Convenience By Design And Inspiration (Writer's Series Vol. 3)
Convenience. It’s a word we use a lot in life. But what do we mean by it? Many of the things we do nowadays are so much more convenient than they were a generation ago. From everyday household chores such as the laundry and cooking right through to the way we communicate with others. Innovation has brought us new ways to do all of these things.
Take the journey of communication over the last hundred years or so. It started with sending letters. Mail services started across the planet. But it still took days, weeks and even months to get a message from one person to another, depending on the distances involved. The telegram moved this forward, but with major restrictions still in place. You paid by the letter, so the messages were short and could still take some time to deliver. The invention of the telephone changed things. Fast-forward through the decades and other inventions and the cell phone was a major step forward. The smartphone followed and we could now read messages and emails wherever we were on the planet, depending on charge and connectivity. One of the major annoyances of the mobile phone has always been the amount of charge they have. Some last for very little time at all. It’s no coincidence that with every new version of a phone, we’re told that it has even longer battery life.
Well, wireless charging is a massive step in the right direction here. But before we look this, let’s examine deeper the trend towards convenience and how it inspires design.
The World Is Changing
There is no doubt at all that the world is changing at a faster rate than it ever has before. We’re seeing new inventions, new innovation and new ideas in our world every day. As consumers, we demand more convenience all the time. It feels like the everyday pressures of life take time away from us. We don’t want to spend hours making food, cleaning up and reading information. So, we’ve developed the microwave oven, robot vacuum cleaners and online newspapers. The world is becoming more and more convenient all the time.
Healthcare And Convenience
Gone are the days when we need to visit the doctor for every ailment. Online consultations via Skype or FaceTime have increasingly become the norm for patients. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine a set of tracking devices, monitoring the oxygen level and heart rate of people who are suffering with heart disease. Rather than have every single one of them come in for a check-up every week or so, the doctors can monitor their health remotely and focus their attention on those that need the extra help. This is convenient for the patient and convenient for the healthcare providers. Now imagine the difference this can make when there are global pandemics such as coronavirus COVID-19 affecting the world. The last thing a vulnerable patient wants to do is put themselves at further risk by visiting a healthcare center. The convenience of this innovation can save lives in addition to putting minds at rest.
Convenience Of Creativity
The best tools used to lie only in the hands of those who were best placed to use them. But creativity is in the mind and heart of every person on the planet. Rather than have to pay out for a professional to build you a website or design your next business card, there are a multitude of programs that can be accessed online to help your creative brain deliver the result you desire.
The world has gotten much easier in this respect. Look at self-publishing as an example. Have an idea for a book? You no longer have to pitch your idea to publishing house after publishing house, hoping that one of them sees the same vision you have for your idea.
Publish the book and then go out there and find the audience yourself. They will be out there. All you need to do is look in the right places. This brings a convenient way of getting your creativity out there to the public. But convenience comes in many shapes and forms.
Wireless Charging
We’ve looked briefly at the journey of how we communicate with the world. But none of that happens in the modern day without access to 2 things –
- Connectivity
- Power
And it is the second of these that we’re mainly concerned with. If you have access to power, then you can share your creativity with the world. And send messages, emails, etc. We said earlier in the article that current smartphones are striving to improve battery power. But the sheer number of applications that you can use a smartphone for means that the pressure on battery life is greater than ever before.
Looking for a charging cable (they are so brittle now, aren’t they) and being tethered to the plug socket on the wall, makes charging a mobile phone a stressful task at times.
That’s where wireless charging takes things to a new level. Inductive charging solutions means that all you need to do is place your phone on the charging mat and it will start topping up the power. The convenience of this solution makes it attractive to everyone who has struggled with mobile phone charging in the past. It works by passing a charge from magnetic coils in the charging device to magnetic coils in the receiving device.
We’re always looking to more convenient ways of living our life. Wireless charging has applications across multiple industries, such as automobiles, kitchen appliances, tools and more. But it is mobile phone manufacturers that have led the way on this.