By Ian Bogost

Lithium-ion batteries are miraculous. They’re strong enough to run a vehicle, and they can be recharged at any outlet. Their commercial debut, in 1991, and popularization over the next two decades, has helped create a golden age of high-end consumer tech: We now have plenty of e-bikes and electric cars, and also phones, smartwatches, computer mice, and earbuds that can last for a day or more on a single charge. The spread of these batteries has produced a global race for mineral dominance. Lithium power is the future.

But that future may not be desirable, at least not in every circumstance and application. Lithium-ion batteries are being used in lots of modest gadgets in which they don’t belong, such as flashlights and TV remotes. There is a class of gadgets that you should never have to charge—ones that tend to be needed right away, at specific moments. A flashlight, for example, serves its most essential purpose during a blackout, when juicing up its battery would be impossible. Yet some flashlights are now designed with batteries that cannot simply be swapped out—as if having lithium-ion cells somehow made them better instead of worse.

Lithium-ion batteries are miraculous. They’re strong enough to run a vehicle, and they can be recharged at any outlet. Their commercial debut, in 1991, and popularization over the next two decades, has helped create a golden age of high-end consumer tech: We now have plenty of e-bikes and electric cars, and also phones, smartwatches, computer mice, and earbuds that can last for a day or more on a single charge. The spread of these batteries has produced a global race for mineral dominance. Lithium power is the future.

But that future may not be desirable, at least not in every circumstance and application. Lithium-ion batteries are being used in lots of modest gadgets in which they don’t belong, such as flashlights and TV remotes. There is a class of gadgets that you should never have to charge—ones that tend to be needed right away, at specific moments. A flashlight, for example, serves its most essential purpose during a blackout, when juicing up its battery would be impossible. Yet some flashlights are now designed with batteries that cannot simply be swapped out—as if having lithium-ion cells somehow made them better instead of worse.

Lithium-ion batteries are miraculous. They’re strong enough to run a vehicle, and they can be recharged at any outlet. Their commercial debut, in 1991, and popularization over the next two decades, has helped create a golden age of high-end consumer tech: We now have plenty of e-bikes and electric cars, and also phones, smartwatches, computer mice, and earbuds that can last for a day or more on a single charge. The spread of these batteries has produced a global race for mineral dominance. Lithium power is the future.

But that future may not be desirable, at least not in every circumstance and application. Lithium-ion batteries are being used in lots of modest gadgets in which they don’t belong, such as flashlights and TV remotes. There is a class of gadgets that you should never have to charge—ones that tend to be needed right away, at specific moments. A flashlight, for example, serves its most essential purpose during a blackout, when juicing up its battery would be impossible. Yet some flashlights are now designed with batteries that cannot simply be swapped out—as if having lithium-ion cells somehow made them better instead of worse.Lithium-ion batteries are miraculous. They’re strong enough to run a vehicle, and they can be recharged at any outlet. Their commercial debut, in 1991, and popularization over the next two decades, has helped create a golden age of high-end consumer tech: We now have plenty of e-bikes and electric cars, and also phones, smartwatches, computer mice, and earbuds that can last for a day or more on a single charge. The spread of these batteries has produced a global race for mineral dominance. Lithium power is the future.

But that future may not be desirable, at least not in every circumstance and application. Lithium-ion batteries are being used in lots of modest gadgets in which they don’t belong, such as flashlights and TV remotes. There is a class of gadgets that you should never have to charge—ones that tend to be needed right away, at specific moments. A flashlight, for example, serves its most essential purpose during a blackout, when juicing up its battery would be impossible. Yet some flashlights are now designed with batteries that cannot simply be swapped out—as if having lithium-ion cells somehow made them better instead of worse.

Lithium-ion batteries are miraculous. They’re strong enough to run a vehicle, and they can be recharged at any outlet. Their commercial debut, in 1991, and popularization over the next two decades, has helped create a golden age of high-end consumer tech: We now have plenty of e-bikes and electric cars, and also phones, smartwatches, computer mice, and earbuds that can last for a day or more on a single charge. The spread of these batteries has produced a global race for mineral dominance. Lithium power is the future.

But that future may not be desirable, at least not in every circumstance and application. Lithium-ion batteries are being used in lots of modest gadgets in which they don’t belong, such as flashlights and TV remotes. There is a class of gadgets that you should never have to charge—ones that tend to be needed right away, at specific moments. A flashlight, for example, serves its most essential purpose during a blackout, when juicing up its battery would be impossible. Yet some flashlights are now designed with batteries that cannot simply be swapped out—as if having lithium-ion cells somehow made them better instead of worse.