Myno 🐀fun fact: the uk tv license rules say im allowed to watch TV on my laptop when im at uni, but ONLY IF said laptop is not currently plugged into the wall
Don Whiteside@mynotaurus @cstross This is remarkably similar in tone to the way the Amish allow the use of things like refrigerators, where using one powered by electricity - a connection with the outside world - is not allowed, but a unit that is powered by propane (ie, generating the electricity locally) is okay.
mlppropane powered fridges don't use electricity at all
@mlp @mynotaurus @cstross Fair, I should have said energy. But it remains that they use a fuel to create the compression&evaporation and the Amish consider it acceptable because it’s not connected to the outside world by wire. I’d say that trucking in propane as a stored energy source is identical in philosophy to this “it’s okay if it’s battery operated” thing being floated in the shared text.