On Oct 18, 2004, at 11:58 AM, Phil Shapiro wrote:
there's talk on various apple news sites that the emac is nearing end-of-life. i sure hope that the next incarnation of the emac is a "headless" one -- without a monitor. there are literally millions of CRT monitors being decomissioned in homes and offices these days. it's best to put these older monitors to use with a new computer that doesn't come with a monitor.
The ecological argument on these monitors presupposes that there is some method by which these CRTs will be kept permanently out of the landfills. But that's just not so -- given usable lifespans and the shift in the market to LCDs (and the next wave of display technologies on deck starting in 2005), these devices are simply going to enter the trash stream at some point shortly. (Besides -- ever check out the energy budget of a CRT versus an LCD? I'm not so sure that it's not better to dump that CRT.)
Since I make my bread and butter from Apple computers, I'd be quite happy if Apple came up with a brilliant device at a price point cheap enough to get it into Cracker Jack boxes. But it's just not going to happen. Apple has been jumping up and down, waving its arms, saying, "We are not in the commodity computer market. The worst of what we sell is too good to sell that cheaply; if you want a $300 computer, look elsewhere."
On the other hand, what they get *very* little credit for is that what they sell has a longer lifespan than the rest of the industry, and as a result anyone who wants a $300 Mac can get one; it'll just be the one released two years ago. But so long as you're willing to avoid the hype of running today's software, it's going to last you for years. And I know that both Phil and I have our own Museums of Macs of Yore up and running to back that up.
Anyway -- if you want to pressure Apple, then there's better ways to do it. How about a program where old Macs can be brought to Apple Stores as distribution points for local nonprofits and schools? Cost: zero (excepting lost inventory space and staff time, both nonnegligible). Benefit: one more place where old computers are kept out of the trash stream and doing some good.
Best, Jeff Porten
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