Comment: Too much hot air over green PCs

 

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Posted on 6 Jun 2007 at 12:56

Technology companies are currently spending an awful lot of energy trying to convince us of their green credentials. However, most of it appears to be hot air rather than concerted efforts to save the planet.

Earlier this year, PC World boasted it would 'develop the world's most energy efficient and environmentally friendly PC'. There were just two problems: the PC hadn't even made it as far as the drawing board and the company didn't have the first clue how it would measure the machine's environmental impact.

The machine was, a spokesman assured us, 'aspirational'. Presumably PC World aspires towards peace in Iraq and an end to child poverty, but it's no closer to solving those problems either.

Now Dell has gone a step further. In a press release that's long on hyperbole but short on substance, the PC behemoth claims it will 'become the greenest technology company on Earth for the long term.' How will Dell measure whether it's greener than, say, HP or Sony? Greenpeace's ranking of technology companies, perhaps, which currently places Dell in fourth? The press release left us none-the-wiser, although Dell's PR arm insists that Dell 'will continue to compare its overall environmental record against its primary competitors just as it does now'. Let's hope it publishes that information.

Dell also plans to give PC World a run for its polar ice caps in the green PC competition. In what has the faint-whiff of a PR stunt, the PC maker is 'asking its customers for their ideas in building "the greenest PC on the planet"'. Why does it need to consult the public? Greenpeace has a comprehensive list of dangerous chemicals it wants removed from computers and professional bodies such as Energy Star can advise on power consumption. If Dell was really serious about building the ultimate green machine, it would get cracking now.

I'm not arguing that PC manufacturers taking an interest in the environment is a bad thing. Indeed, Dell deserves credit for its recycling schemes and 'Plant a Tree for Me' programme. However, the headline-grabbing soundbites are no substitute for genuine eco-friendly initiatives. And it takes attention away from companies such as Tranquil, who were building green PCs long before David Cameron started posing next to seal cubs in the Arctic.

The likes of PC World and Dell should save a few trees and hold back the press releases until they have something worthwhile to boast about.

Author: Barry Collins