Batteries and chargers and cordless tools: What a bunch of nonsense!

Batteries and chargers and cordless tools:

What a bunch of nonsense!

You buy a Makita or Milwaukee - should be top of the line and I guess they are whatever passes for "top" these days -DeWalt was pretty good a few years ago but somebody in marketing probably figured out that you really do not want to build a durable tool (most sales are gifts to folks who imagine they might someday need a drill or a saw).

I use these tools every day.

Over the years I have purchased and used all name brand tools and I have a bin full of drills and dead batteries. Lately all manufactures seem to favour the 18 volt Lithium.

'Course Milwaukee won't fit Makita and vice versa. No charger or battery you owned then is any use today.

I saw this coming early on and asked the people I work with to "standardize" - buy all the same tools - Makita  would be my choice and at that point I had the 24v NiMh drill and saw combo. Both drill and saw are fine but the batteries cost more than a new 18v lithium combo.

"we will give you the tool -you will buy the batteries"

The ubiquitous cell phone or ipad system is probably an even greater disaster because more consumers contribute. The world wide "Talk and toss"  or "free blackberry with each purchase" has few tangible results beyond the mountain of high tech trash produced.

An old Motorola charger will not even charge a newer motorola phone let alone any other make. Somewhere I read that the European Union was threatening to legislate compatablity of all cellular battery/charger combinations.

Let us take that idea further:

All portable power should be standardized.

one well engineered/well manufactured battery!

One charger

World wide

Ken LeDuc