peterwiese, you have been ghosted for 2 months or so :(
I read recently that recharging an iPad every night costs less than 2 cents per year.
Which has the iPhone 5 at $0.41/y, the Samsung S III at $0.53/y and the iPad (model unclear, but I guess the 3), at $1.36.
I agree with your point though: the electricity cost of these devices is already negligible, an e-ink display wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Even for a 9-5 family lifestyle, charging every night is a habit you have to learn and you need to keep chargers around your night table.
Phones used to work like this (run for a week) before the current smartphone craze. For other stuff you could have a PDA that wouldn't leave you incommunicado if it ran out of juice.