BBC · 6分钟 | Wireless furniture for phones

BBC · 6 Minute Englishh

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The future of furniture

Are you tethered to your smartphone? Is it a struggle to keep it charged? The answer may be wireless furniture.

Listen to Rob and Neil discussing battery life, coffee tables, toxic waste and some technology-related vocabulary.

This week's question

What do modern phone batteries contain? Is it...

a) nickel
b) lithium
c) lead-acid

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Vocabulary

• compatible
  things that can be used together

• state-of-the-art
  using the latest technology

• dinosaur
  (here) someone or something that is very old-fashioned and no longer useful or effective

• wireless furniture
  furniture with built-in technology which allows you to charge your phone

• built-in
  part of something, and not separate from it

• wireless technology
  modern equipment and machines that can operate without wires

• I'm not holding my breath
  (informal phrase) don't expect something to happen anytime soon

• functionality
  things that a piece of equipment can do

• think green
  consider the environment

• user-replaceable
  allows the user of a gadget to change the battery

• sealed unit
  something that cannot be opened

• toxic
  poisonous

Transcript

Rob
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Rob...

Neil
...and I'm Neil. Hello.

Rob
Hello, Neil! Now, Neil, could I borrow your phone charger? My phone's just died.

Neil
Er... I don't think my charger is compatible with your phone. Compatible means when you can use things together… I'm afraid there'll be no status updates for you today then Rob.

Rob
Oh dear. I can't believe it's run out of power already.

Neil
Well, you shouldn’t have bought a state-of-the-art phone – it's a big drain on the battery.

Rob
State of the art means something that has the newest ideas and features, like my phone. So I should have stuck with a dinosaur like yours, eh, Neil?

Neil
And dinosaur here means something that is out-dated. You can laugh at my phone, but it's got plenty of battery life left – unlike yours!

Rob
Hmmm... OK, well, I might just pop out and ask if someone's got the same charger…

Neil
Stay where you are. We're recording a programme! And today's show is… you guessed it… all about phones!

Rob
That's right, Neil. And we're also talking about wireless furniture…

Neil
Pardon?

Rob
Yes, furniture with built-in wireless charging technology - like a coffee table. Built in means the technology is included as part of the table. So you just pop your phone on the table, and technology does the rest!

Neil
Magic! And wireless technology is the way mobile phones work using radio waves to send and receive data. So that's what we need - a desk with a built-in charging spot for both our phones! But would it be compatible for both of them?

Rob
Well, that's an excellent question - and I don't have the answer. But can you tell me the answer to this: What do modern phone batteries contain? Is it...

a) nickel

b) lithium

or c) lead-acid

Neil
Well, lead-acid sounds dangerous... so I think it's either nickel or lithium. I'll go with lithium.

Rob
OK, well, we'll find out if you're right or wrong later on. But now let's listen to journalist Daisy Buchanan who thinks that mobile phones have stopped us having conversations. And listen out for a phrase that means 'it's unlikely to happen soon'.

INSERT
Daisy Buchanan, writer for the Telegraph & the Guardian newspapers
I was thinking yesterday how it used to be, you know, you used to sort of go into a café or a pub maybe and look for where the loos are but now the first thing we're looking for is sockets to try and find where you can charge if you... you know, if you're having an emergency... And maybe with this, I might be being naïve - I suspect I am - especially with Ikea's new wireless charging furniture... that maybe if our batteries died a bit more frequently we are going to... you know... look up a bit more and have a few more conversations. I'm not holding my breath, but you can but hope.

Rob
Daisy said some really interesting things there, so let's listen to that clip again.

INSERT
Daisy Buchanan, writer for the Telegraph & the Guardian newspapers
I was thinking yesterday how it used to be, you know, you used to sort of go into a café or a pub maybe and look for where the loos are but now the first thing we're looking for is sockets to try and find where you can charge if you... you know, if you're having an emergency... And maybe with this, I might be being naïve - I suspect I am - especially with Ikea's new wireless charging furniture... that maybe if our batteries died a bit more frequently we are going to... you know... look up a bit more and have a few more conversations. I'm not holding my breath, but you can but hope.

Rob
Did you get it? Another way of saying 'It's unlikely to happen soon' is I'm not holding my breath. Now, Daisy doesn't seem keen on the idea of wireless charging furniture. She thinks our phones are stopping us from having conversations.

Neil
It sounds ridiculous, but it's true, isn't it? We spend far too much time staring at our phones instead of talking to each other.

Rob
Sorry. What's that, Neil? I was just looking at my phone.

Neil
Come on, Rob! Put the phone away.

Rob
OK. Well, that's because phone functionality - that's what a phone can do - is increasing all the time. But let's move on now and think green for a minute. Are there any environmental factors to consider in relation to new mobile phone technology?

Neil
Let's listen to Fevzi Turkalp talking about the latest model of one mobile phone brand - and find out.

INSERT
Fevzi Turkalp, editor of tech advice website GadgetDetective.com
They've taken the decision to make it a sealed unit so no user-replaceable battery... And I guess... you're more likely then to say you know what I won't replace the battery I'll just get a new phone.

Rob
So Fevzi says this new phone doesn't have a user-replaceable battery, meaning you can't take it out and replace it - and this is a problem for the environment.

Neil
That's right - environmentalists want products that are designed to be taken apart. Then they can be easily upgraded, repaired or recycled. But you can't do this with a sealed unit - a unit that cannot be opened.

Rob
And this means toxic - or poisonous - materials are often dumped in landfill. And you guessed it – that's really bad for the environment. Now, remember at the beginning of the programme I asked you: What do modern phone batteries contain?

Neil
And I said lithium...

Rob
And you know your batteries well because that's the right answer!

Neil
Wow. What a great guess! Now Rob, how about those words again?

Rob
OK, the words we heard today were:

compatible

state of the art

dinosaur

wireless furniture

built in

wireless technology

I'm not holding my breath

functionality

think green

user-replaceable

sealed unit

toxic

Neil
Well, that brings us to the end of today's 6 Minute English. We hope you're feeling charged up by today's programme. Please join us again soon.

Both
Bye.