For myself, I define winter as starting from the first consecutive 24 hours below 0° C. In fact, my concept of "winter" if for how long snow won't melt (sublimation doesn't count). So, for me, winter started today.
There is a certain culture shock when using many electronic gizmos here in Montréal during winter, as clearly they were designed for the ideal Californian weather. Indeed, often the operating conditions are defined for 0° To 40° C, as if freezing weather doesn't exist. Many kinds on plastics react strangely to cold weather, especially whatever they tend to use for some headphone wires. While it is more of an issue in tropical weather, melting snow can be just as bad as pouring rain for electronics. Combining both freezing temperatures and high humidity can be even more damaging.
Battery life is even more of a concern. If your cellphone lasts 10-12 hours, then you can remove at least 25% of that if you're outside at -10° C. I clearly noticing that for the first time with the "classic" iPod 3rd-generation, that had great battery life during summers and horrible ones during winters, let alone the fears that I would damage the mechanical hard drive with sudden temperature changes.
I'm not complaining too much, though. I live close to a fully underground metro system that is connected indoors to my workplace, giving me freedom from the perils of morning rush traffic in a snowstorm. That metro doesn't have any WiFi, and 3G is limited to only a few stations (non-continuously, annoyingly). Still, all of that easily beats morning traffic on those Californian highways.
Published on November 25, 2012 at 20:24 EST
Older post: TV Ads
Newer post: NewsRadio