If you’re a gadget lover, I’m pretty sure that you have encountered problem in turning your new gadget just because you have incorrectly inserted the batteries. I had the same problem before when my new speedlight for my DSLR camera when I thought it was faulty after it didn’t powered on after inserting the batteries. Luckily I did a check and found it was due to one of the batteries was inserted in negative direction, instead of positive.

But the technology called InstaLoad might be your saviour in the future. And guess who came up with this ingenious solution?. The answer is Microsoft!. Yes, the giant software company has designed a technology for battery compartments that has both positive and negative contacts at both ends.

It is not a complicated technology. As a matter of fact, the mechanism is quite simple. Once a battery is slotted in, it will automatically lined up with the correct terminals on both ends. At one end of the battery, it interfaces with either the positive contacts or the negative ones. The battery interaces with the opposite contact at the other end. When it touches with PCB traces, the correct polarity will be delivered to the device automatically.

Although this technology is considered simple, I’m wondering why it takes decades after the batteries were invented before someone could figure out the a way to eliminate the common problem of gadget users.