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Dear RIM,
So let's talk about batteries, the source of sustenance for our beloved phones. Unlike the imprecise and subjective science of figuring out how long a human can survive without food (how much did they eat last? what was it? are they fat? can the body really eat its own fat in dire circumstances? do they keep kosher?), it is much easier to predict how much time there is left until our battery dies.
This is why we have a battery bar, because software developers are aware that the life of our battery is something they can tell us. But here is my question: who, upon seeing one and a half bars left on their battery (or one millimeter of yellow goo for those of us that use those unfortunate themes) thinks, "Ah ha! I have just enough time to dash home between finance class and my ballet lesson to grab my charger"? What I usually think is, "hm, maybe this will last until after ballet, but maybe not."
Instead, it would be nice to know how much TIME we have left. That is, a battery life indicator expressed in units of time. For example (04:45), would mean you have 4 hours and 45 minutes before you are disconnected from the world.
We all know this is possible. If you press alt+shift+h, you can know what percent of your battery you have left, and RIM should multiply that number by the amount of time it takes to deplete a battery at the rate it is being used. Yes, battery life changes based on your intensity of use or the applications you have running, but the effect of use is measurable. None of this is groundbreaking; Apple figured it out years ago, when the BlackBerry still had a trackwheel on the right side.
RIM: please let us know how much battery we have left in units that make sense. I have heard that some third-party themes provide this luxury, but many of your customers (important businessmen and spoiled kids with short attention spans) don't want to spend hours searching for it online. Especially if they can't find it in the end--like me. And you can even make it an option to cater to those of us who are afraid of the harsh reality.
Sincerely,
Tara Raffi
Reality Enthusiast
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