Leaders do things that are new - they explore the unknown, turn the world on its head, break up old patterns and ways of doing things. For these reasons, leaders are going to catch shrapnel from all angles. In fact, if you want to locate the leader, it's pretty simple; just find the guy taking the most abuse.
Like Apple and their poor iPhone. Oh the abuse! For starters, they are gouging the customer, selling a $220 item for hundreds more. It's been hacked to run on non-ATT networks, and the eWaste reports are already pouring out of the news-o-sphere. And the tiltable screen, where the picture automatically rotates when you turn it sideways, may already be copyrighted by Sony. We can assume they didn't use a mercury switch to implement that little feature, can't we?
Boo hoo, poor little pome. But let's get down to the the green tacks - fact is, the iPhone will be the last phone you will ever buy. You will not trade it in 18 months. It is unlikely you will drop a $600 phone in the toilet. The iPhone and its kind are going to end the planned obsolescence cell phone cycle. That's why Apple is the leader, and that's why the iPhone is great. :: Gizmodo
Steve Jobs has posted a response to the muffled whalesong that Apple doesn't have a green agenda. Frankly, I shrieked a little about it myself (it's showtime), but I'm glad Steve responded. And he responded as only Steve Jobs could.
Slowly, lovingly, Mr. Jobs dissects the frantic accusations being thrown at Apple's green computing program for months now into their constituent parts. His retort is measured, beautiful; you get the sense of a Zen master talking to a petulant schoolboy. And lo, after the lesson, you find that there is really nothing there. Like the fact that Apple stopped making CRT's in mid-2006, and eliminated all the associated lead problems that go with them. Or that Apple was RoHS compliant before the law went into effect. Or, by 2010, that Apple plans on recycling 28 percent of their eWaste by weight (almost three times more than current rates by other vendors), and they never ship it out of the US. Steve names names, but he doesn't do it often; he doesn't need to. And neither do I.
The beauty of Steve's writing (can I call you Steve?) is that you always get a chance to unite with whatever he's saying, and then go together into the void. You can see it with every author; Thomas Claburn from Information Week, Ken Barbalace from Environmental Chemistry, Zdnet, our avid Scuttlemonkey. Thank you Steve, for bringing up those results in my lackluster googling for this story; as you know, I used to work with one of those guys. Bless you. And fake Steve Jobs, eat your heart out; even though you are hilarious, you just don't exist.
You might have heard that Apple shareholders have before them a resolution to remove certain hazardous chemicals from their products. The resolution asks Apple to produce a report, within six months of the shareholder meeting, on the feasibility of "eliminating persistent and bioaccumulative toxic chemicals, and all types of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics" from its products. The vote is May 10th.
The Apple board, of which Al Gore is a member, said no. And they voted unanimously. You do the math.
No? This one is a bit of a mystery. To preserve good consumer and investor relations, a little more information than "No" and the one-liner that Apple "already has adequate environmental standards" is required. Combing their site for additional text on the matter didn't turn up anything - you can try. Unlike Greenpeace, this treehugger doesn't feel the need to woodshed them, but this is just weird; are the chemicals not toxic? Is the resolution bullshit? When you are in the spotlight, you need to say something.
