What is the 99% rule, you may ask? I will tell you! Right now!
I have two devices which are affected by the 99% rule:
- Fitbit Inspire HR
- Logitech G703 gaming mouse
Both of these devices run on rechargeable batteries, so I periodically recharge them, as logic would dictate.
Regardless of how much charge is left in the Inspire HR when I begin to charge it, if I leave it charging for awhile and then check its current charge, it will always report:
99%
When I charge the G703 mouse, the same thing occurs. I can start charing it at 30% battery or 12% or whatever, when I check the status it will say:
99%
The charging for the Inspire HR seems to work something like this:
0—10—20—30—40-50—60—70—80—90—99——————————————100
I have not scientifically measured this, but it feels about right.
I am not sure why these devices seem to take a very long time to go from a 99% charge to a 100% charge. I suspect it may be related to the same technology behind the now deprecated Windows progress bar:
You may have seen this devil-in-disguise. The bar will move along at a steady pace, then abruptly or randomly slow down. Or stop. Or suddenly take off like it is sliding down a steep hill. It is, in a word, unpredictable. There are probably a multitude of technical reasons for this, ranging from variable drive transfer speed to phases of the moon, but in the end Microsoft changed to a more ambiguous way of showing progress so that people wouldn’t be afflicted by the 99% rule.
But it lingers on in devices that do not have progress bars. I’m not sure why, but I think it speaks to the persistence of the universe, so maybe in some perverse way it’s a good thing.
This concludes my desperate attempt to put a positive spin on some weird behavior for today.
