[pishpash]

This take is anachronistic. Thermal issues were evident by the late 1990's. Of course by that time not many were working in x86 assembly but embedded systems sure cared about power.

People forget embedded predated mobile by a good 20 years.

[imtringued]

Nintendo's original Game Boy lasted 40 hours on two AA batteries in 1989. You can't reach those numbers without engineering for energy efficiency.