If I'm so wireless, why am I stumbling over so many cords?

I just read Richard's recent post "Jaiku Looks cool" where he takes a swipe at wireless pricing plans.  I have much more to say on that topic, but I'm not quite ready to hatch that blog.  Maybe next week.

This week my favourite bug is power - and more specifically wires.  A couple of weeks ago our industry partner Bell Canada provided us with some mobile devices and associated service plans.  Last week, Rogers Wireless who is a major sponsor of the Vancouver International Film Festival, has also contributed some devices and services.  On top of that I have my own personal mobile device (the Nokia N91) as well as a couple other mobile phones (that my son and daughter use).  Throw into the mix my bluetooth headset.  And finally, my son and daughter both have iPods.  The end result of all this is an office literally littered with AC power adapters and chargers.  Never mind just the sheer number of outlets I require.  The fact that most of them have this big block at the AC end, means I can rarely put more than a couple on a single 6 outlet power bar.  The underside of my desk looks like a sea of blackened spaghetti in spite of my best efforts to route wires discreetly there.

And then I look in my bathroom and see my daughter's electric toothbrush and go "hmm...".

Now I admit I'm not an electrical engineer; software is my game.  So maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.  But I have a bit of dangerous knowledge about electricity.  The toothbrush uses inductive charging.  No fixed contacts.  Just a few wires in the presence of an electro-magnetic field and VOILA - instant electricity!

So I'm thinking, "Why don't we use induction charging for our mobile devices?"  I'd be thrilled to have a mouse pad type device onto which I would casually throw my plethora of mobile devices - all charged by a single tether to a single AC plug.  So I did a little research (i.e. I googled "induction charging").  Well it turns out there is a company out there trying to sell technology to allow inductive charging of mobile devices.  Specifically a company called "Splashpower".  They have a mousepad size base unit, and a technology that has to be embedded in the device in order to affect inductive charging.

Now again - I'm no electrical engineer.  But this seems like sheer brilliance.  I've got to figure there must be issues here that I don't understand because to me, this looks like the best thing since sliced bread.  Of course mobile device manufacturers would have to sign up to integrate these charging modules on there devices.  Maybe the EMR is too high on the base module.  Maybe the EMR zaps flash memory.  Maybe anything.  But I'd sure be happy to trade in my cornucopia of power blocks for a simple cordless recharging system.