I was browsing the web the other day when I came across a graphic of 'Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs', you know the one that moves from 'Physiological Needs' such as food, water, rest and moves up to 'Self Actuation'; when everything else is in place we can concentrate on the creative side of life.
There are several iterations of this graphic online; perhaps one of most relevant to a lot of us is the version that adds Wi-Fi to the basic need, even before food and water. From experience, if I asked my kids if they want something to eat or would they rather spend another 10 minutes on YouTube, I know the answer, so this does seem to hold some truth!
As I pondered this, I found another iteration - 'Battery' has been added below 'Wi-Fi' as a more basic need. This addition is of course brilliant, without power, all bets are off. Who cares about how fast the Wi-Fi is or if there is an LTE or 3G connection, if the device is dead, it doesn’t matter.
Of course, just adding 'Battery' to the diagram is very much over simplifying the problem. When it comes to extending the power of a device, there are really two sides to the equation. You can simply add a bigger battery (or make use of some of new initiatives in energy harvesting) or you can look at reducing the power consumption of your device. With something as complex as a mobile phone, there are a host of settings that can be adjusted to extend the life of the device. For example, turn down the screen brightness, turn off location services, turn off automatic updates, turn off Bluetooth, get rid of that live wallpaper and turn off automatic polling on social media.
So before you rush out and buy that extra battery pack, have a think. Can you save the cash and maybe save some power for free.