Cars usually lacked wall plugs. You could get ones that plugged into the cigarette lighter, but my parents at least were unwilling to string a cable through the gear selector to the back seat.

The trick is negotiation. Start by trying to bum a cigarette off mom. Then settle for using the cigy lighter for your gameboy

It looks like we're talking about parents who did not realize on their own that keeping the Game Boy powered up helps keep the kid in the back of the car quiet, so I don't know if they would have been open to negotiation.

They purchased it for a flight from Sydney to Frankfurt in the mid-1990s... They so knew what they were doing, even when I didn't!

The parents realized I'd still quietly read without the gameboy, plus I'd already been given rechargeable batteries.

Aha, so a clever ploy to get you to practice reading and learn about taking care of your own needs? My apologies to your parents, I clearly underestimated them! :)

No, they just didn't want the wire snaking through the center console. Maybe not wanting to lose the lighter was a secondary goal, but I doubt there was any lesson behind their decision.

Well, I think most parents put a lot more conscious thought into these things than their children give them credit for, simply because as a child you're not aware of all the things they have to consider. I've noticed I've started re-evaluating childhood memories of my parents since my partner and I had a child. So I'll give your parents the benefit of doubt and suggest that there is a possibility you are the one underestimating them now ;)

Yeah, I'm not. I already read a ton, and I'm the one who asked for the rechargeable batteries for the gameboy. Plus, they had tried the adapter in a different situation and definitely had issues with the cord.

Some decisions had deep thoughts behind them, some were made because they spilled their drink while driving.

Our son does this when negotiating his Minecraft screen-time allowance; we call it "creeper commitment".

"Mom, can I set fire to my bed mattress?"

https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1985/12/10

I recall some vehicles, such as minivans, station wagons, and various "land yacht" 4-doors, having cigarette lighters in the back seats. That's what I used.

Seems region-specific. The sun is more reliable in some places. Harvesting from button pushes is almost completely reliable (may have some accessibility concerns, though, I guess?)

I can power the same processor with a lightbulb https://hackaday.io/project/177716/gallery#96cfdbf5cc550d520...

That is pretty cool. Although, it seems like a fairly inefficient way of connecting to the grid.

That wasn't the point of the prototype, but to develop a mobile device, which wouldn't need the grid. Like Back to the Future "Where we're going, we won't need roads" :)

How long was your extension cord that you could use it in a car on a road trip?