Apple Backpedals, Puts "All Eligible Products" Back on EPEAT Environmental Registry

[ellsworth]

Even Apple kneels before Mother Nature and her rating agency.

 

[samcraig]

But if it's an act in good faith on EPEAT's part based on the vague explanation, then one must question whether EPEAT wouldn't have been so quick to act had Apple not pulled this stunt.

I don't think it was a stunt. And I think EPEAT and APPLE genuinely want to better the tool. That's all. Nothing nefarious or planned.

I can't pretend to know what actually occurred - and probably no one will ever really know what happened behind closed doors. But I can conjecture like everyone else. And I think that Apple figure that since their newest flagship products weren't going to be certified - they might not have seen a reason to keep their "older" products with an EPEAT rating. Why? I don't know. But they thought they would just pull everything so that if questioned - they could issue the statement that they did - that EPEAT'S standards are outdated.

It's hard to "brag" about some of your products being certified (which they did on their site) and also state their standards are outdated (for the new products). It's a contradiction. By removing themselves - they could just state they think EPEAT isn't important (relevant).

Unfortunately - it backfired. And here we are.

 

[Judas1]

Yeah, a waste of time and money for Apple, just to comply with an outdate and flawed standard, just as you said, like paying protection to the mob.

And all that, just to calm the ignorants who don't really understand what EPEAT is, and who believe that if Apple doesn't comply with EPEAT, then it's an enemy of the environment.

There's no cost to Apple to keep the compliant products certified. But they chose to withdraw completely. What kind of statement does that make? That the environment is no longer part of their vision. They'd rather pursue ever thinner and prettier products instead. But maybe me and people like me are just ignorant of the truth: EPEAT bad, Apple good.

 

[Swift]

A Mistake

I think what they'll do is help the standard to "evolve". That's what they should have done from the start. They've contributed to the standard greatly. Now that tablets are de facto not going to be up to this standard, the standard will have to evolve. The publicity was bad.

 

[warschauer]

It's possible that this was Apple using their weight to change the standards.

I think that you nailed it. My guess is that anybody who sees this as an "unforced error" is very naive. A multi-billion juggernaut like Apple simply doesn't make those kind of errors. Apple wanted to force EPEAT's hand on something, and, having achieved their objectives, they backed off.

This may be related to the fact that the Retina MacBook Pro suddenly meets EPEAT's standards, or it may be related to some broader future issues. Either way, I expect that Apple got what it wanted out of this.

You don't expect Apple to announce publicly that this was all part of a power play, do you?

 

[Rogifan]

There's no cost to Apple to keep the compliant products certified. But they chose to withdraw completely. What kind of statement does that make? That the environment is no longer part of their vision. They'd rather pursue ever thinner and prettier products instead. But maybe me and people like me are just ignorant of the truth: EPEAT bad, Apple good.

Apple's products are no more or less recyclable today than they were yesterday or a month ago. What does EPEAT have to do with their commitment to the environment. If EPEAT ceased to exist tomorrow would Apple suddenly become bad for the environment?

 

[swingerofbirch]

I dare say Apple is rather mercurial when it comes to the environment!

Get it?

 

[samcraig]

I think that you nailed it. My guess is that anybody who sees this as an "unforced error" is very naive. A multi-billion juggernaut like Apple simply doesn't make those kind of errors. Apple wanted to force EPEAT's hand on something, and, having achieved their objectives, they backed off.

This may be related to the fact that the Retina MacBook Pro suddenly meets EPEAT's standards, or it may be related to some broader future issues. Either way, I expect that Apple got what it wanted out of this.

You don't expect Apple to announce publicly that this was all part of a power play, do you?

Ask yourself why EPEAT would give a crap either way? They aren't in the business to make money. They don't have stockholders. And despite Apple's slam in their press statement - it wasn't them that was under fire.

You know when the CEO of Coca-Cola was asked if it was a strategic move to introduce New Coke and pull old Coke off the shelf and then go back after a huge demand was created, the CEO stated, "the truth is - we're not that dumb... and we're not that smart"

In other words - they made a decision. It didn't play out the way they thought it would and did the best thing they could correct the situation.

 

[BornAgainApple]

1 step forward, 2 steps back

 

[PracticalMac]

If EPEAT is outdated, then Apple should make that an issue, not did what they did, which was dumb (short of outright stupid)

 

[Judas1]

Apple's products are no more or less recyclable today than they were yesterday or a month ago. What does EPEAT have to do with their commitment to the environment. If EPEAT ceased to exist tomorrow would Apple suddenly become bad for the environment?

The rMBP is less recyclable than the old MBP. Apple is pursuing products that will be less and less environmentally friendly. The complete pull out from EPEAT show they no longer support the standards that EPEAT represents.

 

[Mak47]

This whole scenario was very strange.
I can only surmise that there was a wiz-bang cat fight behind closed doors about "standards needing to evolve" before it all boiled over in public.

My guess is that EPEAT decided to slam the rMBP in the longevity/life extension category (the whole "least repairable laptop ever" thing) which could have taken it out of gold certification. That's obviously the future of Apple notebooks, so it's a big deal to Apple and it's better to deal with the fallout now than after they update the entire line.

Apple's argument was likely that the notebooks are just as repairable as any other notebook that Apple sells, you just need Apple to make most of the repairs.

The two sides clawed at each other for a while until one of them took their toys and went home. Apple pulled everything from the list, effectively saying EPEAT was not a viable standard for modern computers. A few government agencies made a public stink that they wouldn't buy the computers anymore.

EPEAT saw a large number of popular computers removed from their list. If Apple, a major proponent of EPEAT, is no longer a participant that's problematic. It tells other manufacturers that they too can disregard the standard. Eventually, the industry would develop its own standard and self regulate, which isn't an outcome that is friendly to bureaucrat paychecks.

In the end, EPEAT decided to give in to Apple. As a result, Apple instantly cooperated again having never tarnished the image of the EPEAT concept. It's likely that the exact scoring methodology will be reviewed in detail in the near future.

This is just my two cents, but based on the rMBP being certified as gold, I really don't think Apple was the losing side here.

 

[kdarling]

IMy guess is that anybody who sees this as an "unforced error" is very naive.

It's unbelievable that anyone would try to spin this as planned. If Apple wanted changes, they'd have done it quietly.

No company wants huge negative publicity like this.

A multi-billion juggernaut like Apple simply doesn't make those kind of errors.

Google the phrase "Apple backpedals". It's been a common refrain for a decade.

Apple constantly tries to be in total control. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Mad-B-One]

This is just my two cents, but based on the rMBP being certified as gold, I really don't think Apple was the losing side here.

Sadly, I have to agree. 21 points and the Mac Mini only gets 18. That is sad. They should at least have it rated worse or not better than a computer on which I can put in and/or replace a SSD or HD or optical drive, RAM, etc.

Edit: Well, maybe they created a new standard (humor me here):

Gluebook:
-Less use of these unneeded screws
-Less of that temptation for customers to fiddle with their device
-less parts (Battery, trackpad, trackpad cable, housing counting as one, display assembly incl. back shell as another one)

 

[rmwebs]

This is Apple without Steve J

I wonder if these stupid comments will ever end.

It's really pointless saying that. You've got no clue or idea what would or would not have happened had Job not passed away. For all we know this has been in the pipeline for ages. Given that the retinabook would have been in development for a long time, they would have known about potential EPEAT issues very early in its development.

 

[iBreatheApple]

"I recognize that this was a mistake."

I respect Apple so much for owning up like this.

 

[samcraig]

EPEAT saw a large number of popular computers removed from their list. If Apple, a major proponent of EPEAT, is no longer a participant that's problematic. It tells other manufacturers that they too can disregard the standard. Eventually, the industry would develop its own standard and self regulate, which isn't an outcome that is friendly to bureaucrat paychecks.

In the end, EPEAT decided to give in to Apple. As a result, Apple instantly cooperated again having never tarnished the image of the EPEAT concept. It's likely that the exact scoring methodology will be reviewed in detail in the near future.

This is just my two cents, but based on the rMBP being certified as gold, I really don't think Apple was the losing side here.

Yeah. I just don't see it that way at all. I think a lot of people who support Apple (and some no matter what) will want to spin this in Apple's favor no matter what.

As I've said now (twice) - Apple had more to lose both in PR and being out of favor with stockholders and such to appease.

It was a miscalculation that was easily fixed. So they fixed it.

 

[MacDav]

You know what Bob? MAJOR CREDIBILITY GAIN HERE!

I'm actually pretty well versed on EPEAT standards and, while it is true they need to be updated (they are about 18 months behind the industry curve right now), I was very disappointed to hear that Apple just yanked support rather than try to use their weight to change the standards to something that made more sense not just for Apple but for the rest of the industry.

Big thumbs up in my book here...everybody wins!

Agree 100%

 

[JoeG4]

I think they should just save even more weight by welding the MBP shut. Then we wouldn't need pesky things like seams and screws, which would save weight and make the case more solid.

 

[String]

Not so wise in the first place, wise in the second place.

 

[lilo777]

I think that you nailed it. My guess is that anybody who sees this as an "unforced error" is very naive. A multi-billion juggernaut like Apple simply doesn't make those kind of errors.

That's your opinion. Now let's look as what Apple (Bob Mansfield) said. Quote: "I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT."

Yes, multi-billion juggernaut like Apple does this kind of mistakes all the time. Just recall how many times they had to change their App Store policies admitting their mistakes.

 

[FakeWozniak]

I think this was an intentional campaign by Apple to promote their products.
1) EPEAT standards are outdated
2) Apple is the most environmentally conscious tech/consumer goods company
3) older criteria make Apple look typical, or even slightly worse

By making a big deal out of this, Apple got free PR to focus on how good they are environmentally, and are forcing updates to EPEAT criteria.

Well played Apple, well played!

 

[AppleScruff1]

It sounds like EPEAT needs to evolve, and Apple just kicked their ass to do so. Hopefully Apple never compromises on design to fit some external, outdated environmental standard. Perhaps soon EPEAT will change, and Apple will be the only ones complying with it, having written the standards themselves.

Or maybe Apple realized the fallout from the decision and aren't as high and mighty as they think?

 

[NewAnger]

It seems that Apple doesn't think things through before making decisions as in this case. I'm laughing at this one.

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Or maybe Apple realized the fallout from the decision and aren't as high and mighty as they think?

This.

 

[Jimrod]

What's the betting on this being true...

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/blog/1482786/iphone_5_official_release_date_revealed_as_august_7.html