I met the most conscientious UPS employee today. He tried to read my signature and couldn’t and asked me twice if I was, in fact, Philip Martin. I confirmed his suspicions on both occasions and felt a warm glow caress my heart. Seriously, I was pleased, because a few days ago I embarked on a trip to the post office to mail a picture to my Aunt, swiped my credit card to pay for the charges, and was told by the postal employee that because my total was under $25 I did not have to sign for the purchase. That made me go all cold inside, knowing that anybody could steal my card and pay for postage, or a soda, or a pack of bubblegum without signing. (I wonder why Wal·Mart makes me sign? Is the under-$25 a USPS only sort of thing?)
Anyway, I finally retrieved my small, brown box from the large, brown attired man and sat at my desk gleefully. Well, more pleased, I suppose. Slicing the packing tape carefully with my amber-studded Lithuanian bought switchblade pocket-knife I unpacked my brand new Apple manufactured rechargeable batteries and recharging module. This is a recent hardware release from the computer-phone-media-pureawesomeness company, designed specifically to power their line of bluetooth hardware: the Magic Mouse, the Magic Trackpad, and the keyboard (my dark brooding sense of brooding wonders why my keyboard is not magical…is it conspiracy? like the magical call-dropping iPhone 4? of course not. There is nothing magical about a device that has been around for over 30 years.)
I immediately admired the small, efficient size of the charger. It is barely bigger than (two of) the batteries themselves. The plug, like most of Apple’s wall plugs, is interchangeable, allowing for the easy adaptation to any power point size and configuration in the world (in conjunction with Apple’s World Travel Adaptor kit). This point particularly pleased me as I am a frequent world traveler, and like to keep all my lovely Apple gadgets powered on the go. At first glimpse, the batteries appear industrial. No copper-top, no lightning bolt; actually the battery is entirely silver, with only the word “rechargeable” clearly visible between a giant + and – sign at the appropriate terminals. A closer examination reveals that these are NiMH batteries, and were made in Japan (not China? that’s different). But I like that Apple chose not to waste any frivolities on the design of something you only only rarely see. The charger came with a total of six batteries, two for a mouse, two for a keyboard, and two always charged for quick swapping. (Here, Apple fails me, because I have an older bluetooth keyboard which takes three batteries, not two. I have yet to resolve this dilemma. I might sell my keyboard and buy a newer one, because one charged battery doesn’t do me a whole lot of good when I need two.)
Currently I have two batteries charging, and the other four wait impatiently for their alternating current feeding frenzy. Apple says that these batteries should knock all others out of the park, and I am genuinely curious to see how long they really last on a single charge. I sincerely hope it is longer than my old Energizer rechargeable batteries which died at the first sign of serious use. And by serious use, I mean turning on my camera. All in all, I hope to save money on battery buying and save energy with green batteries.
(They are actually silver, but you get my point.)
a simple man 