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0 pointsTeMPOraL6y ago0 comments

Reminds me of a certain very well known startup in beacon space. I visited them some 6 years ago, back when they were finishing their fist product - a nice-looking battery-powered Bluetooth beacon, completely encased in some kind of silicone. I asked them, well, what's the expected time until battery is completely discharged, and how do I charge it back or replace it? And the answers were, a year or three (depending on use), and you don't, because by the time the beacon dies, you'll want to get a newer, better one anyway.

One of the many reasons I never bought anything from them.

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m-p-36y ago

Are you aware of any beacons like these that can be inductively charged, let's say with a Qi charger?

I get that you want to keep them as small as possible (and disposable so that you buy more..), but the environmental cost behind that is too heavy IMO.

TeMPOraLOP6y ago

No, I'm unfortunately not aware of any, but I stopped paying attention to the field years ago, after it turned out to be almost entirely focused on surveillance capitalism.

But back then, the startup I mentioned had a local competitor too (which initially marketed itself to industrial and medical use, aiming to actually improve something in this world for a change - that's why I liked them, until they too pivoted to helping retail fleece customers). The beacons made by that competitor were designed to be opened, and to have the battery swapped when it died.

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