And I would add that switching power supply tech has been around for decades (hello, desktop PC tower cases!). It just wasn't used as often in consumer devices because they were more complex (more parts, trickier to design) and
there simply weren't many consumer devices around that required so much power _and_ portability.
I would argue laptops were the killer app as far as switchers are concerned. Once they showed up and got popular, designers newly had reasons to design switchers more often.
I would argue laptops were the killer app as far as switchers are concerned. Once they showed up and got popular, designers newly had reasons to design switchers more often.