Comments on: Jobs defends Apple's record on environment

As protesters picket the computer maker over its recycling policy, Apple's CEO calls the criticism misplaced.
Photo: Lobbying for a green Apple

[S R]

How many women presidents has the US had till now? *NT*

*NT*

Batteries...

"In particular, protesters focused on the fact that Apple's iPod
comes with a battery that cannot be replaced easily by
consumers and the fact Apple charges $100 for a new battery--
a significant percentage of the cost of the iPod itself. 'Most
consumers are just going to throw it away and get a new one,'
Davis said."

Hey, how about they just make the iPod run on double-A's. You
want billions of batteries thrown away a year, that'll do it.

I can't believe they're getting picketed for a sliver of a
rechargable battery problem.

I guess the environmental branch of the current government
headed by former timber and mining lobbyists isn't enough of a
problem to focus on. They need to pick on a pretty green
company for its sector. At 2.5% marketshare worldwide at that.

Apple's market share

The context you were referring to... (the size of Apple) has nothing to do with its market share as that only determines its quarterly sales revenue in comparison to the competition. It has absolutely no bearing on the install base of the company. Apple's install base is roughly 8-10% of the worldwide computer industry.

Regardless... you are even wrong about their market share... which was recently bumped up to 3.9%

Unemployable Twits

I love activists, they are basically unemployable twits but
unemployed by choice so not competing for jobs. More for the
rest of us.

[bbatsell]

Could someone please explain

what these groups' complaints are? I have yet to read one that
amounts to more than "Apple is a big conglomerate who hates
the environment." I'd be interested in hearing what exactly they
think Apple is doing that is so anti-environment...

[pcmeissner]

www.badapple.biz

Go to www.badapple.biz for an answer to your question.

[NickEP]

toss your iPod in the trash!

>>...Apple charges $100 for a new battery--a significant percentage of the cost of the iPod itself. "Most consumers are just going to throw it away and get a new one," Davis said.<<

Right. People are just going to toss their $200-500 iPod because of a $100 battery? That's a ridiculous statement from the protestors and just shows how weak their position is.

[jhorvatic]

Try $39 at iPod911 for a new iPod Battery kit

I seriously doubt that anyone is just going to toss there $300
iPod in the trash because there battery doesn't work. Besides
you can go to http://www.ipod911.com/ and get a battery and
toolkit and replace the battery yourself for $39. That $100
battery replacement story is old news and is not true anymore.
Would you toss your laptop in the trash if your battery died?
Let's use some common sense people.

[Below Meigh]

Apple 180

Irony that Apple started with the support of the most green folks on the planet- graphic designers! And now Apple has dissed them with not only a poor recycling policy, but packaging that isn't recylable (many states do not recycle stryfoam), and an operating system that isn't friendly to designers (horrible font implimentations, maintenance, update after update. Even Apple's licensing and "software" coupons leave much confusion and waste.
I think Jobs is enigmatic but not pragmatic. Regime change is due. I'd step down (like Gates) and run Pixar instead. Still ahve board control, but allow some fresher, friendlier persona onboard. Apple lost track to profit, now that all the cool folks are shareholders...

[nmcphers]

What the heck are you talking about?

Graphic designers are green folks? How the heck do you make that kind of connection? Please show me the study that shows that graphic designers are more environmentally conscious. Maybe you are confusing them with gardeners perhaps?

Doesn't EVERY computer come with stryfoam packaging? Would you rather them buy a Dell and be offended by thier packaging instead of Apple's?

Is Adobe and Macromedia more friendly to designers with their frequent updates of Acrobat, Photoshop, Deramweaver, etc?

enigmatic means puzzling. I've herd genius, hot tempered, and charismatic, but never heard anyone describe Jobs as puzzling before. You may be the first.

Pragmatic means practical. What has Jobs done that's not practical? Isn't he being critized because you believe him to be more practical than enviromentally concious?

I don't make it a point of criticizing people's comment. But nothing you said made sense.

[Dibbs]

wanna clear that up?

neil is right - you have a lot of explaining to do. you exagerated and assumed and lied all the way through that post. care to explain yourself before we all dismiss you as an ill-informed, jelous attention ****?

[tayl0044]

Apple should be commended, not criticized.

I consider myself to be an environmental realist.

Batteries are bad, and need to be recycled in an eco-friendly manner. I believe Apple is offering that service, along with other tech mfgs. If you want to throw it away, then just pull the battery out and drop it off at a NiCad battery recycling facility near your house.

Packaging waste is the other big issue, and the need to develop more eco-friendly packaging is important. Apple's Shuffle packaging, for example, is one of the smarter approaches to reducing landfill waste. The package is considerably smaller than equivalent MP3 players, thus less waste. The hang tab is also the security closure, one less piece of plastic or cardboard to throw away. They don't have a lot of extra crap in the box either that you don't need or use (I don't need another recharger brick). The carton is made of recycled waste paper, and what little plastic they do have in the carton is recyclable PETE (1). Same stuff your milk bottles are made of.

Bravo Steve.

[Filip Remplakowski]

The only reason Apple is being targeted

... is because it gets so much media attention when it releases
new products so that's why there were protesters picketing.
Would you ever see any outside a dell product show? Think
about it no one cares if they release a new dell dimension, but
when Apple does something ears and eyes are wide open.
Apples packaging is functional and beautiful, as for their
products they last longer than pc's in general and use less
plastic than other manufacturers. Their most popular CPU's are
also smaller compared to their pc counterparts so they use less
materials. The mac mini encourages you to reuse your old
display. The iPod uses a rechargable battery not disposable
ones. They should be picketing the US government to have
European energy standards and encourage alternative energy
resources. I wonder what cars they drive, and how much
embodied energy the materials in their houses have, they
probably fly across the US more than once a year too. You can't
just look at one aspect of being environmentally friendly as this
isn't sustainable, perhaps they should look at themselves first.
"********" indeed!

[technewsjunkie]

Edible, biodegradable computers

That' s the answer.

[cutekangaroo]

no..=/

AHH! THERE'S ANTS IN MY COMPUTER!

[cutekangaroo]

Why trash iPod?

If you are smart, you'd keep it, even if the battery is dead. It's
basically a portable backup drive. So go ahead and buy yourself
a new ipod and put the old ones to good use. Or give it to
someone who doesnt have a backup drive.

[wildweaselmi]

Who's responsible here?

I don't understand... blame Steve Jobs (apple) because the consumer doesn't care about the environment. The whiners want "Apple" to offer a higher price for buying back old equipment so "people" will do it. The whiners want "Apple" to re-design the iPod so the "people" will replace the battery instead of throwing away the entire device. WHINERS!!

[montgomeryburns]

Fire Molly Wood

Fire Molly Wood

[DarkHawke]

The camel is in the tent.

Couldn't tell you for sure, but I have a strong suspicion that at some point Jobs & Co. met with these environmental whackos to figure out some kind of "socially conscious" program or practices. This has given them the license to conduct these protests, because there's NO limit to the "environmentally responsible" measures folks like this would force a company to impose on itself. In simpler terms, Apple brought this on itself. There's a wide range of positions between being an active, careless polluter and kowtowing to the whims of fanatics of this ilk. Responsibility is one thing. Letting these twits come even *close* to dictating company policies and practices is quite another.

[hatandglasses13]

Steve Jobs has Balls

Gotta hand it to Jobs for telling it like it is. I think Billy's virgin
ears are bleeding.