consumption
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Console power consumption charted by Aussie site
Australian consumer website Choice has delivered a fairly comprehensive chart regarding the cost of keeping our favorite electronics plugged in. The chart converts electrical cost into Australian dollars, so unless you live there, it might be more informative to compare the various energy measurements.The Wii is clearly the most energy efficient console currently on the market, which a similar study established last year. But despite the energy efficiency of all the consoles, we're sure Greenpeace still isn't happy with all the chemicals it takes to make our game-playing boxes of joy.[Via Wii Fanboy]
Radiohead ditches iTunes to keep album complete
Here's an interesting twist on the iTunes vs. record companies situation. Radiohead (disclaimer: I'm a Radiohead fan) is choosing not to sell their latest album on iTunes not because their record company is pressuring them out of the deal-- their record company is EMI, and they're more than willing to sell the record DRM free-- but because iTunes is forcing them to break up their album into songs that can be sold separately.Usually, I'm all for selling separate songs-- why should I pay for a whole album when I'm only going to listen to three or four songs? But when a request comes from the artist like this, it seems like a different ballgame. I'd like to buy Radiohead's album on iTunes, and if they want it complete, then that's the way I'd want to buy it. But because Apple has fought to keep songs separate, Radiohead isn't selling it with them at all. You might say that I wouldn't feel the same way about other artists, and you'd be right-- if Vanilla Ice required me to buy the entire To the Extreme just to listen to "Ice, Ice Baby," I'd decide it wasn't really worth it.But my personal tastes aside, the whole thing actually reminds me of Ed Burns talking about watching Godfather on the iPod-- the iTMS has fundamentally changed the way we purchase and consume media. The concept of "album" is losing meaning. For most iTunes purchasers, I'd imagine that's not a bad thing. But artists like Thom Yorke and Radiohead clearly aren't ready to see the album experience disappear, and they're willing to keep their music off of iTunes to fight it.[via MacBytes]
Scotland to get medieval on zombie gadgets
Remember that report in late 2004 that stated that as much as 10% of our energy draw could come from aggregate power use of devices in standby? Well, Scotland's mad as hell, and they're not gonna take it anymore. ScottishPower, Scotland's biggest power company, is calling for standby-free devices -- you know, like back in the good old days when an off device meant the device was off. In fact, according ScottishPower, gadgets in standby cost Scottish consumers over £62 million (about $108.5 million US) and produce 360,000 tons of CO2 annually. Of course the influence on the global consumer electronics market ScottishPower wields is, um, less than knightly, but if more power companies and government energy conservation programs (like EnergyStar) in more countries get behind ScottishPower, we might just be able to slow down this global warming thing (a little) with some clear(er) conscience devices.
