I just snuck in another free WSJ article. This time it was apolitical, and, instead, was about how batteries will power the world. While semi-interesting, and full of prophecy, I didn’t find one attempt to overcome the most obvious objection I (and I believe we all) have. That is, the article never addressed the fact that every battery I have ever used has run out.

Do I care whether I am traveling down the road in a battery powered car or a gas powered car? Nope. But I do know that every battery powered item I have ever used has run out of juice. My car—none of the several cars I have owned—have “run out”.

This is not semantics or wordplay. I’m very serious and I want the folks who want me to use batteries to read this and address it/overcome it.

To be clear, I don’t mean that I cannot understand how a charging station can fulfill the same role as a gas station. I mean that I have a laptop that won’t hold a charge. I mean that rechargeable batteries still are discarded.

Batteries run out. Life doesn’t. Why in the world would I want to power the world with a battery?