Comments on: The greening of tech packaging

Microsoft, in introducing smaller and easier-to-open packaging for its Windows 7 operating system, is following an industry trend, though there is much room for improvement.

[saintseminole]

I imagine they *would* discard in-store sales altogether, but they're listening to market forces. Whether we realize it or not, it's we (the consumers) who have control of this. As long as many thousands of people continue to buy in stores instead of online, then they're going to keep selling in stores.

A suggestion for the companies: ship less product to each store, but on the display sign, have the words: "This can also be purchased at www.... (whatever)...com" But then the retailers wouldn't like that, I suppose. They'll work it out eventually.

[vikinzer]

This is all well and good, but like you I think it is not enough. There was never a good reason for the amount of packaging that went into these products. It's not like we didn't know about environmental concerns when Vista came out. There is no reason you shouldn't be able to purchase your code online, and download Vista, or if there must be physical packaging why it can't be a disk in a paper sleeve shrink wrapped to the instruction manual.

This is all too little too late. There is so much lamentation about DVD and CD sales being down, well I say push them down farther. Anything data should be procured online if at all possible. It's the responsible way to go. The more people who procure their data this way, and do steaming for all the movie rental they can get away with the better off our environment will be, especially as computers consume less and less power to achieve the same level of computational output.

[daves_done]

"Another consideration: why can't makers of software, including games, ditch physical disc sales altogether?"

B/C we then lose our right to re-sell the item when we are no longer have a need/want for it (right of first sale, I believe its called). I know everyone says that downloads over the internet are the way of the future, but I will resist as long as I can with things like movies, music and games. I used to be wary of used games but now I buy them all the time, especially with the new durability of Blu Ray. My local Game Crazy retailer gives just as good a guarantee on used as they do on new games and they cost $10-$20 less depending on the game. Sometimes new titles even become available within weeks of launch depending on how quickly the local dweebs blow threw it and move on to the next one.

[vikinzer]

Wow, you just totally made the case for the manufacturers to do online game sales. Everyone who wants to play will actually have to give them money. That is something they would dearly love. The right of first sale is also slowly going the way of the dodo as games go online and are tied to registration keys. I have the right to resell any of my blizzard titles, but the next person can't use them online, and once I've registered them I can re-download the game whenever I want. Amazing how that works out isn't it? As more and more games move to this model right of first sale will die anyway. So why waste the packaging?

[SJ2571]

"B/C we then lose our right to re-sell the item when we are no longer have a need/want for it" -- it's called burning. Burn what you download, then sell it -- to one person only, of course.

[cpopken]

All of this "green" talk starts to drive me crazy after awhile. For most companies it is just PR for them anyway. Just let us download the software and burn it to our own disc. Then that solves the packaging used for the product, all of the fuel used during shipping the product, and the packaging used during shipping.

[shamanskyh]

yes, but there is also the hardware side of the equation... last time I checked, you couldn't download a MacBook.

[Shoes58]

I recieved a message from Microsoft today, offering me a discounted price to pre-order Windows 7, as I am running the RC version. According to the offer, if I purchase through the Microsoft Store, I will have the option to "either download and/or recieve a physical copy" of the OS. About half price, either way.

[M3 Sweatt]

"Although we should applaud companies for taking steps to improve the environmental impact of their products' packaging, there is certainly room for improvement. Microsoft is hardly a leader in this space, considering that Windows is one of the last major software packages to not have a download option."

That's not entirely accurate.

As noted in one comment, Microsoft offers software available for purchase via the online Microsoft Store (http://store.microsoft.com/home.aspx) with the option of downloading the software package or having a packaged copy shipped to the purchaser.

Personally, I tend to keep software packages for quite a long time, keeping the CD/DVDs in a safe place along with my serial number and manuals.

[monkeyfun14]

"Another consideration: why can't makers of software, including games, ditch physical disc sales altogether? Most companies in the software space allow consumers to download their applications from the Web. If users need physical media, they can burn the operating system onto their own discs."

Ever try downloading software and games on a PC without a internet connection?

And downloading Operating Systems from the web puts you SOL when your computer's OS is corrupted and doesn't boot or your putting a OS on the machine for the first time. Not many want to buy a pc just to build another or fix another one.

[aMUSICsite]

"We've reduced the number of elements in the package down to three: the plastic case, the paper sleeve, and a simple Getting Started Guide,"

What no DVD!

[BenFlavoredCandy]

Why does the box still need to be so gigantic? I know it may spawn a huge Apple v. Microsoft thread if I say this, but the box that Leopard came to me in is made of paperboard and roughly size of a plastic CD case and twice the thickness. Besides the shrinkwrap, it contained no plastic whatsoever.

Oh, and my copy of PS Elements had no packaging at all. But daves_done is right, I can't resell it.

[jetset01]

I saw that MSFT is also taking other steps to reduce packaging. Check out this blog post on the savings from going digital with Office 2007 - http://blogs.msdn.com/see/archive/2009/03/31/software-downloads-help-microsoft-and-customers-reduce-carbon-footprint.aspx

This is good stuff.

[Daddio2009]

The easiest way to solve the Windows 7 problem is to buy a Mac. OS-X Leopard is far superior to anything Microcrud can come up with.

[monkeyfun14]

I don't take advice from trolls sorry.

[carlhage]

Windows seems to be the least of the culprits in absurdly bloated packaging. I just bought another anti-virus update (way cheaper with packaging than online update) containing a CD in paper envelope and pamphlet (not much bigger than the CD, but not the same size so it's slightly taller and narrower so it doesn't pack well. The box is the size of a large textbook, 4X larger in height and length, and probably about 20X deeper. It needs an extra cardboard spacer inside to keep the package from falling flat. It used to be that you measured software by the weight of the manuals, but now they don't make manuals-- paper or electronic.

Hardware packaging can be the same as well-- the graphic cards seem to be the worst offenders, as if packaging bulk is a proxy for GPU power. A 1cm x 10cm x 20cm card is in a 20cm x 30cm x 50 cm box! Maybe it's intended to crowd out the competition on the store shelves-- at least the size is meant to attract attention. I bought a cheap brand that was in a box not much larger than the card, but it was hard to find amongst the megaboxes.

Perhaps there could be a law requiring an orange packaging efficiency sticker to be attached to the box-- maybe that would embarrass the manufacturer having a "00.2% efficient" label.

[fjpoblam]

The software and large hardware vendors are indeed improving, as time goes by. The small component vendors are not, and tend to be the worst offenders: adult-proof packaging (e.g. SD cards encased in large plastic bubbles many times their weight, requiring blowtorches to open, and perilous to the skin if touched carelessly on raw sliced edges and corners in haste).

[swhite237]

What a lot of people don't seem to realize is that companies would save huge amounts of money by just reducing packaging. Imagine the millions, possibly billions of dollars, spent on packaging by Fortune 500 companies like MS.

[meh100]

And that is most likely the real reason Microsoft shrunk the packaging. It's not really for the environment- it's for the reduction in packaging and shipping costs.

[LLIB_SETAG]

Insider Secret :
All Microsoft Software packaging is designed on Macintoshes in Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit division that makes MS OFFICE for MAC on their Redmond One Campus.

But, while good news on the green factor, MS needs to be even more prudent in green packaging design & be more like Apple in their green packaging.