Ok, going on a trip. Time to pack up the gadgets... Cell phone. (charger). Laptop. (charger). EBook reader (charger). Camera. (Charger). iPod.
What's going here? If you take a look at all the battery charging accessories your consumer electronic devices require, they probably take up as much space/weight as the devices themselves, yet they all perform the exact same function: converting AC current to DC. Why do we need all these things? Can't we just have one that works with everything? If we can standardize on one wall socket type, why not on one AC/DC converter type? Well, the problem seems to be (boringly) hard. Different devices have different power needs. DC is not an efficient way of moving energy. But these problems can be solved.
Of course, none of this is really much of an issue until you need to take a trip. Then your bag is jammed full of these little buggers. They are typically heavy, and poorly designed. They don't fold up, and they don't stack. But an added feature of many wall warts is that the consume power even when they don't necessarily need to. What?! It turns out that manufacturers go with the lowest possible cost adapters they can get. Those adapters are not designed with energy efficiency in mind. This is a big problem, and the EPA has taken notice and created an ENERGY STAR certification program.
So what are some answers? There are alot of good ideas out there: A new DC power standard for the home and office. A standard connector with a physical energy descriptor that could be read by a universal DC power provider. Apple's magnetic connector is great, and they do a good job of making the wall warts egronomic and easy to pack.
Getting back to my backpack, why doesn't the iPod need a charger? All I need is that firewire cable and I hook into my mac and it charges through the data cable. Clever. Why can't my other units do that? They all have data cables...
I think the problem can be taken in steps. The first step, as Brad Templeton suggests, is that for devices that connect to computers via USB, use that juice. Please. Even if it takes longer to charge, I'd prefer that over a dead device. The second step is connector and power standardization. A manufacturer has no incentive to do this, at least not in an open way. Perhaps the EPA can come up with something. Other countries (Chinese and South Korea) have implemented similiar standards. Such a standard would be good for consumers (less wasted power, fewer devices) and good for manufacturers (less to build, less to ship). Once a standard connector and voltage standard is in place, airports, resturants, cafes, hotels, and the like could provide power as additional convienence for customers.
Or, I could just get an iPhone and be done with it.
