Category: Obsolescence

Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Light underpin the digital world of tomorrow…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Batteries, Change, Education, Information Technology, Learning, Obsolescence, Science & Engineering, Smart & New Technology, Technology, Transformation

A trip to the supermarket provided a reminder that without physics, chemistry, and mathematics none of our modern tech, internet, and online services would exist. Hardly a revelation, but what triggered this heightened awareness? Well, just the simple act of taking a small bag of spent disposable batteries to a recycling bin in the supermarket’s checkout area. The bin was full to overflowing with used disposable batteries from toys, clocks, TV remotes, cordless computer keyboards, wireless mice, and a myriad of other sources that use replaceable batteries as a power source. The act of depositing his spent batteries reminded the Badger that each one is actually a little capsule of physics, chemistry, and mathematics, and that our digital world depends on these subjects and batteries of one form or another.

On returning home, the Badger reflected on the science, materials, manufacturing, and recycling of these disposable batteries and whether they’ll ultimately be made redundant by newer power source innovations in the decades ahead. After all, the Titanium Citizen Eco-Drive watch on the Badger’s wrist uses solar and artificial light for power rather than replaceable batteries. It’s a technology that dates back to the mid-1970s, so it’s not new. Furthermore, the 1980s pocket calculator sitting on the Badger’s desk is also solar powered with no replaceable batteries. It’s a memento from a major 1980’s software development project and it works just as well today as it did back then! The Badger thus found himself wondering why power derived from light sources hasn’t rendered the disposable battery redundant in the last 40 years. Well, to make a functionally reliable, manufacturable, commercially viable product that has physics, chemistry, and mathematics at its core takes years of research to come to fruition. The good news is that it looks like lengthy research is bearing fruit and we may soon see a revolution that makes natural and artificial light the power source for a wide range of our devices, see here and here.

We should not be surprised that the coming years are likely to see a significant change in how our in-home devices, smart tech, and personal computing devices are powered. The use of replaceable batteries looks destined to decline. There’ll ultimately be no more charging cables, and no more trips to the supermarket to recycle spent batteries! Things, of course, are never that clear cut, but if light photons hitting panels on a home’s roof can generate electricity for household use, then it’s inevitably just a matter of time before light will power our gadgets and render disposable batteries redundant.

Fundamentally, power sources – and everything else in our modern digital world – are determined by physics, chemistry, mathematics and years of research. We should never shy away from being educated in these subjects because they – and light – are the seeds that will determine whatever we want the digital world of the future to be…

Fixing dud pixels on a Smart Meter’s in-home display unit…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Digital Transformation, Energy and Energy Markets, Information Technology, Obsolescence, Smart Meters

The in-home display unit for the Badger’s energy Smart Meter sits unobtrusively on a shelf where it has reliable wireless connectivity to the meter itself. The unit rarely gets looked at. It doesn’t influence energy use and it should really be switched off and consigned to a cupboard. The reason it gets little attention is because the Badger’s always been a thrifty, sensible, and environmentally conscious energy user. A Smart Meter with its display unit hasn’t changed what was already an embedded discipline.

In recent months, the Badger’s noticed an increasing number of dud pixels appearing on  the in-home display screen. This reminded him of two things, firstly that component, communication, and software obsolescence is as much a factor for Smart Meters and their in-home display unit as it is for any smart device, and secondly that the UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) raised concerns in October last year about built-in obsolescence in meters already installed. Apparently, out of 32.4 million meters installed by March 2023, 3 million (9%) were not working properly, and ~7 million (21%) will need replacement because 2G and 3G communication networks are being switched off by 2033. Consumers can expect to bear the associated costs in due course. The PAC also highlighted what has been long evident, namely that the UK rollout programme has failed to meet its original targets, repeatedly shifted completion deadlines, has no plan beyond 2025, and has failed to convince the public of the benefit.

The vision for the Smart Meter programme started taking shape way back in 2008 but published rollout statistics (here) make it difficult for the organisations involved to claim it’s a success. Programmes like this are, of course, always difficult, and so to test if the Badger’s objectivity has become distorted, Microsoft’s Copilot was asked ‘Is the UK Smart Meter Programme a success?’  The first line of its answer, ‘The verdict on the UK Smart Meter programme is somewhat mixed’ reassured the Badger that his objectivity is not overly distorted. The last line of Copilot’s response, ‘Whether it’s a complete success remains a matter of perspective’, represents ‘maybe, maybe not’ which is hardly an endorsement for a programme running for the best part of 15 years.

From the consumer’s perspective, this programme is clearly not a success. In fact, the way consumers have been treated throughout borders on the scandalous. With the UK Post Office scandal high in public consciousness, journalists are associating Smart Meters with the word ‘scandal’ more often. This item, a compelling 3-minute read, is a case in point. But let’s get back to the dud pixels on the Badger’s in-home display unit. This week the issue was fixed – by switching the unit off and consigning it to the back of a cupboard! If only that could happen with the Smart Meter programme itself…

Electricity – Domestic self-sufficiency…

Posted on by The Information Badger in Energy and Energy Markets, Obsolescence, Risk, Smart Meters

When there’s international turmoil, it’s the average person and their families that are impacted the most. This hit home last week while chatting to the Badger’s aunt after the funeral of his uncle, Jim, her husband. ‘To save electricity, we haven’t watched much television in the last few years’, she said. ‘Jim has also told our electricity supplier,’ she continued, ‘that we’d only have a Smart Meter if they put the daily standing charge down to its 2017 level’. Jim, always a plain speaker, had little time for politicians and the energy industry, and he was perpetually exercised that the daily standing charge on his electricity bill had risen from 15p in 2017 to 48p today. He hated the standing charge. He believed it was a way his supplier penalised him for diligently reducing the amount of actual electricity he’d used over the years in order to keep within his pension budget.

Jim saw the daily electricity standing charge rise by 200% between 2017 and 2023. He was outraged that he must pay this even if he used no electricity. Explanations from politicians, regulators, and energy suppliers justifying rises were ignored because he didn’t trust them! In today’s world of instant information, disinformation, misinformation, and vested interests, perhaps that’s not a surprise, especially amongst the elderly, vulnerable, and those struggling to make ends meet. Jim didn’t want a Smart Meter because he already closely managed his electricity use. He didn’t see what benefit it provided and so he didn’t see why he should be paying through his bills for the rollout programme, especially when it provided little real benefit for consumers. (The rollout continues to struggle – see here and here – and further delay and cost look inevitable).

The Badger’s aunt asked if Jim was right not to have a Smart Meter. Before the Badger could reply, she answered her own question with ‘Yes’. She then asked, ‘Can I avoid the electricity standing charge by completely disconnecting from the grid?’ The Badger nodded. ‘When I was a girl,’ she continued, ’we used a wood-fired range for heating and cooking. The wood came from trees in the local area. It was stored until it was good to burn, and we used candles and paraffin lamps for light. I miss those days because things were simpler. We were self-sufficient and had no reliance on massive companies for our basic needs’.

Jim would’ve been very happy today if he didn’t have to pay £175/year in standing charges because all his domestic electricity was produced from renewable sources at his home. With international turmoil and volatility in energy supply a norm, the day that domestic consumers routinely vote with their feet and isolate from the electricity grid in favour of self-sufficiently is getting nearer. Jim, RIP, will be grinning at the thought…

From slide rule to calculator app to…ChatGPT?

Posted on by The Information Badger in AI & Robotics, Change, Digital Transformation, Obsolescence, Science & Engineering, Software, Technology

On a shelf in the Badger’s home office is a pristine British Thornton slide rule in its original case. It hasn’t been used in years. In fact, it’s hardly been used since the Badger bought it during his first week as a university student because it was a recommended tool for his subject. Various friends have poked fun at it over the years, jauntily calling it – and the Badger – a relic rendered obsolete by first electronic calculators, and latterly apps on smartphones. Nevertheless, a friend recently gifted the Badger a vintage slide rule instruction pamphlet to ‘complement this Museum piece’! The gift was accepted graciously. It heightened awareness not only that anyone born since the 1970s will never have used a slide rule, but also that the student Badger had actually hastened this tool’s demise by buying a pocket electronic calculator as soon as they became widely available and affordable.

The slide rule’s 300-year reign as a personal calculating tool ended abruptly in the mid-1970s. By the time the Badger had completed his degree, every student on his course had bought a Sinclair Cambridge, Sinclair Scientific, or Texas Instruments electronic calculator. When youngsters josh about the slide rule on his shelf, the Badger reminds them that Buzz Aldrin used one during the Apollo 11 moon mission, and scientists and engineers used them when designing, building, and manufacturing the first computers. They are often amazed, but always respond by highlighting the virtues of the calculator app on their smartphone.

Reading the vintage slide rule pamphlet reminded the Badger that his purchase of an electronic calculator as an undergraduate was an early part of the microelectronics revolution that’s changed every aspect of life since. Reflecting today, it seems amazing that personal calculating devices have morphed from a tactile, non-electronic slide rule into a calculator app on a smartphone reliant on microelectronics to function. Of course, what’s happened to personal calculation devices is merely a specific example of the massive impact that rapid technological advance has on our lives.

Today the Badger’s slide rule is a decorative bygone. His most recent electronic pocket calculator is also infrequently used and languishes in the desk draw because the calculator app on his smartphone has become his default pocket calculator. But even use of this app is waning! Why? Because just speaking to Google or Alexa does straightforward maths. The days of needing a calculator app thus seem numbered, especially if AI like ChatGPT ultimately has the impact that Microsoft anticipates. So, here’s a thought to end with. While the Badger’s slide rule will always be an antique talking point sitting on someone’s shelf, an obsolete calculator app will just disappear into the ether and have no decorative value whatsoever. Hmm, perhaps the Badger needs to stop reading the instruction pamphlet and drink less coffee…

Obsolescence; from ink cartridges to Smart Meters

Posted on by The Information Badger in Obsolescence, Smart Meters, Technology

Bah, humbug! Having to buy new ink cartridges for the Badger’s printer always rankles. New ones are expensive, cheaper repurposed ones often prove to be of variable quality and using ink refilling kits has rarely been successful. It rankles that a set of black and colour cartridges now cost 60% of the price for the printer in the first place! Ink cartridge pricing is, of course, part of how printer companies maximise their revenues from selling their printers, but that’s no comfort for the consumer who feels fleeced when the ink runs out.  

This grumpiness was caused by printing an article on obsolescence in the tech industry for a friend. The ink ran out halfway through with no replacement cartridges to hand. Given the advances in technology since ink cartridges became commonplace in the 1980s, surely, the Badger mused, ink cartridges should now be obsolete? Surely printers can be designed and built with ink reservoirs that users can fill cleanly from ink bottles? Surely that would be a cheaper, user-friendly, and environment-friendly approach? The printer companies, of course, prefer to preserve the current ‘obsolete’ status quo because it provides a predictable and profitable long term revenue stream.

Anyway, this little incident made the Badger read the part-printed document which highlighted that obsolescence, planned or otherwise, pervades our daily lives. The tech advances of the last forty years have shortened the lifespan of the gadgets, equipment,  and systems we use daily with many companies making huge amounts of money from this fact. Just look at the evolution of the smartphone over the last fifteen or so years. Whenever you bought one, a better one came along within months of your purchase, and the solution to accidental damage or dodgy battery life was a new, better, device rather than repair. Obsolescence was essentially built in.

Technology continues to advance rapidly and so there’s an inevitability that major programmes with tech at their heart will be obsolescent by the time they deliver. The UK’s slothful Smart Meter rollout programme neatly illustrates the point.  As the Data Communications Company (DCC),  the organisation responsible for ensuring the smart metering infrastructure remains fit-for-purpose, highlights in its plan, assimilating earlier and the latest meters into an infrastructure based on 2G/3G communication is an ongoing challenge when the comms network needs to be upgraded. The programme, initiated over a decade ago, has yet to deliver as originally conceived.

The Badger mentioned these points to his wife as he went out to buy some printer cartridges. She just grinned and said that everything in the world was obsolete; the car, the high street, cash, housing, the railways…and perhaps also her husband!  Apparently, the Badger is turning into a Victor Meldrew for 2023…