Are you an engineer who has designed charging circuits. Yes, you likely did miss something. Have you ever heard of "marketing"? That one word, and the myth of "memory effect" is enough to flood the market with all sorts of garbage.
Don't be an ass (I know it must be difficult).
They buy their batteries from the same companies as the high-end products. Yes, there may be a quality difference (even a real capacity difference) but the chemistry is well known.
You can investigate anything you want, but you won't find a "memory effect" in recent NiCds.
*ANY* battery is susceptible to damage. Easily. That's the nature of the beast. NiCds may be less tolerant of some sorts of damage than others, but the key word here is "less". All will be damaged by neglect. Don't do that.The very first NiCds had a problem that was called "memory effect". Those problems were fixed but the term stuck to every failed rechargeable battery since.
Your experience means nothing. I'm sure you had battery failures, but they were *NOT* the fabled "memory effect".
TWEET! "Time out to move the goal posts."
Wrong. The above applies to many battery technologies. NiCds don't like to float charge and shouldn't be used in an application that requires float charging. SLACs are a better choice for things like flashlights and alarm systems. NiCDs are much better in other applications. Did I ever say that NiCds were the best solution for all applications? No, you're lying.
Wow, you're tense. Hint: cells may reverse charge if the multi-cell battery is allowed to discharge too far. Yes, *allowed* is the right word.
All batteries are susceptible to damage from improper use. "Improper use" is somewhat technology dependant but there is no technology that is immune to abuse. Don't do that.
Your point? When was the last time you saw a LiIon powered UPS? Emergency lighting system?
NiCds aren't limited like Li-Ion, no. Li-Ion has a definite number of charge cycles. After that it's capacity goes down rapidly. I'm sure you've never heard of a cell phone being toast after 18 months.
Cordless drills, saws, and anything that has a very high current draw. NiCds have a very low series resistance. They're a bit bulkier, so aren't favored for compact tools. NMH was supposed to replace the NiCd, but it had its own set of issues.
You're *wrong*. Yes, you may have to read a bit to get a tool with a decent charger, but perhaps that's too much to expect from you. If you buy a cheap tool with LiIon cells, how are you going to *guarantee* a smart charger? It's not a fundamental given that they'll treat the batteries any better than cheap tools do with NiCd.
You could read, too. Maybe not.
Complete nonsense.
Maybe. Single cell batteries are already apart. Multi-cell NiCds can often be recovered, as well. I've done it, though I generally don't bother.
Ok, my sense is that respondents here are mostly talking through their hat, as you've demonstrated.
There are a *ton* of issues with Li-Ions, all of which you've conveniently skirted in your disdain for NiCds.
Bullshit. It tells me that the OP didn't read anything about what he was purchasing. That's the bottom line. It also tells me that you haven't a clue.
Show me where this is a law. It's *not* a requirement of the technology. I can't wait until you get burned (NPI) and come back here whining.
They don't produce as much current as a NiCd. Asking them to will damage them.
Cell phones are about the easiest on batteries of any imaginable application. Yes, there is a reason Li-Ion us used for such applications and NOT for UPSs, and such.
They'll disappear only if the government demands it. In those applications they'll likely be replaced with NMH, not Li-Ion.