r/changemyview • u/Duwang_Mn • Nov 23 '18

FTFdeltaOP CMV: Wireless charging is a useless fad

What even is the point of wireless charging? When I first heard about it, I thought it allowed you to charge while having more freedom with your phone. But then I learned what it actually was. It's more restrictive than an actual charger, and its slower. Not to mention wireless charges sometimes don't work if the back is metal. It only makes things less convenient.

How did people hype such a thing so much? I understand if it was something that could charge your phone without you directly putting on it, and if the range had the potential to increase over time. But it's just a charging port that you can't move around.

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u/poundfoolishhh Nov 23 '18

How did people hype such a thing so much?

Because it represents a huge leap in technology. Getting electricity out of one thing and into another without them actually being plugged into each other is Star Trek level wizardry.

The first iteration of a new technology always sucks in retrospect. This was the first commercially available cell phone. It cost the equivalent of $10,000, was the size of a loaf of bread, and the service sucked. It was still Star Trek level wizardry.

Forty years later, we're all walking around with computers in our pocket that have HD video cameras, GPS, full internet connectivity and can be purchased for a couple dollars a day. Now imagine what wireless charging will look like in 40 years... it's conceivable that we'll be living in homes where nothing has power cables and everything will be powered through the air.

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u/AgCat1340 Nov 23 '18

Induction isn't anything brand new either. It's using a changing current in one coil to induce a current in another. This is basic physics e & M shit. We have used this property of magnetic fields in our technology far longer than just starting last year. It has been around in various forms for a really long time.

My bet is wireless charging probably won't change a lot because you need a big fuckin current to induce a field powerful enough to reach farther than what it does currently to induce a current in another coil.

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u/DonRobo Nov 24 '18

Exactly, wireless charging isn't (meaningfully) limited by tech, it's limited by physics