The Last Word on Battery Longevity in Gadgets   By Erik Sofge
iphone charging  Your charging habits need to change. There's
more life in those batteries than you think. (Photo by
Flickr/jzx100.com)  September 1, 2010 11:42 AM Text Size: A . A
. A The proof, to me, was irrefutable. I had bought a new iPod
within weeks of my coworker: the same generation player, running
on the same lithium-ion (li-ion) cobalt oxide battery. She
plugged it into her computer every day to get to her music. That
seemed like an astonishing mistake—obviously, her iPod's battery
would suffer, since it would cycle every day, multiple times
during each 8, 10 or 12-hour workday. My player, which I ran
down completely before each charge, would burn less cycles, and
retain more power in the long run.  A year later, her iPod could
barely squeak through a subway ride from Brooklyn to Midtown
Manhattan. Mine lasted twice as long with equivalent settings.
Soon I was spreading the gospel, advising everyone with a li-
ion-powered gadget to follow