“A defiant Steve Jobs lashed out for the first time publicly against activists who claim Apple Computer Inc. has irresponsible environmental policies for recycling products like old Macintoshes and iPods,” Benny Evangelista reports for The San Francisco Chronicle. “Speaking at an annual shareholders meeting at the company’s Cupertino headquarters, Apple’s chief executive said environmental activists are spreading false information about the company’s policies and using the popularity of the iPod digital music player to gain publicity for themselves.”
Evangelista reports, “‘They have good taste in picking the iPod, but that doesn’t make their false statements true,’ Jobs said. ‘To say we’re insensitive or irresponsible is just bull—-.'”
Full article here.
Libs … feeding on each other now!
Apple products are much more environmentally friendly than PCs. People tend to use them much longer and will usually hang onto them due to emotional attachment.
bullsheet.
Way to go Steve! The more the craziness of these groups is pointed out the better. Apple, like most comapnies, has acted very responsibly, yet they get criticized when they do not do enough in the eyes of some. Most companies just cave in.
Like most major corporations I’m sure Apple could improve but they are not the biggest environmental culprit out there. That would be Wal-Mart which promotes suburban sprawl…
Bandit Bill has a point, I still have 2 SE/30s, a IIfx, a IIvx, a PM6100DOS, 2 G3s, a clamshell iBook, an iMac G3, a wallsteet Powerbook, an eMac G4, and an iMac G4. All of which are rarely used thanks to much newer hardware. (I do play MacSoft Monopoly on one of the SE/30s every once in a while!)
WHAT???? Dude…Steve wears a turtle neck…he’s one of them…why are they attacking him?
sounds like someone got some beef jerky mixed in with their granola.
iPuke when I read stuff like this.
These protestors only picked the one of the only world wide recognized computer product brand.
To call Apple irresposible for charging a $30 fee to recycle a product is silly. Why should Apple flip the bill.
I’m not sure about iPods and other computer products, but I recently bought a 27″ tv (in Alberta, Canada) and I was charged around $30 at point of sale for a disposal fee. It seemed like a rippoff. But I understand. It’s been happening on tires for a long time and it is a sure way to collect the fees.
Oops, The following:
“These protestors only picked the one of the only world wide recognized computer product brand.”
Should have read:
The protestors only picked the iPod because it is recognized world wide.
Thanks for the free advertising to sell more iPods
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Go tell ’em like it is, Steve!
Hey Dab2,
You and my nephew would get along nicely. We can’t keep him out of the thrift stores. He’s always bringing home legacy computer products. Most came out before he was born.
We had to pause the Napoleon Dynamite movie (during the thrift store scene) so he could identify all the products.
Bandit Bill:
You stole my thunder!
Details on the Alberta disposal fee (from the Apple website) here:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/canadastore.woa/70809/wo/1q2wsJApTZeL21L3tgXvMiS2eiM/0.0.11.1.0.6.15.0.8.0.0.0.0.3.1.1.0?90,45
What we don’t need is a manufacturer’s fee on the equipment for disposal plus a tax on the equipment for disposal. However, cynic that I am, I think that’s exactly what we are going to get.
BTW, Alberta’s politics are very conservative by Canadian standards. The party in power is called the “Progressive Conservative” party.
iSteve = wacko
‘mac user 47’ and ‘IDIOTS’ = right-wing nutjobs
These Envirocons (ie: Neocons and Theocons) are just attacking a high profile target to get attention. Apple is far from one being in the top 100 polluters in the world. Apple ain’t perfect, but there are far worse offenders when it comes to contributing to waste and pollution. I say it’s the responsibiltiy of the consumer to recycle if they want to. It’s not the manufacturer’s responsibility nor should it be mandated by the government.
Here’s their website:
http://www.computertakeback.com/bad_apple/bad_apple_biz.cfm
I wonder how many iPods it takes to equal the mass of even ONE trashed car in a sprawling junk yard?
I am very frustrated by how short sighted these groups tend to be. They look for the easy way out instead of looking at the big picture which is as follows.
Recycling is just one aspect of being environmentally sound The last to be exact. The two options before it are:
Reduce:
Apple Computers have a much longer life cycle. This reduces the amount of e-waste. HP and Dell can recycle more! Whoopideedoo(sp) they produce throw-away products with short life cycles (ie PCs, Printers, Toner, Keyboards, Mice, …) Are they saying that Apple doesn’t produce enough trash very short sighted.
The Mac mini is just the computer BYOKDM. I have a box in my attic full of keyboards and mice from old computers. Again Apple is reducing, not just the waste put the energy that goes into the production of these items.
Compare the how efficiently most macs use electricity it is amazing. The RISC architecture is a more efficient CPU. This i believe was part of the reason why V Tech used the mac for Big Mac because of the energy savings and the lower level of air conditioning needed. Again Apple reduces.
Apple is killed the CRT along time ago. True they brought it back (at the urging of the market) for the eMac, but they were easily the first computer maker to dump highly toxic CRTs. Reducing again the amount of toxins that need to be recycled.
Lastly in the reduce category. Apple doesn’t load a computer with out of date technology. The floppy died along time ago but PCs for the most part still come with them by default. Why? That just makes another piece that needs to be built, transported, and eventually recycled. Pathetic.
Apple is an industry leader when it comes to using the powering abilities of Firewire and USB. When I used a PC every peripheral had to have it own power cord and converter in addition to the USB or Firewire cord. Once I got my iBook that was a thing of the past. I have not used those power cords and converters since. What a waste.
Reuse.
Again Apple makes computers with staying power so even if one buys a new mac the old one can either be easily sold on eBay or used for a music server, Print server, or something else. I rarely hear people talk about throwing away a mac. Hell I still see first generation iMacs all over the place. This is not the case with PCs.
In the end these gung ho environmentalists are only making things worse by making the solution seem as simple as recycling. Recycling is a last resort. If you can reduce the amount of toxins produced. If you can reduce the amount of energy it takes for production. Make your products reusable and well designed so that they are not easily thrown away. Then in my mind the recycling issue is diminished.
Bullshit
I agree that companies aren’t responsible if consumers recycle or not, that’s a question for the public sector. However; in my opinion it IS their responsibility to make sure that their products can be recycled.
Living in a rather ecology-conscious society the criticism struck a nerve when they attacked Apple. I don’t know how Apple handles its manufacturing process, but adding an extra recycling-fee to their prices is just silly…
What we need are more incentives and costs to starting/running/maintaining businesses! Yeah!
Enviro wacko’s are in there own special world – why worry about the real one?
…”it IS their responsibility to make sure that their products can be recycled”
what if they can’t be? can everything be recycled? is everything you use recyclable? if not, should the companies that make those products be run out of business and their employees sent to find other jobs at more environmentally friendly places of business?
as far as the “Mac Recycling” issue goes…
I am a long-time member of a Mac User Group .. (MUG) .. whose mission is to receive donated legacy Macintoshes… refirbush them, and give them out to community organizations… free of charge !!
We have been doing this work for several years, now.. and have set up many “Mac-Labs” for various churches, after school youth orgs, and the like ..
We have a great relationship with a couple of local colleges and a large graphics firm who are very generous with their used Mac equipment, and count on us to “save the planet” by keeping these still usable Macs out of the landfills…
So far… the only complaint we’ve heard … is due to some dead PRAM batteries…
If more and more Mac User Groups would consider a similar program .. it seems to me these protesters would have less to complain about !
Also… I wonder if there are such things as “WinDoze User Groups” … and.. if so … would they even consider doing something like this ?
These losers are not real environmentalist; they are simply lazy hypocrites, unwilling to do anything real. Nobody would care a whit if they protested Dull or most any other company. Apple is high profile, so they protest, since they know that the event would be covered by the press and would spread across the internet in hours (and it did, didn’t it). We need to be environmentally aware and do our part, but these we can just dismiss out of hand. Real concern comes from doing your part, not from a publicity-seeking protest based on half-truth and implied (and real) slander.
Unfortunately, we’re likely to see a lot more of this.
Recycling fees, suburban sprawl, anti-Walmart — there’s some bullshit.
You clueless, socialist dunces won’t be happy until you’ve choked to death what’s left of the “free” market. And as the quality of life speeds downhill you will pathetically blame it on evil, greedy, capitalist litterbugs.
AOL discs and Dell junk mail. ’nuff said.
Bandit Bill,
believe it or not, I have actually owned all of these machines since they were new. I am tempted sometimes, when I see a old machine in good condition, to add it to my collection but then I remember that I have no space! I just can’t bring myself to get rid of these machines that have worked so well for me for such a long time.
Save a Tree..Kill an Inviornmentalist. Why is it with these people. They bitch about Computer parts, But they’ll castrate someone for putting a dog to sleep or even worst…How about the damage Auto’s do?
the whole PC industry was founded by environmentals who wanted to cut down paper use. Notice that Apple doesn’t make printers anymore. Granted, Lithium ion batteries are not edible, but silicon wafers are much more environmentally safe than petroleum products. We could do better with recycling, but the solution doesn’t come from industry volunteering as a result of some marketing ploy. The solution comes from the Law, the massive and sweeping implementation of federal and state law, which would affect hundreds of millions, and not just tens of millions. These environmentals should be at the throat of their real enemy: G.W. and the Republicans/Pseudo-Conservatives
twdldee: uhm.. no.
The PC industry wasn’t “founded” anymore than the calculator industry was “founded” to put an end to the “waste” of making sliderules.
chi guy,
Very well said.
I get a hoot out of the eviro-terrorists pushing electric cars, etc., as being more environmentally friendly and using less fossil fuels. But where does the electricity come from? How much energy is wasted pushing the electricity across long, lossy electric lines? Doesn’t the power company spew pollution in the air (the same one that powers the electric car)?
It’s not a perfect system, but the bozos can’t see past their own zeolotry and self-promotion to view the larger picture.
Is there really a recycling program at Apple? I don’t think you can bring an old Mac or iPod at an Apple Store so that they dispose of it correctly? (I mean REALLY correctly, removing heavy metals and such) If there is one, they don’t talk about it enough.
Before the iPod most MP3 players used AA and AAA batteries which are designed to be used once and thrown away. Most people choose CD players for music listening, meaning that CD-Rs get burned, used a few times and then get thrown away. Compared to the amount of disposed batteries and CD-Rs, the iPod contributes an insignificant amount of e-waste.
The group targeting the iPod are misguided fools. Get a clue hippies; Apple is part of the solution, not the problem.
To give some recycler-feedback, confirming the arguments that Chi Guy gave (which are dead-on by the way, wonder what industry you come from Chi Guy), I’ve been working as a consultant in facilities for e-Waste recycling in Singapore, Scotland and recently US, Tx.
In all my time, 5 years now, I have seen the latest and greatest wintel-boxes coming in to be scrapped and recycled. You name it, I’ve seen it. The moment something new comes out, we get it in as scrap as well. The quality and value of those boxes is nothing more than scrap the moment they leave the factory, really.
But funny enough, even when you take the lower amount of Apple Computers sold and all, I have never seen anything better than a G3 coming in to our various warehouses. And, G3’s only in the last 6 months. What comes in from Apple in huge quantities only now? Apple IIe’s, and the first Macintosh LE’s. That’s it, hardly anything else. Never seen an iMac G4, never even dreamt of seeing a G5.
Well, just to get even more to the point, I love to build computers from scrap components. Just nice and challenging to get a pallet-box of products, through them on a table for sorting, and take out cards and motherboards and memory, build it together and get it running again in an old casing.
Let me tell you that almost every attempt with an Apple Computer works just fine. For a wintel-box, you’ll need at least 10x as much material to sort out parts that are working, and even then, you’ll spend a lot of time getting it to work with drivers and all.
Recycling? Apple is pretty much on the forefront, as Chi Guy said:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
And nothing else
(Well, how about: The more you sell, the more uniformity in waste, the easier to have a proper solution for that waste)
Reply to Felix:
Here’s Apple’s site on their environmental policies:
http://www.apple.com/environment/
To What If:
Apparently I struck a nerve with you, but it’s not quite as single-sided as you make it out to be. Manufacturers don’t have the sole responsibility to make todays technology recycleable or finding better alternatives. You still have the option of how to store a non-recycleable part until the time it can be recycled. Today most materials used in consumer products can be, you just have to throw it in the right heap or to the right person.
The problem is that corporate environmental consciousness is such a longterm process. The first costs of altering your organization might damage quarterly results, and on a market that is obsessed of short time results that’s not exactly high priority. On a individual basis it is in my opinion purely an attitude issue and a matter of convenience.
Environmentalist thinking does not kill free market, it strengthens it.
We can’t possibly make everything totally ecology friendly, not with todays overpopulation or consumer attitude, it’s just not possible. What is possible though is to plant the thought that we should do as little damage as possible and hopefully, in a few centuries we haven’t totally offed ourselves. We might even have solved the entire issue.
This is about to become really off-topic, so I’m closing this now. I hope I’ve been stepping hard on certain peoples toes.
These guys (environmentaists) must have a copy of
Tiger and are using the Spotlight feature on Apple’s
Environmental policy files…
Granted…Steve Jobs will see this as a positive and
personally address the issue himself.
Good Greif!
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CT
as a big enviormentalist, these claims are close to bull… apple is the best at envionrmental things when it comes to computer companies…oh my