WHILE IAM far from the first person to suggest that swappable batteries should become a part of gadget design again, it came to my mind again recently thanks to the launch of Fairphone’s Fairbuds. These are true wireless earbuds (like AirPods), but the user can replace the battery in both the buds and case. They aren’t hot– swappable batteries to provide longer, nearly unbroken listening time —they take a little too much effort for that —but they can be swapped in a matter of minutes.
THE CORE ISSUE IS SUSTAINABILITY. BATTERY CHEMISTRY FAILS. IT’S NOT I F, IT’S WHEN