CSS spec editor, kpop lover, base-6 (heximal) evangelist.


bruno
@bruno

Here's the thing, people think the 2010s were devoid of technological novelties or advances in consumer devices and that really isn't true. The marketing and silicon valley hype cycles were all attached to the wrong things, though, so those technological changes happened as 'quiet revolutions' that people didn't notice.

For example, batteries got way more energy dense than ever before, which would lead to transformative devices like ebikes, but also lots of little novelties. Did you notice when the old style of 'stick' candle lighters was replaced by those goose-necked electric-arc contraptions that probably hurt your retinas just like a tac welder? That happened because you can now get absurd amounts of power out of off-the-shelf batteries.

These new battery chemistries really changed the equation of what electrical devices were capable of. And that's why the steel hordes that now terrorize all of humanity just keep coming, the lithium powered bastards. Me, I still carry my old zippo with me, on account of the EMPs. Kids these days don't even smoke. Anyway, put your helmet on, rookie, we're about to start shelling the Machine position and you should expect scattered retaliation strikes because that's what the algorithm likes this week.


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in reply to @bruno's post:

every time i see one of these it gets me, cause i go "ooh this looks like an interesting post about technology!" and then get my head bonked against the metaphorical car window when you take a sharp left turn into sci-fi.

the changes batteries underwent last decade are actually a good illustration of what we can reasonably expect from now on, if we squint to see past all the false grails tech is hurling at us: incremental improvements that make a bunch of stuff nicer, lighter, smaller, lasting longer on a single charge, etc. but also nothing that is the result of a big game changing breakthrough. and i do think each decade there'll be less and less juice to squeeze, because growth is finite, all technologies have endemic limits, and just because we can imagine a laptop battery that lasts a year between charges or a time machine or whatever doesn't mean it's something that could ever ever happen.

IDK I'd think it's a pretty safe bet that the eternal laptop battery will someday reach the market, if the ebike batteries that will randomly explosively discharge in your house are any indicator as safety regulations weaken eventually someone will find a way to sell you Just A Soviet RTG™