ANDRE BEGIN

Have you ever taken a moment to stop and count the devices you have that are rechargeable or use rechargeable batteries? Go ahead… I’ll wait!

I don’t know if I am above or below average in that regard, but I have 23. Interestingly enough, since I started writing this story, every time I return to the computer to work on this article, I seem to have another device to add to the count. I guess they’ve become so pervasive in our day-to-day lives that we barely notice them anymore.

Rechargeable devices are a huge convenience because you can use them without being tethered to a wall outlet or having cords in the way. But now, the problem is the sheer number of them jockeying for recharging space and time. The next is remembering to charge them before needing to use them.

Every house I have lived in was built before technology created a power struggle for space within our limited number of outlets.

For example, when I was a kid, our living room had four outlets. Our TV was plugged into one outlet. The stereo was plugged into another. On the opposite wall, we plugged a lamp into each of the two remaining outlets. That was it for many years.

In the house I live in today, we still have the TV, the stereo, and the lamps, but we also have additional devices huddled around the television to bring us our programming, as well as the robotic vacuum, the hand vacuum, and the carbon monoxide detector. That doesn’t leave much room for recharging other devices.

This is essentially the case in most rooms in the house. Too many devices, too few outlets.

Some days it feels like an arcade game trying to keep devices alive and ready for use when we need them. No sooner am I removing one device that has reached its full charge than I am plugging another one in.

The challenge is with the devices we only need occasionally. Naturally, the batteries tend to lose their charge when out of use for months at a time. That being the case, their spontaneous use isn’t really in the cards. It’s like I need to book a date and time for their use, and to precede that appointment with a generous charge.

I fear the day I’ll be trimming my beard or buzzing my scalp before going out, only to have the charge give out partway through the task and then going out in the world either looking like I’m trying to set a new trend or that I should be enrolled in a rest home some time soon.

That’s when I start wondering if it wouldn’t be better to go back to the good old days of corded devices and appliances that work when you need them, by simply plugging them in. Keeping a running score of devices that need charging takes up valuable headspace.

I realize that rechargeable devices will be with us for years to come. Perhaps technological improvements could give us batteries that charge faster and that hold their charge longer. That would already go a long way.

I imagine home builders and designers are probably aware of this new reality and are building houses with more outlets to meet our plugging needs. I’ve already seen it in hotel rooms, so why not?

In the meantime, all I can do is do my best to keep the things we use most often charged up and not stress about the ones we don’t use as often. Otherwise, I could see myself depleting my own batteries when trying to keep all these rechargeable devices ready to use and then not having the energy to use them.

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Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André