What makes you think so? You can still buy calculators that last a long time, and 'solar' powered calculators that work in pretty dim light inside of a class room.
I didnt mean to compare it with calculators that are entirely powered by light. More to modern watches, smartwatches and whatever modern devices we have.
You are right about them. But battery hungry monsters ain't new. Have a look at the Sega Game Gear.
The Game Gear had much higher specs than Nintendo's Game Boy. It had a proper colour display, instead of a pea soup screen.
> The internal reaction to the Game Boy at Nintendo was initially very poor, earning it the derogatory nickname "DameGame" from Nintendo employees, in which dame (だめ) means "hopeless" or "useless".[19][20]
(An idiomatic translation might be, 'Lame Boy'.)
As you might be aware, the supposed Lame Boy won the market. Partially because the Game Gear ate through batteries like crazy, while the Game Boy subsisted on a more measured diet.
But yes, incredible. These are products made with a lot of care, unlike modern counterparts that are just so very lax on these things.