<p>When news leaked out this week that Apple was experimenting with a new way of charging its anticipated iWatch possibly using kinetic movement, magnetic induction or solar power it should have been an "a-ha" moment for innovators everywhere. We've been so accustomed to thinking in terms of "battery life" and plugging cords into electrical wall sockets that we never ask the obvious question: Why isn't there more innovation when it comes to powering our digital devices?</p><p>At a time when the pace of innovation in the technology world seems to be increasing at an exponential rate, it seems that there should be a similar pace of exponential innovation for batteries. In short, there should be a Moore's Law for batteries, in which the power capacity of batteries doubles every 18 months or so.</p><p>By now, batteries should have been shrunk down to such an infinitesimally small size that they shouldn't even be a consideration in the way we buy digital devices. We should have a surplus of power for our digital devices. Yet, the "battery life" spec continues to be one that appears in just about any head-to-head comparison of digital devices. And, say scientists, the unique chemistry and physics of the battery means that we probably won't be seeing any Moore's Law-type breakthroughs any time soon. You simply can't shrink things much smaller than they already are.</p><p>As a result, most of the incremental innovations intended to extend battery life like the Mophie JuicePack or the Duracell Powermat will continue to seem more like short-term patches rather than long-term solutions. They will keep your batteries going for just a little longer, but never really get at the heart of the problem: society's reliance on the humble lithium-ion battery to power technological progress.</p><p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/02/06/this-is-why-your-smartphone-battery-has-the-life-span-of-a-fruit-fly/">Keep reading...</a></p>