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Power unites: New Yorkers come together, charge together

Jeff John Roberts — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:01:51 +0000

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the teeming streets of lower Manhattan have become an eerie, empty wasteland. Amidst the cold and the dark, the most pressing need is not for food or water — but for power to charge phones and laptops.

Fortunately, New Yorkers are looking out for each other as they always do. Outside bars and bodegas, merchants with generators are sharing them with residents who need to charge up and contact the outside world. This was the scene near Avenue A in the East Village where Percy’s Tavern set up tables with dozens of power outlets to use free of charge:

Similar scenes played out in front of hairdressers and coffee shops around the blacked out part of the city. Strangely, for this week at least, the cell phone habits of many New Yorkers resemble those of rural Africans who regularly pay small sums to charge their mobile devices from a generator.

The situation in Manhattan also highlights how, in a crisis, the city’s post-industrial economy still ultimately depends on very industrial fuels like diesel. (To see how we might one day progress beyond this, see the excellent reporting by Katie Fehrenbacher earlier this week.)

Finally, this scene on 2nd Avenue shows that water is also an issue for some New Yorkers in the black out zone:

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One Device to Charge Them All — Chargepod

James Kendrick — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:30:58 +0000

My gear kit for trips changes from time to time save for one area that seems to always stay the same — power adapters. My kit always has a mobile power strip, adapter for a laptop, adapters for at least one phone, a MiFi; well you get the picture. The power adapter situation has called for me to carry a cable stash on all trips containing all of those adapters, plus the power strip to plug them all in. I don’t know how I missed the Chargepod, but it does look like it could replace the entire kit and caboodle.

How do you describe the Chargepod? Well, it looks like a futuristic hub of sorts, with jacks all over the place. A closer look points out all that can be done with it. The Chargepod will power and charge a laptop along with 3 mobile devices like phones, or that MiFi I mentioned. It does all of that while also providing a 3-jack USB hub, and it does it all in a mobile package not bigger than many of the phones it can charge. It fits my mobile philosophy that the less you bring on trips, the easier time you have.

The Chargepod is not cheap at about $200, but if you add up the cost of the multiple adapters it can replace that’s not so bad. It should be noted that the system uses universal adapters for mobile devices to be used, so your gear must be supported. Most phones (and that MiFi) use either micro-USB or mini-USB adapters so they would all work for the most part. Unfortunately, each adapter costs extra, so while they have adapters to fit over 3,000 different devices, it can get expensive. Some folks believe that convenience is worth paying for, so if that’s you have a look. It’s a pretty slick system, but I have not used one myself. They do have smaller battery-powered chargers that work with one or two phones, if less is more for your particular case. I’d love to hear from anyone using the Chargepod, especially what you think of it. Leave a comment and share your experience.

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14 Million Nokia Chargers Recalled — Shock Hazard

James Kendrick — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:05:39 +0000

There are product recalls and there are major product recalls, and this one by Nokia is in the latter category as the company admits 14 million products are affected. The chargers affected are AC -3U, AC-3E and AC-4U. According to Nokia:

Nokia has announced an exchange program for a limited number of Nokia-branded chargers manufactured by a third-party supplier. We have determined that the plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger’s internal components and potentially posing an electric shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket.

If you purchased your 3U or 3E before June 2009, or your 4U before April 2009, then your charger is not subject to the recall.

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