I was at work a week ago or so and a fellow brought in an old 9.6 volt drill. It was one of the ones that were all over every jobsite by the end of the eighties. This one showed no signs of life, of course, and he brought it in as a curiosity. He was quite taken with it, actually, because it was older than him.
“It’s really old,” he said.
“It is. It doesn’t even have a keyless chuck. Everybody had one of those, once. I think you can still get batteries for it. That one looks like it’s in good shape.”
“It’s probably worth something, isn’t it?”
“No. It’s worth nothing. You might be able to use it as a mallet. Throw it out.”

He looked a little surprised. But there are cordless screwdrivers with more kick than that little drill.
The incident brought to mind some of the cordless tools I’ve owned over the years. I had a 9.6 volt drill once, and I think I could have twiddled my thumbs at a faster rpm. Back then, you would buy the cordless drill and not ever expect that the battery would fit in anything else. Also, when the battery would no longer hold a charge, the drill was useless. And lots of tools were made without the real possibility of getting a battery on its own.
But also at that time, the tools themselves were improving quickly enough to supersede the need to get a new battery. Why get a new battery when you can get a better drill with new different batteries? So, that’s what everyone did. I think the manufacturers are still trying to follow that trend, although there have been no real improvements in cordless tools over the last ten years.

There is a frustration inherent in that, actually. My brother and I had a cordless drill and saw set that was quite good but the battery refused to be charged when it was warm. The tools had a lot of power but they were next to impossible to use. We figured the charger was no good, so I got a new one, but the batteries still did not last. That line of tools was one of the first to offer several different tools on one battery system. I remember looking at the router and sander and wondering if I should get them.
I would say it was good that I didn’t. That company stopped making the batteries for those tools and then stopped selling all of it. I cannot imagine how irritated I would be to have a line up of perfectly good tools that were impossible to use.
I currently use a different line of tools, on their own battery system. I can’t actually go buy a single different brand tool, because it would be a waste to get a different kind of battery. I need the batteries to fit in all the tools.

People talk about environmental responsibility. I truly believe that real environmental responsibility just doesn’t make enough money for manufacturers. Why is there no standard for batteries for cordless tools? If I need a battery for my car, I don’t have to go to the dealership where I bought it and get that particular brand of battery. There are some different kinds of car batteries, but it’s not that specific. Tools, though, are special. Why? because they’re not really tool manufacturers anymore.

They make and sell battery packs. As soon as they start to slow their sales on something, they make an “improvement” that renders everything prior garbage and everyone rushes out to get the new thing which has .01% more power or 2 minutes longer life.
Oh well. I need to charge my batteries. You’ll have to excuse me.