me: wireless is going to be one of the emerging economic frontiers, I'm excited about its prospects
basti: Yeah, I've seen this inductive power things before.
It will definitely be a luxury, but I am not sure it's such an innovation.
me: it will be a boon in manufacturing, electronics and drive new consumer demand
basti: You still have to make a physical connection - it's just a qualification on what kind of connection that is.
me: yes, there only needs to be one physical connection now as oppose to say, twelve
basti: No, there are still twelve physical connections.
me: how?
basti: Well, compare wireless power to wireless networking.
Wireless networking is much more of an innovation (when it was invented, like, a billion years ago) because it means that whether two devices in a communications network can connect is no longer a function of their locations. There is no need for a physical connection at all. I can put my laptop or cordless phone at any (x,y,z) point in this entire house and still be chatting with you. Inductive power doesn't really work like that. I can't take my laptop out onto the patio and have it powered there. I need to stick it on charging surface. So, while I no longer have to fumble around with cords and the very precise physical action of connecting the male power adapter to my laptop's female AC input, I still have some restrictions on where I can place my laptop if I want it charged.
I'm trading a precise action of "male->female connector" for a less precise action of "place on mat." But I'm still stuck to that mat. Whether I receive power is still a function of the location of my laptop - it's just not nearly as constrained as before. Do you see what I mean?
me: yes
basti: I'm just moving up in the classes of connectors from the simpler "male-female" style to a much more flexible "contact point" style. This can provide a lot of luxury, but it's not terrible groundbreaking.
me: sure, and it will drive innovations in industrial design. That is why I'm optimistic about its economic impacts
basti: Yeah, definitely. But you do realise this is nothing in comparison to what we would see with consumer-grade true wireless power. That would truly be monumental.
The effects might seem kind of minor, but, man, that coupled with cheap energy, and we'd really be living in the future.
me: we will also be dosed with electromagnetic radiation
basti: Yes, but we already are. EM radiation sounds scary, 'cause it has the word radiation in it, but the term radiation in this sense does not mean alpha or gamma decay; it refers to the dispersal mechanism. It "radiates." Sitting in a room with a lightbulb on exposes us to electromagnetic radiation. As does going out in the sun.
However, one is far more damaging than the other, which suggestions that the problem isn't just that it's EM radiation, but that there is some qualifying aspect to it. e.g., UV rays and radicalising, &c. Anyway, I have no idea how consumer-grade wireless power would even work.
me: anyways, wouldn't it give great satisfaction to be working on those technologies that would bring society into the future? Instead of analyzing human's pettiness, endlessly
basti: Is that really what we do?
me: yes, and in doing so we try to free ourselves of this pettiness
basti: Yeah, that's good. Better than some damn boring power engineering crap.
I prefer the analytical path, really. What would you suggest?
me: whichever that makes the more money and gives more spare time
basti: ha, sinecure
me: honestly, something that would be continuously challenging. I imagine the power engineers would be like "Ok, what now?" after they introduce wireless power
basti: Well, it would be a long, long path to just that. Like, I could just as well become a doctor with the intent of curing cancer.
