Survey Says Notebook Users Want Green, Long-Lasting Batteries
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California 
on 09.18.08
Boston-Power's Sonata Battery
I know – fairly unsurprising, right? But still worth a gander at the survey results of a Harris Interactive poll http://www.harrisinteractive.com/. And definitely worth the attention when it comes to manufacturers listening to consumer desire and making needed improvements on batteries.
Basically the survey states that while people want overall better batteries, they’re willing to pay more money for batteries that are better for the environment. A full 36% of notebook owners. That’s a nice big chunk of the market. And that’s not all people are willing to pay more for.
People Will Pay More for Better Batteries
First, a little about the company sponsoring the survey – Boston-Power. This particular company manufactures batteries, and focuses directly on making better, more environmentally friendly batteries. So of course they want the survey to reflect that consumers want exactly this. Let’s get that out of the way off the bat. But that said, working towards better, cleaner batteries is a really good thing. So we still like the survey results. And companies don’t hire third party market research companies to tell them bogus info. Usually.
Besides environmentally friendly batteries, 51% of notebook owners are willing to pay more for a battery with a two year warranty, and 54% say they’re willing to pay more for a battery that recharges more quickly.
Notebook Owners Are (Getting More) Environmentally Minded
Well, sort of. The book news is that 7% of notebook owners use manufacturer-related disposal methods, 6% use recycling centers, 6% exchange their old battery when they purchase a new one, and 5% put the old battery in a bin at a retail outlet.
While these percentages are small, they all beat out the 4% of notebook owners that toss their batteries in the trash.
Add the consumer desire for environmentally friendly products onto this desire to be responsible for a product through its lifetime, and we have a recipe for a beautiful green revolution when it comes to making our electronics last a whole lot longer, which is a very green in and of itself.
Via Press Release
More on Better Green Laptop Batteries:
A 40-Hour Laptop Battery by a (Silicon) Whisker
Want to Do More?
Learn How to Green Your Electronics
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This is Apple's biggest problem. Battery technology improves, power management improves, components get smaller... and what does Apple do?
WIpe out all of the performance gains by making the device (and it's battery) thinner.
I wish they'd get the message that people would like to USE their toys for more than just a few hours at a time...
and here I thought I could get in before the random apple bashing starts... C'est la vie.
It's not just apple! it's everyone! In case you hadn't noticed, almost all electronic devices are getting smaller. The Zune as just about comparable battery life to the iPod. I wouldn't say apple is wiping out this advancement, if anything they're one of the companies taking the biggest advantage of it by pushing the envelope on size vs. power.
And a pony too!
Surveys also show that people want bigger, brighter displays, full-sized keyboards, faster CPUs, more memory, more hard drive space, wifi, and magic mind-reading capabilities.
10 years ago, there was no such thing as a 17 inch laptop. Now, they're flying off the shelves. The fact of the matter is, that as battery technology improves to provide more watt-hours in smaller and lighter packages, customer desires increase to fill the void. As such, while there *are* laptops with 8 hour batteries in them, (http://www.cnet.com.au/laptops/laptops/0,239035649,240090803,00.htm) the public apparently doesn't know about them, likely because they're not shiny enough. Shiny sells. Numbers don't.
@ Andrew: It's just a pet peeve of mine, as I own a Mac and an iPhone, and have owned various Powerbooks and iPods over the years.
Just once I'd like to hear Steve say, "And the new MacBook Air is only 2mm thicker than the previous version... but for that, you get not 4, not 5, not 6, but full 8 hours of battery life!"
thanks.
Consumers are morons.
They will buy the cheapest shiniest crap that is shoved in their faces.
I used to try to explain to people the downfalls of their electronics and how they should buy to future proof and get a better deal. What they did every time is buy shitty mainstream things like acer laptops and apple mp3 players.
@aluminum: Moron is a little strong I think. Perhaps ill-informed, ignorant or lazy is a better fit. Most people want the latest trend rather than researching what the best value is. That's doesn't make them morons (and it doesn't not make them morons either).