Nokia Says Fuel Cells Not Ready For Prime Time Just Yet

from the so-much-for-that-plan dept

Thu, Mar 3rd 2005 1:35pm — Mike Masnick

Just months after jumping on the fuel cell bandwagon and claiming the technology was "reasonably mature," it looks like Nokia has seen some more signs of adolescence in the technology. They're holding off on plans to develop fuel cell phones, and don't believe such phones will be available for a few years. Fuel cell still seem quite overhyped. While they will provide much longer battery life, people may not like them for a very simple reason: it takes them back to buying new "fuel" for their devices all the time. Notice how almost all gadgets these days now use rechargeable batteries? People don't like having to constantly buy new batteries and replace the old ones. However, they don't seem to have as much of a problem recharging batteries. With fuel cells, the cells will come in containers that the average person will simply assume are batteries -- and you're back to having to replace batteries instead of recharge them.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

6 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

shooter mcgavin, 3 Mar 2005 @ 2:23pm

?
it was my understanding that fuel cells only need to have the methanol replaced. you recharge/refill using a small container similar to a bic lighter and filled with very dilute methanol. pop the cap, pour a couple drops into the fuel cell and you're set for a few more hours. the little container could presumably be refilled from a jug you buy wholesale at costco which would last your family a few months.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Mike (profile), 3 Mar 2005 @ 2:31pm
  
  Re: ?
  Most of the efforts like that got people worried about people handling/spilling methanol... so then people came up with replaceable "cartridges" filled with methanol, so that no one would ever see the actual methanol. And that... is just like a battery.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
dorpus, 3 Mar 2005 @ 4:58pm

Public Health Hazard
Methanol will make you drunk but will also turn you blind. If some kid drinks their parent's recharging kit and turns blind, Nokia will be faced with bad PR.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2006 @ 2:07am
  
  Re: Public Health Hazard
  That's like saying that Drano will be faced with bad PR if some kid drinks it.
  
  Just put a Mr. Yuck sticker on the thing.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Traveler, 4 Mar 2005 @ 12:24am

Can't take them on planes either
One of the other disadvantages for fuel cells is that methanol can't be taken on a plane. In many cases, the early adopters for these would also be travellers so there's not much of a market there...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 4 Mar 2005 @ 10:35am
  
  Re: Can't take them on planes either
  But if Dorpus adopt this technology & drinks from a methanol filled fuel cell we can all rejoice when he keels over dead ...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]