Panasonic going all Apple-esque on cusotmers – locking out third party batteries

Gadgets bring with them the initial wave of happiness and excitement that one normally gets when handling a new electronic for the first time. While the honeymoon can last several hours to several months, at some time it does come to an end. One way we try to maximize that honeymoon is buy purchasing accessories for our digital addictions in hopes that it will shed a new light and start a new chapter in our lives. 3rd party accessories make the world go ’round and often make up for faults or some sort of lacking on the manufacturers part. However, Panasonic apparently could care less about your happiness or consumer choice as they are locking out 3rd party batteries. Yup, you heard that right. Out of all the things to lock out, they choose batteries. *scratches head*. I can understand part of their logic — maybe for safety’s sake, to avoid a battery spewing itself everywhere in violent spouts of rage, taking your camera and possibly even you with it. Still, the real motive is money…plain and simple. They can’t hide behind the false claims of “safety” as we all know they could care less about your safety. Oh well, time to start finding away around this one folks. (Oh I know! Just buy a different camera)

[Press Release]

Source: Gizmodo, Slashdot, Image Source