system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 How my modded xbox 360 controller can remember what mode it was last in, even if I take the battery pack out and put it back in. Why can't an alarm clock do the same?
gpt
> Why can't an alarm clock do the same?

It is not a technical issue, it's a social and economical issue.

If you need to change the mode every time the controller has powered down, you will need to do it a couple of times a day. A couple of times per day is making it annoying enough that you want it to get away. Enough annoying that you are willing to pay for having such a feature.

Replacing the battery is something you do every year once. Not enough to annoy you and pay for a clock which doesn't need to do this.

Because you are not willing to pay for it, the shops aren't interested in stocking them. The suppliers aren't interesting in making them. The chip manufacturers realize that they can save 1 cent on their chip by removing this "let it remember the time" feature, meaning their product is cheaper to make and thus more profit for them.


And that is why crowd funded projects like on kickstarter are such a hit for niche products which make sense for a small group of people who are willing to pay for the extra features.