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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
12/21/08
12/20/08
On the packaging front, Dell is taking a broad and systemic approach. Apple should join Dell in implementing a global packaging strategy instead of focusing on a product or two. Imagine the possibilities.
At the end of the day, customers deserve actions, not gimmicks.
12/20/08
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12/21/08
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12/20/08
Regardless, I think corporate eco-friendliness is a gimmick to self-indulgent morons who think buying more shit will save the planet. Both Apple and Dell have been slipping in the QC department and should focus on that rather than pretending either of them is a Godsend to nature.
12/21/08
Ah, but is that a result of the customer base influencing the company, or the company selectively persuing that customer base? It seems to me that if Apple has had a long tradition of proprietary hardware that can't be upgraded, then perhaps the customer base followed the company.
Now, that's not to say that PC users don't produce their fair share of surplus computer tech, but that's all selectively upgraded, and the people who insist on staying cutting edge can always sell off their barely-used cards to people who are a bit farther behind the curve. Plus you can keep using the same case if you build your own from scratch. The other primary market is budget PCs, which can stay servicable without upgrades for several years.
12/21/08
A select few may get the newer models more often, but even those kept or gave away their old models.
I don't even own an Apple (yes the irony) and I find it incredible how long people keep their iMacs/Macbooks.
Conversely, when I worked at Best Buy for all of 10 months people who bought computers there normally couldn't wait to "throw their piece of shit computer away" after buying their new $500 computer (which will last them the next year or so).
Your statement is just plain backwards and plain wrong.
BECAUSE of their higher price, people keep their Apples for much longer. I don't know how you could come up with the contrary conclusion. And BECAUSE most every other computer out there is practically dirt cheap, manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Sony are being discarded on almost a yearly to bi-yearly rate.
Do explain how any of this could be interpreted differently.
12/23/08
That's because people who replace their PCs that often are usually using them to play games like Crysis. Photoshop doesn't outpace hardware designs nearly as fast as video games do.
12/20/08
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12/21/08
12/21/08
Though, by that argument, and assuming 6 billion people is "too many" people, we should be having 1 kid per couple or less - until the human population is at a level that is more sustainable for the earth.
12/20/08
12/21/08
anyways, why is he pissed? if he think Dell is greener, then put it in ur ads?!! so what. im no salesman, but that should be in Sales 101, "if ur company has something good or better than others, -or u think it is-", then say it
12/21/08
Last month, I finally replaced my Dell Dimension. I bought the Dell in August 2000. It was a P4 1.6Ghz with 256 MB of Rambus RAM. It didn't break down and, to its credit, wasn't vacuumed out nearly as much as it should have (towers kept near the floor should be vacuumed regularly - especially if you have pets).
It was used originally as a internet/office productivity computer although I would play some games on it. For the last three years, it has been a media server and internet terminal. I had to replace it because the software out there was too much for it to handle. Imagine trying to run Tiger on a slot-loading 1G iMac.
XP SP2 prevented it from being useful for anything other than checking email. iTunes 7 and beyond were too bloated to run quickly. And because it used RDRAM, upping the RAM is a bit cost-prohibitive. It was simply time to say goodbye to a PC that dates back to the Clinton Administration.
Was it a stylish computer? No. But it was extremely durable. Sadly, in spite of the tremendous experience I had with that computer, Dell's build quality in the intervening years has waned. I would've bought a Dell had they kept up quality control standards.
12/21/08
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12/21/08
It's also much less harmful to the environment to procure than unrecycled aluminum. A friend of mine once came across a rather interesting statistic, which is that if you fill an aluminum pop can full of gasoline, that's how much energy you save by recycling that old can into a new one instead of extracting the aluminum to make the new can from the ground.
Now, they do claim that the new Mac laptop cases are made from 100% recycled aluminum, but that is, in effect, pulling that much material out of the available pool of recycled metal, thus potentially forcing someone else to buy their aluminum from a mining operation. No such problems exist with bamboo cases. That stuff grows faster than weeds.
12/21/08
12/23/08
Recycled aluminum is better than unrecycled, but Dell does win out on the use of bamboo. Mostly I'm miffed at them for touting the low power usage when the reality is that the power cord supplies less power than the battery does, and the laptop will actually draw supplementary power from the battery if it's plugged in. Meaning the only way to keep the battery topped off is to remove the battery and then use the power adapter (but then it'll switch to power-saver mode).
@Barry99705:
It's also horribly expensive to extract from bauxite ore, compared to the cost of reclaiming used aluminum in a recycling process. Aluminum used to be so unbelievably expensive to mine that it was #10 on the traditional list for wedding anniversary gifts.
12/20/08