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Green Apple: Good Air

In case you missed it, the big news of the day was Apple CEO Steve Jobs' keynote and what came out of it... the Macbook Air, an ultra-sexy, sleek laptop. 

But for the environmentally conscious, EcoGeek points out that it is also the greenest Apple to date. 

The casing is made out of aluminum and recyclable.   Like its big brother, the Macbook Pro, the monitor contains no mercury, utilizes LED (Light-emitting diode), and is protected by arsenic-free glass.  Even better, the insides are smaller  (including no optical drive), consuming less power.  And the circuitboards are bromide and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) free. 

With the number of harmful chemicals reduced and the fact that it can run for 5 hours on its lithium battery, the Macbook Air meets Energy Star 4.0 standards.  It has also achieved a Silver EPEAT (Elctronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) rating.  What this means is that it meets all 23 requirements of the tool as well as 50% of the optional criteria.  For more information on those criteria, visit the EPEAT website.

Bottomline: This machine is one of the greenest computers on the market and is the best performing computer in the "environmentally-friendly" marker.   It's got a steep price tag, but it is looks so good and given the fact that it will still be commercially successful, we should expect the PC manufacturers to follow suit with their own greener machines.   

Dell's Challenge to be Green

Back in May, I wrote about Apple's efforts to be an environmentally friendly computer manufacturer.  In an effort to be fair and balanced blogger (and not a hypocrite, this is being typed on a Dell), I am following up on that with yesterday's news about Dell. 

Both Target Green and Green Wombat wrote about this exciting news yesterday as Dell moves to be carbon-neutral by next year, an aggressive schedule that will certainly cause rivals to begin thinking about their own environmental footprint. 

As the world's resources dwindle and humanity's need to be better stewards of Earth, this sort of radical action not only causes businesses to change their practices but it allows those consumers to be more fickle in what products they buy. 

Dell has established a website to express their goals and programs: Dell Earth (I cheated and read the press release, I'll look closer when I have some time). 

This is not only the type of action that a company needs to take for the environment, but provided its genuine (it appears to be from the steps taken thus far), it is a great marketing initiative, leaving individuals like myself to rethink what type of computer to buy in the future.     

A Faster, Smarter, Greener Apple

I am a huge fan of Apple and while I write this post on a PC (still saving for my dream computer) I follow Apple closely.  While Steve Jobs can improve in some areas, his company does make some impressive products. 

A popular seed on Newsvine today was about the release of upgraded MacBooks or the rumors of... Yes they are true. MacBooks now contain 1 Gigabyte of RAM and a 2+GHz processors (depending on model).  While it is a modest increase, the machine will run smoother.

To follow-up however, I went to apple.com, and while front and center was the clear confirmation of the seed.  The small green apple in the bottom left corner was what really caught my eye... 

Steve Jobs decided to publicly identify the efforts that Apple has taken to improve the construction of their products through the removal of harmful "ingredients" and continued efforts to further reduce the harmful chemicals in the future.  They have also had a recycling program in effect since 1994, and while there is no established industry standard to date, the numbers show that the participation is improving each year. 

I'll take the numbers with a grain of salt as they are being reported by the company itself.  Greenpeace has received the news well and improved their rating of the company based on the transparency that is now being offered. 

The world has slowly been moving away from paper, improving the impact on the environment as more people gather information on a screen as opposed to hard copies.  The whole time there has been a cost due to the construction and operation of these machines with the harmful chemicals and outgassing that occurs. 

By making these machines more compliant with environmental standards and improving their footprint, we can further encourage the reduction of paper and usage of an electronic screen as an information/communication mechanism.

Glad to hear that Apple is touting this as it further validates the green revolution that is occuring in the business world and the consumer world as a whole.  It makes me yearn for a MacBook even more.

Mac versus Microsoft

...ah, the (computer) age old rivalry.

I have been writing this post over and over in my head last week and all of the MLK weekend. But since I've yet to master telepathy... pretty much useless.

Last week two stories really stuck out in my head... first, the official announcement of the iPhone and AppleTV at MacWorld 2007. Second, the start of the Vanishing Point Game, a worldwide puzzle game to roll out the Vista operating system. Each one highlighting the latest and greatest that each of the companies has to offer.

Steve Jobs' keynote address had people on the edges of their seat waiting, everyone knew it was coming. But here it was... first, he talked about the new Hodgeman and Long commercial about Vista. Interspersed were some statistics of Apple's and iTunes successes, all nice to hear. Next, Jobs introduces the Apple TV (glad it won't be the iTV) a new way to have the content from the computer and from iTunes and play it on a widescreen. And with wireless capabilities and a 40Gb hard drive!

Following his first announcement comes the new iPhone: part iPod, part phone, and part hand held computer. A hybrid of all the things that are intrinsic to the culture of today. Once again, it comes with all the bells and whistles that Apple is known for, and in the simple and elegant design we've come to love.

There was more to talk about, network affiliations, company name changes, etc. (Not relevant to this post.)

The other story, regarding Microsoft Vista, wasn't on my radar, and was pointed out to me by my wife. It appears that a mysterious woman named Loki is giving out clues and was hinted at by Bill Gates during his address at the CES, where Vista one the "Best of" award. Later in the week stories were abuzzing about cipher keys and puzzles online. All the clues lead to a site called Vanishing Point, where people work together online to solve the puzzles and move forward. Loki, the mysterious game master, will make appearances in 10 cities all over the globe. But Vista, is really the latest Windows operating system, filled with improvements, a voice recognition software, a streamlined start menu and many more.

So what's the bottom line? Well, in my own opinion, it proves how a behomoth and an upstart act. Microsoft uses a viral game to generate buzz, capitalizing on the world's desire to interact and engage. Apple on the other hand, attacks with innovation and design. Yes, they still create buzz via traditional methods. But, two stories in one week show the stark contrast. Microsoft is still the 800 lbs. Gorilla. PC is still the dominant platform in the world. And while Macs are slowly creeping up, they will never be the leader. They seem to have accepted that fact and have adjusted, working on peripherals and gadgets.

But they still are ahead of the curve. They still invest heavily in R&D and ultimately will profit greatly from innovation and design. But Microsoft will profit from a clever way to get people to buy its upgrade, on top of those in business that will upgrade to the latest and propely the better operating system. But when has Microsoft ever had an upgrade without a ton of bugs?

Which method is better? I leave that to you to decide. But I won't go before giving my opinion. Yes, I am a Apple fan, but I work and operate in a PC world. I don't like seeing something that is so buzz and hyped up and not deliver. I know that Apple has problems too, but I see them constantly evolving and setting the trend. I like sleek and cool. And I'm like many...