I’ve lamented in my Laptops for Dummies book that battery power is woefully pitiful and obsolete. Folks, we use flashlight batteries today that were designed in the 1930s. But that’s about to end.

We are at the dawn of the fuel cell era. Batteries are about to go buh-bye and we’re all going to be better off for it. Proof comes from a company called Millennium Cell. (I once owned stock in that company. Good company, bad stock move; I bought just before the dot-com bust.) But before showing you a taste of the future, a word on fuel cell technology.

A fuel cell works like a battery. It’s portable. It will eventually be lightweight and small. But unlike a battery, a fuel cell requires fuel for a charge. You fill up the fuel cell similar to filling a jug or gas tank. The fuel cell is then charged and produces electricity for a while. When the fuel cell gets low, you simply add more juice. Away you go!

Millennium Cell has just introduced a portable fuel cell generator called the Hydropack. I have no data on its weight, but it produces 400 watts of power and its fuel is plain water. It’s spendy: $400. But it’s a wonderful first step into a world without batteries, a world with fuel cells.

Star Trek Dept. Here is a link to a funky video. It’s the Turkish version of the first aired episode of Star Trek, “The Man Trap.” Now it takes about 3 minute for the credits to roll, but then you’ll see a set of Turkish actors playing the rolls and speaking dialog you know so well — except it’s in Turkish! And the sets are, well, gloriously campy!