Some billionaires who have made fortunes with technology are building shelters to survive a possible collapse of civilization. It is likely that these bunkers will never be used and are the result of the eccentricity that sometimes prevails among the elites.
But what is clear is that there is an increasing abundance of technologies designed for a world in crisis. Perhaps not so much for a devastated world like that of The Walking Dead, the series that triggered the arrival of apocalyptic fictions, but one with fewer resources and consumer goods than the current one.
Just look at the interest in things like the new iPhones having a satellite emergency mode. A technology that has been operational for a few weeks also in Spain. This mode allows us to send our location to an emergency service by SMS in areas where there is no coverage, either because they are isolated or because there has been some type of disaster and the telephone network is not operational.
If there is something that we associate with catastrophes, it is generator sets. Thanks to them, energy can be available when the electrical network fails. The problem with these power generators is that they need fuel to operate, and we may not have it at all times. Plus, they are very noisy.
That is why the availability of all types of batteries is increasingly increasing. Some designed precisely to replace a generating set. There are some with enough capacity and power to even keep some appliances working. But the most interesting thing is that we can charge them with portable solar panels.
The rise of Ecoflow, a Chinese company specialized in high-power batteries for home use, is good proof of how the consumption of this type of device is growing. These batteries, more expensive than many generators, are especially useful in areas with power outages or where the electricity grid does not reach.
But above all they are very useful if we use them with solar panels, something that cannot be done with a generator set. Sunlight can recharge them and prevent food from spoiling if refrigerators stop working due to a power outage. At least if it doesn't last too long.
But they are also used to, for example, charge a mobile phone, a computer or the batteries of a scooter or an electric bicycle. These mobility devices, together with an installation of solar panels, can ensure that we move efficiently even when energy is scarce or non-existent.
At a time when efforts are being made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere as soon as possible, micromobility vehicles are proving to be much more effective than electric cars in reducing the carbon footprint.
These types of transportation systems are much cheaper and are leading many young people to not get their driving license. The uncertainty about the future of cars probably also weighs on them.
But the lack of certainty and economic instability are also changing consumer habits and promoting the rental of technology. The German company Grover operates in Spain and recently its commercial director, Esteban Escalante, told us that many of its rentals today are for high-end phones.
But it is not always possible. iPhones, due to their high demand, will hardly be able to be incorporated into the short-term rental market. Grover rents everything from electric scooters to virtually any type of consumer technology product. They are not the only ones who do it. As we verified at the time.
Other trends that we can observe are that technology manufacturers have opened some Pandora's boxes that were closed for years. This is the case of printers. Ink cartridges for years were a lucrative business, with a great environmental impact, which became less so when compatible ink cartridges began to appear everywhere.
But especially when they began to print less. For ecological, economic and technological reasons (screens have reduced paper and ink consumption). Epson was the first major company to launch inkjet printers that were loaded with ink, without using cartridges.
The company's EcoTank printers easily pay for themselves despite costing more than equivalent ink cartridges. This journalist attests that the life of an ink refill of these models can last several years, without intensive use, and the price of the ink is much lower than that of a set of cartridges.
In addition, this type of printers have greatly improved their quality. There are already models that allow you to print large photos or documents. This is the case of the EcoTank ET-18100, a model that can be purchased for less than 700 euros and uses six inks, prints in A3 size and is quite fast.
Another small silent revolution is the resurgence of electronic ink. Although devices that use electronic ink are a minority on the market, their energy consumption is much lower than that of classic screens. Kindle e-books are the best example.
But there have also been different types of electronic ink notebooks for a long time that allow you to take notes, draw and use basic applications. As is the case with Lenovo Smart Paper, a 10-inch electronic notebook with a very precise pencil. This uses electromagnetic resonance technology so you don't have to charge it.
It uses a reduced version of Android and almost makes us think we are writing on paper. Its energy consumption is very low and its autonomy is much higher than that of any tablet that we can find on the market. And although it is designed for reading and writing, you can surf the Internet with it.
In reality, if we want to see the bottle half full, all of these examples may not be designed for a dark future. On the contrary, they are helping that future arrive by trying to reduce the environmental impact of technology. It is not enough to put a green label on the boxes to prevent the planet from becoming fed up with us.
