The Garmin Instinct 2 is around $200 and will last several weeks on a charge even using the GPS regularly. Without GPS use I wouldn't be surprised if it lasted a month.
Ten years ago the FAA was disqualifying candidates because the didn't say their worst subject in high school was science and today they're struggling with recruitment. Seems like a catastrophe of their own making.
We will always need some form of baseline power. Solar, wind, and other renewables are an important component of overall power generation but we still need something capable of generating power 24/7/365, in all weather conditions.
The training is also not run particularly well. There's a single facility in Oklahoma that every prospective air traffic controller has to go through. I had a friend in college who graduated in the early 2010s with a four year degree in air traffic control. He waited several years for the FAA to tell him he could start training, a spot never opened up, and he moved on with his life and did something different. It's broken on a pretty fundamental level if we have a shortage of air traffic controllers but also people who want to do it can't get in.
I loved the design of the original Droid. Slide out horizontal keyboard, built like a tank, easily accessible removable and replaceable battery. The specs on modern phones are light years better but design wise they're way behind what we used to have.
