Is Nokia pondering magnetic ports for some handsets?
By Sean Cooper 
posted Jan 11th 2008 6:59PM
posted Jan 11th 2008 6:59PM
Some Nokia sets feature similar-sized headset and charging jacks and in an effort to help owners quickly tell them apart -- and prevent potential damage to the handset -- Nokia may have decided on a bit of clever gadgetry to save the day. The idea is dead-simple, one port will be positively magnetized, the other negatively, so if you try to plug in your cables to the wrong place they will repel. Safe and simple, we like it, now if they were able to extend it out to some type of MagSafe charger adapter.[Via textually.org]
Make something idiot proof and you will just find a different class of idiot. I mean I'm sorry but how hard is it to tell a 3.5 jack port from a charging port? The pin in the charging port would be a give away if nothing else.
There are a lot of phone with 2.5mm audio ports and the power plugs that come with some Nokia's are also 2.5mm, so yes it can be difficult to tell them apart. The new ones are smaller, but when they are not labeled, you can potentially plug the power in to the wrong one for even just a second and that could damage the phone.
i design power supplies. you will be surprised about how many levels of dumb there are in this world.
Magnetized ports would be a nightmare on cell phones. It's bad enough on my Macbook- if I'm sitting on a couch with the power cord plugged in, it easily comes undone. It would be really irritating to have to deal with my car charger cord disconnecting from my phone half the time I pick it up to take a call...
Put the phone in your pocket next to a credit card and...walla...it no longer works!