I love Nokia, not because it connects people, but because I’ve always used a Nokia and refuse to learn how to use anything else all over again. In fact I’m currently using two mobile phones, and both are Nokias. One is a GSM, one is a CDMA.
Which is fine, they both have their uses. What really gets to me though, is the fact that they don’t have interchangeable chargers.
I currently own around 23,965 assorted chargers for various gadgets, and none of them are interchangeable. I have no idea what most of them are for, and nobody wants them so I can’t even give them away, but at least five are leftovers from Nokias killed-in-action or lost over the years.
And invariably, when you’re in a rush, you forget to carry your charger. And nobody else has one that fits my Nokia GSM, because I’m still using a model that in today’s terms, is classified as ‘vintage’: it went out of production 5 years ago, a month after I bought it.
Shouldn’t there be some sort of international protocol that prohibits mobile phone manufacturers from developing different chargers for each new model they introduce?
I’m talking of a one-size-fits-all charger that can be used for ALL brands, ALL models, including my prehistoric Nokia that they don’t even manufacture any more. That would considerably reduce the number of extra chargers people get stuck with after they forget their phones in a cab.
Yes, I know, somebody told me you can get a little adaptor thingy that will attach onto your charger and it fits most phones, but I haven’t seen one yet.
Just think of all the interesting new people you’d meet, with the standard new pick-up line:
“May I borrow your charger?” And you could ask without any fear of rejection, because with a standard one-size-fits-all charger, they won’t be able to say, “Oh dear, I think it’s the wrong size!”
In fact, while we’re on the subject, they ought to standardize ALL chargers, for everything from mobile phones to cameras to computers to toothbrushes. And abolish batteries altogether, because most of them last around three blinks of an eye and then spend the rest of their existence (the one that starts after they stop working and you throw them out with the garbage) polluting groundwater.
Toxic heavy metals including mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, and silver lurk in the batteries we use and then dispose of without a thought. They’re a significant source of heavy metal water contamination, as they leach into the groundwater. Over 80 percent of the mercury in the waste stream comes from discarded batteries. Remember the fish that were dying of mercury poisoning? Well, now you know why.
Incinerating batteries isn’t much better; in fact it’s a major cause of environmental mercury contamination, as toxins are released directly into the atmosphere. Now, take three deep breaths to feel NOT better.
Educating consumers on how to dispose of hazardous toxic waste ought to be the responsibility of the manufacturer, and should appear on the packaging of such products. And governments ought to be looking into alternatives, while ensuring the safe disposal of such waste in the meantime. Never mind that for many years, developing countries took on the world’s hazardous waste; that’s another story.
Meanwhile, you may want to consider switching to rechargeable batteries; the higher cost evens out over the longer use you get out of them. And you’ll be throwing out less dead ones as a result.
For now, let me just offer you a bunch of outdated chargers and dead batteries I’m storing in a bin in the garage, in case you have any ideas on how to recycle them.
— Priya Tuli
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