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Forced obsolesence and environmental issues

D

dusanv

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 1, 2006
351
0
I got 2 PPC Macs in the family (a 1.25 GHz mini and an MDD PowerMac) that are still used daily. Those machines are still quick. If it weren't for forced obsolescence by Apple (and now Mozilla as well it seems), they would be used for a good long while still.

How much energy and materials is used to make and fly over a new computer? And what to do with the old one? Onto a trash heep? I'm just a little frustrated.

Seems that between cash and environment, cash is the quick choice.
 
dusanv said:
I got 2 PPC Macs in the family (a 1.25 GHz mini and an MDD PowerMac) that are still used daily. Those machines are still quick. If it weren't for forced obsolescence by Apple (and now Mozilla as well it seems), they would be used for a good long while still.

How much energy and materials is used to make and fly over a new computer? And what to do with the old one? Onto a trash heep? I'm just a little frustrated.

Seems that between cash and environment, cash is the quick choice.
Click to expand...


Who is forcing you to upgrade?

PCs can be recycled, BTW. Check with your city or town for its rules.
 
the mini power consumption at max is 85w which is about half the average usage of the 30" dell in your signature. don't even want to look up the MP or MBP...

just wondering what the thread is about. :confused:

if they work use them. if not, recycle through Apple to get money for more swag, or even better - local to save fuel/shipping/etc which would reduce the carbon damage even more.

good luck, and go green!
 
dusanv said:
I got 2 PPC Macs in the family (a 1.25 GHz mini and an MDD PowerMac) that are still used daily. Those machines are still quick. If it weren't for forced obsolescence by Apple (and now Mozilla as well it seems), they would be used for a good long while still.

How much energy and materials is used to make and fly over a new computer? And what to do with the old one? Onto a trash heep? I'm just a little frustrated.

Seems that between cash and environment, cash is the quick choice.
Click to expand...

nobody can force you , and for mozilla not supporting them any more just download Tenfourfox , it is firefox 4 for tiger , just not made by mozilla , but the same code, as the code of mozillas firefox is open source (runs under leopard too ), and there are if you search around in goolge still people who are enthusiastic enough to develop apps for ppc architecture and try to develop alternative apps
here a link to tenfourfox and its not beta any more and works great
http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/

but dont be upset , you are not alone . even the owners of the later mini intel 1.5 ghz core solo and 1.66 ghz core duo struggle as well if they try to watch videos at 1080p , and just manage 720p , its how OSX and flashplayer for osx work ,

i tried Morph OS another operating system made specifically for PPC minis and eMacs and some PowerMac G4 (depending on GPU)and no its not linux based showed no such limitations on my eMac 1.25 overclocked to 1.42 playing all HD youtube videos stutter free streamed !!!! through mplayer , not to mention the incredible boot times of that OS and its getting better with every release now at 2.7
watch these videos and you know what you need to do , its not free , but worth every penny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLz33qXOvnI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TomrykR0AIc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBl_yfGHm34&feature=related
 
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MorphOS

Speaking of this nice operating system, when will it be out for the last Powerbook g4's(Mine is the hi-res w/128MB Radeon mobility 9700) and also for the G5 Quad?

I heard nothing but GREAT reviews of this OS and I am also proud that there are still many developers around, dedicated to keeping ALIVE the PowerPC.. This is high time for those who have PPC macs.. I am one of them, and yet I have also an Intel Mac Pro 2010 which with open arms(sarcastically speaking) hugs my powerpc macs as if they are its older brothers..

There is nothing wrong with owning a PPC mac, not by a long shot.. I love my G5 and my Mac Pro the same.. and I expect those who have PPC macs and Intel to share their abilities through firewire or ethernet - trust me. Don't let Mozilla, Adobe, Apple(yes, sad to say) force you to upgrade and toss out a perfectly well made and designed machine.. a Dual 1.42 or 1.25 is no slouch.. and with SATA cards available for them - makes a fine addition to your current line up.

If PowerPC is so so bad... then why has it made its way into Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 - and yes, those can run other OS'es also. There is nothing wrong with PPC.. forced obsolecense does not work in this case..

SO long as the computer does what YOU want it to do, and without any limitations - it will NEVER, I repeat NEVER be truly obsolete. I wouldn't be surprised to find out others running pre-powerpc machines these days. Despite what Apple and others have said, PowerPC is not a failure.. it never was a failure..
 
1) I reject your use of "forced obsolescence". Your computers still run. Until they do not do what you want them to do, they do not need to be replaced. There are those whi have early Intel Macs, yet their needs demand newer Macs. I have a 2009 Mac Pro and 2 PPC iMacs (one of which is a 2003 G4) All get used in my household.
2) You can recycle or donate your computers if they no longer serve your needs.
3) As for PowerPC...Apple never said it was a failure. The G5 never lived up to expectations and the supplier couldn't keep up with Intel.
 
Joshuarocks said:
Speaking of this nice operating system, when will it be out for the last Powerbook g4's(Mine is the hi-res w/128MB Radeon mobility 9700) and also for the G5 Quad?

I heard nothing but GREAT reviews of this OS and I am also proud that there are still many developers around, dedicated to keeping ALIVE the PowerPC.. This is high time for those who have PPC macs.. I am one of them, and yet I have also an Intel Mac Pro 2010 which with open arms(sarcastically speaking) hugs my powerpc macs as if they are its older brothers..

There is nothing wrong with owning a PPC mac, not by a long shot.. I love my G5 and my Mac Pro the same.. and I expect those who have PPC macs and Intel to share their abilities through firewire or ethernet - trust me. Don't let Mozilla, Adobe, Apple(yes, sad to say) force you to upgrade and toss out a perfectly well made and designed machine.. a Dual 1.42 or 1.25 is no slouch.. and with SATA cards available for them - makes a fine addition to your current line up.

If PowerPC is so so bad... then why has it made its way into Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 - and yes, those can run other OS'es also. There is nothing wrong with PPC.. forced obsolecense does not work in this case..

SO long as the computer does what YOU want it to do, and without any limitations - it will NEVER, I repeat NEVER be truly obsolete. I wouldn't be surprised to find out others running pre-powerpc machines these days. Despite what Apple and others have said, PowerPC is not a failure.. it never was a failure..
Click to expand...

for the PowerBook ther is nothing released yet , but i guess soon as on the amiga event in essen there was a PowerBook G4 1.67 with ati 9700 on display that worked already with morphos 3.0 ,which is not released yet , just because behind MorphOS is not a billion dollar company like Apple or Microsoft , its a bunch of enthusiasts who develop the OS in their sheds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V89YwHFoXyw

powerpc is not bad at all , and apple only really switched because of performance per watt , the ppc G5's at that time had just used to much energy , and therefore been to hot to make slim computers with low power consumption , if apple and its customers had been a bit more patient , freescale came up with low power ppc processors just after the transition the PPC G4 7448 which can easy keep up with core duos of that time and only god knows what would have been next with a partner like apple , the power7 processors from ibm run happy circles around any intel processor , they are just not made to be used in slim computers and dont care about power consumption
and to prove i am right here the spec's of the power7 that would have been the ideal processor now for a PowerMac G7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POWER7 beat that intel :p

but again its more the fault of apple customers who just cant wait , just look around as soon as apple is introducing a iMac or any other product they already ask for the next one the day after the release , and impatiently want more ghz faster gpu's , and what else , just never satisfied , they wont give apple time to improve the OS to make full use of existing hardware and they dont give apple time to really test a product before its release

btw i just try to get a mini G4 1.5 for morph OS of ebay (looking for the cheapest and best condition like always , so can take a while to find the one )
 
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4JNA said:
the mini power consumption at max is 85w which is about half the average usage of the 30" dell in your signature. don't even want to look up the MP or MBP...
Click to expand...

True about the 30''. The brick on the MBP is 85W also, FYI, but normal consumption is around 25W unless it's charging and ripping a movie or something. Bear in mind I'm not declaring myself a greenie (despite using CFLs all round the house and driving a 4 banger and so on and so forth). Apple on the other hand is (Al Gore being on board and all).

I realized I might have to junk 2 perfectly good PPCs and I'm annoyed at the waste. That's all.

For all saying that nobody is making me upgrade, that's not true. Once you stop receiving software updates, the platform is dead. You want HTML 5? Tough luck. Security updates? Go cry to moma.

I'll try TenFourFox. I didn't know about MorphOS. Thanks for the suggestions...

RE Nameci: out of my cold, dead hands :)
 
dusanv said:
True about the 30''. The brick on the MBP is 85W also, FYI, but normal consumption is around 25W unless it's charging and ripping a movie or something. Bear in mind I'm not declaring myself a greenie (despite using CFLs all round the house and driving a 4 banger and so on and so forth). Apple on the other hand is (Al Gore being on board and all).

I realized I might have to junk 2 perfectly good PPCs and I'm annoyed at the waste. That's all.

For all saying that nobody is making me upgrade, that's not true. Once you stop receiving software updates, the platform is dead. You want HTML 5? Tough luck. Security updates? Go cry to moma.

I'll try TenFourFox. I didn't know about MorphOS. Thanks for the suggestions...

RE Nameci: out of my cold, dead hands :)
Click to expand...

HTML5 works perfectly on my PowerBook G4.. in case you haven't figured out the new HTML5 breathes new life into the PowerPC.. and I am all for HTML5 to crush flash which even on intel macs is also troublesome..

As I said.. so long as the PPC machine you own can do everything you throw at it, it will never truly be obsolete. I am typing this right now on my 17 inch PowerBook G4 and I love it.. Slow? maybe in some things and faster in others.

Bear in mind I don't use my powerbook for anything heavy, in terms of video editing or compression, but it does burn dvd's nicely and can also do quite nicely with other less processor intensive tasks. I can even play older games on this.

I am sad that you will have to trash two good PPC macs.. I only wish I could offer assistance in helping you to decide on keeping them somehow.

Good luck to you on that.

Josh.
 
I'm just annoyed but I'm not going to give them up so easily. And yes, Flash is slow even on the new-ish MBP. Go HTML 5!

Thanks Josh :)
 
Donate!

I just donated two 1999-era iMac DV SE's and one 2002 flat panel iMac to my daughter's preschool and the kids love them! Their previous tangerine iMac and one other Windows desktop had just died so it was perfect timing! I installed Panther 10.3 on the iMac DV SE's and 10.4 Panther on the flat panel iMac along with Classic so that most of their really OLD games could still be played. The teachers really appreciated the computers. I have to say it was a great feeling and those iMacs still had some life left in them.
:cool:

Something to consider!
 
dusanv said:
...I realized I might have to junk 2 perfectly good PPCs and I'm annoyed at the waste. That's all...
Click to expand...

I'm 100% serious when I say I'd buy your Mini. :)

There is really no need to "junk" PPC Macs. They still make great donation or cheap sale machines, and will make someone else happy who doesn't need the latest and greatest. ~raises hand~

There are also many great uses for old computers. My #1 ideal use for a retired computer would be as a media hub connected to a TV - my current interest at the moment.

Even dead PPC Macs - or any computer for that matter - people are always interested in buying them for parts, and if you have no takers, giving them to a local Apple computer tech place will at least benefit that little tech joint, as well as putting what's left of the computer to good use.

All in all, those who waste technology by junking it should seriously be educated, because there's no excuse. Don't be a sheep, man!
 
you could even donate them to underdeveloped countries ,for schools there , most people there are still 20 years behind the rest of the world in some countries it seems even more like 200 years if you ignore that even some kids there run around with AK47's

and i am sure they care less about if the Mac can do HD video with flashplayer or not , for them even a iMac G3 that gets thrown away at ebay for peanuts , is a computer they would never be able to afford
there are millions on this earth who have less then 1 dollar a day to live on and these people are not just lazy beggars who don't deserve better :(
and i guess among us MacRumors members are lots of G3/G4 Mac's sitting in lofts and sheds still working , but waiting to get dumped one day , because they wont fetch a fortune on ebay and cant run snow leopard or the latest apps , but they still can do word/spreadsheets and such , even basic web surfing , so why fill up landfill sites with them ,when you could make some underprivileged kids and even adults around the world very happy and give them a chance to get a better future
 
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And why not make it a cause for MacRumors? I think if all of the members here that have plenty of macs in life and that they are willing to part with it somehow could well donate it.
 
It's definitely a worthy cause. I donated by old B&W (in perfect order and upgraded fully) with a my old 19'' Sony monitor to a family near where I live.

But I'm annoyed how quickly these things get obsoleted...
 
thats the only way how things are today

in the old days we lived in huts and used the same tools for over hundred generations without ever needing new ones , but then we humans got a clever idea to declare these tools as obsolete , so we had to buy new ones every year , making the companies who build them for us richer and we who think we desperately need the tools got poorer ,as the companies quickly found a way of making us buy stuff we would never have thought about that we could ever need , and to make us feel good about it they gave it a name and called it progress

so if you dont throw out everything in your household every year and replace it with new things then you are simply against progress (the idea that the world can become increasingly better in terms of science, technology, modernization, liberty, democracy, quality of life)
 
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