consumerism
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Book criticizes Apple's recycling program, consumers in general
Macworld took a look at a new book by writer Adam Minter today; Junkyard Planet (US$25.99, Bloomsbury Press) explores the business of recycling, and in an excerpt from his book published by the website, Minter takes Apple to task on the effectiveness of its recycling program and attempts to lay guilt on the consuming public as well. Starting off, Minter appears to have an issue with a comment on Apple's FAQ for its recycling program, where the company reassures potential recyclers that, "You are also ensuring that products that have reached the end of their useful life are recycled in an environmentally responsible manner in North America." Rather than taking Apple at its word (the company wouldn't tell him where the items were refurbished in North America), Minter immediately assumed that the work is being done outside the US, but quickly adds that "offering technically oriented employment to people in poor countries is a good thing." After taking the lying corporation to the woodshed, Minter then finds fit to chastise consumers in general. He apparently doesn't realize that by publishing his book, he's killing trees (I seriously doubt if Bloomsbury is using 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper, hemp covers and artisanal soy ink in printing its books...), encouraging people to buy more e-readers and causing the consumption of energy through shipping physical books and recharging batteries. His main problem? The results of some experiments that suggest "that the addition of a recycling option can lead to increased resource usage" and that by offering a recycling option, Apple is encouraging people to buy new products. Minter's next target? "Tight design," particularly aiming at the MacBook Air as an example of a product that is "built to be shredded, not repaired, upgraded and reused" when it is no longer useful. Yes, a lot of MacBook users miss the days when they could add RAM, a larger hard drive and a new battery pack to extend the life of an old device, but the incredible popularity of the MacBook Air's "tight design" seems to indicate that most consumers really don't give a rip about upgrading old devices -- they'd rather have a sleek, lightweight and ultimately refurbishable laptop. I won't go into more detail about the book, the Macworld excerpt or the premise of both, other than to say if Minter and some of his readers are that concerned about the impact of Apple on the planet, they should just not buy its products or any other consumer electronics. Things aren't going to change overnight, and it appears to me (and environmental organizations) that Apple has been making progress that will ultimately lead to very earth-friendly products.
Massively's big fat Black Friday roundup: 2011 edition
So apparently there's this thing called Black Friday. This is news to me because shopping isn't really my thing, see, especially if it involves looking for parking spaces, Christmas music, or entering a retail establishment of any sort (regardless of season). OK, I do occasionally make allowances for the grocery store. Anyway, when it comes to holiday consumerism, fortunately there's this place called the intarwebs, where savvy merchants have taken to selling all manner of whatever and delivering it directly to your front door with the bare minimum of fuss. I hear there are even a few deals and steals for the budget-conscious MMO fiend in this land of digital plenty, and you should head past the break for links to a few of the more noteworthy sales.
Mobile devices may outnumber humans in the US, but they can't take our soul
We're not really sure what to make of this, but it looks like Americans may be under siege... from their own cellphones. No, seriously -- according to the latest survey from CTIA, there are now more mobile devices in the US than there are human beings. The trade association's semi-annual statistics show that during the first six months of 2011, the number of wireless subscriptions rose by nine percent over the previous year, to a total of 327.6 million. The combined population of the US, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, by comparison, is around 315 million. That translates to a nationwide wireless penetration rate of 103.9 percent, and, not surprisingly, a 111 percent surge in data usage. CTIA says these results highlight "the industry's need to purchase more spectrum from the federal government," as well as our collective need to get a life. You can find more crunch-able numbers in the full PR, after the break. [Image courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art]
Global Chat: Dollars and cents edition
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! Global Chat this week is all about money. Be it real-world cash or piles of virtual gold, money is the foundation of much of our MMO experience. Ready to see what some of our best commenters had to say about all sorts of transactions this week? Follow along after the jump!
Researching consumption in Second Life
The University of California, Riverside, Sloan Center for Internet Retailing will be opening a two-sim island in Second Life to study consumer behaviour in virtual worlds.They will use this space to create a "live-work-play" environment for their subjects on one island, whilst the other will offer space for observers and interested parties. More details can be found in one of their forum posts. Whilst one has to wonder just how they will test all aspects of virtual world consumerism in such a limited space, I am sure it will be of interest to many. If you would like to know more about this project their website is available here, with blogs by author and fora.(Via Sloan Center for Internet Retailing, UCR)
