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iPhone not green and bad for customers: why has Apple done this again?

I would imagine the average user will require battery replacement in Summer 2009. Let's keep track of every iPhone; I am sure we could neatly stack a few million at the bottom of the Dead Sea.

Apple developed a revolutionary product that delivers unparalleled battery life. Surely, with time, the technology will evolve into a greener solution. We live in the technology age and we are a better educated world. Forums, blogs, and reviews bring knowledge to the masses faster than ever thought possible; not withstanding the very data you have based your OP on.

The iPhone has satisfied my every need from Day One. It is the ultimate solution and eliminates the purchase of countless other devices, all with equally ungreen lithium batteries, that I would be otherwise be indulging in over the next two years instead.
 
willie45 said:
All right. Can we agree that Apple could and should do more to promote environmentally friendly strategies in the electronics industry?
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Sure. Everyone could and should. In fact, Apple's actually doing MUCH BETTER than many other manufacturers. They've phased out the use of MANY hazardous chemicals where other companies like Dell and Gateway have merely "announced that they will" at some point in the future. However, they're the perennial whipping boy for Greenpeace since they're high-profile.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about more environmentally friendly practices. However, being a prat about it will win you no supporters. When all you can do is hammer the same non-points and then lambaste anyone who calls you on it, it makes you seem like a troll. Don't be surprised when people respond in kind.
 
Apple and others need to realize this problem, and at least they are starting to do so. Many other companies just laugh at the notion.
 
I am not certain the battery is replaceable, and if it is would still require shipement back and forth to the factory for the work to be carried out. In other ways too, the iphone is a poor performer in terms of the environment. It contains toxic chemicals which other manufaturers have since phased out. Apple, lamely, have stated they will phase these out by the end of next year. Strange philoshop when the iPhone only came out this year.

I do wish you would put aside your prejudice and take on the idea that multi-nationals, even Apple, have some responsibilities.
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NICE!!! Once you realize your original argument was complete bunk you switch arguments.

This is almost the defining factor of a troll. So don't be offended when you are accused of trolling.

Let's all live like cavemen again so we don't effect the environment. k? Oh, wait we'd still be effecting the environment. I guess we'd have to shoot ourselves to Mars and kill that planet so earth can live in peaceful freedom.
 
Bernie-Mac said:
Man i hate tree-huggers
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And anyone else who disagrees with you I suspect.

The vitriol in this thread is unbelievable. I am aware not all Apple customers are like you but my goodness, there seem to be quite a few
 
willie45 said:
And anyone else who disagrees with you I suspect.

The vitriol in this thread is unbelievable. I am aware not all Apple customers are like you but my goodness, there seem to be quite a few
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As someone said before, how is a replaceable battery going to heal mother earth? Ok so instead of throwing away the old phone with a irreplaceable battery in it, lets throw away the old battery and replace that with a new one?
 
I can see I'm not going to convince anyone here that I'm right so I will give way gracefully. I can also see that my original point was contentious and perhaps made others irritated. I didn't actually mean to troll and rile everyone here. I just think that as Apple is a world leader they should show more leadership in the green issue too.

Anyway, contrary to what you might think, I don't want to fall out with anyone here, and I can see how some of the points made are perfectly valid so I withdraw my criticism with the caveat that Apple should do better, and we, as customers, should be urging them on.

Thanks for the informed views and sorry if I annoyed you all. I do use Apple products and want to continue to do so. I just feel we should call them to account when the need arises. You might feel I have chosen the wrong issue to call them on; fair enough.

Willie
 
It's really a conspiracy between Apple & Greenpeace!

I have it on good authority that Al Gore was brought on to Apple's BoD to work covertly with Greenpeace to shed light on their environmental practices. The reason was to keep Apple in the public eye, boosting marketshare, but doing it with spurious and misleading claims (and easily refuted), and thus distracting the world from what Apple is REALLY doing in the manufacture of the iPhone (and ALL their other products):

To manufacture a SINGLE iPhone, it is estimated that as much as TEN GALLONS of the highly toxic DHMO is used, and then simply DUMPED! Globally, across all product lines, Apple has used nearly FOUR BILLION GALLONS of this substance!

Write your congressperson (or MP) now, email Steve Jobs, and demand an immediate end to this horrific practice!

Learn more: www.dhmo.org


I wasn't going to post again, but this thread is just too amusing...
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
I have it on good authority that Al Gore was brought on to Apple's BoD to work covertly with Greenpeace to shed light on their environmental practices. The reason was to keep Apple in the public eye, boosting marketshare, but doing it with spurious and misleading claims (and easily refuted), and thus distracting the world from what Apple is REALLY doing in the manufacture of the iPhone (and ALL their other products):

To manufacture a SINGLE iPhone, it is estimated that as much as TEN GALLONS of the highly toxic DHMO is used, and then simply DUMPED! Globally, across all product lines, Apple has used nearly FOUR BILLION GALLONS of this substance!

Write your congressperson (or MP) now, email Steve Jobs, and demand an immediate end to this horrific practice!

Learn more: www.dhmo.org


I wasn't going to post again, but this thread is just too amusing...
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LOL I haven't seen the DHMO thing in years. It's still funny.
 
willie45 said:
I didn't actually mean to troll and rile everyone here. I just think that as Apple is a world leader they should show more leadership in the green issue too.
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Really? You weren't trolling?

willie45 said:
This makes a nice profit for Apple when the naive individuals who have parted with their cash for one of these extraordinarily meaningless and overpriced pieces of plastic...

All but the most stupid of Apple religionists, will know that Apple are the most cynically exploitative of companies...
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that "trolling" does not mean what you think it means.

Willie
 
willie45 said:
I am being very restrained here Bernie :)
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Unrestrain yourself, but bring a better argument.

What does "Green" mean? What is bad about the non-user replaceable battery from an environmental standpoint? Is it worse than the likelyhood a customer would chuck their old battery in the trash.

Apple has the best consumer electronics recycling program of any US computer company, they take old computers at no charge if you drop them off in a store.

Could Apple do more? Of course they could, but is it reasonable, and more importantly can are their suppliers able to do more?
 
willie45 said:
They have consistently shown that they do not care unless it affects their profit margins.
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And this makes Apple different from every other company on the planet... how? You're just picking on Apple because it's "easy" to, rather than trying to proactively do something constructive to actually help the planet.

From what I remember, Apple's greenpeace rating used to be something like 3.6 out of 10. They were continuously ripping Apple for all of these alleged environmental problem. Then Steve Jobs wrote an open letter that blasted Greenpeace and pointed out all of the flaws in their rating and how they are on the cutting edge of environmental preservation. A few days after that letter, lo-and-behold, Greenpeace's rating of Apple suddenly doubled. Had Apple suddenly changed? No. It was the same Apple. Greenpeace's rating was flawed and exaggerated. It still is. Greenpeace made a few non-appology statements and, having thoroughly shoved their foot into their own mouth, made ridiculous blanket statements about how they're going to keep an eye on Apple and so forth. Please. Greenpeace is just trying to make up sensationalist news so that they can get their name out there more.

Also, if you want people to be more sympathetic to your argument, name-calling and character bashing should be avoided. Also, making false blanket statements like "if you like Apple, you must have voted for Bush" also severely weekens the rest of your claims.
 
sananda said:
that would be interesting.
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All im going to say is earth goes through natural heating and cooling cycles and a heat cycle is what we are in now, ive read articles saying temperatures have been the hottest theyve been since 1850....1850? Were there any hummers with 10 mpg in 1850? Or as much " harmful material" around as there is now? No and temperatures were still high, are they gonna blame us for the next ice age too?? ill admit we arent exactly helping matters but it is no where near as scary and dangerous as all these people make it look, and since were on batterys
 
Bernie-Mac said:
All im going to say is earth goes through natural heating and cooling cycles and a heat cycle is what we are in now, ive read articles saying temperatures have been the hottest theyve been since 1850....1850? Were there any hummers with 10 mpg in 1850? Or as much " harmful material" around as there is now? No and temperatures were still high, are they gonna blame us for the next ice age too?? ill admit we arent exactly helping matters but it is no where near as scary and dangerous as all these people make it look, and since were on batterys
Click to expand...

my previous post was sarcastic.
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
The phone does not need replacement, only the battery (by Apple or authorized service centers), and not many of those will truly require replacement.

At least Apple is more likely to properly dispose of the battery, as opposed to the consumer, who will probably just throw it into the trash.

Quit reading Greenpeace brochures. The paper is acidic, the ink is carcinogenic, and the claims hallucinogenic.

Try again.
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+1 . I vote your post for the best response to a 'misguided claim on a forum' award

Edit: +2 I just realized you have a sig that refers to Eddy Izzard ... he's hilarious..... "cake or death!"
 
willie45 said:
I can recall the hoo - hah about Apple and the iPod battery fiasco a few years ago and yet, some 4 years later, they still have not taken their customers seriously, nor have they cared a jot about the planet we live on.

As I understand it, the iPhone (like the iPod ) has a battery which is not changeable. This makes a nice profit for Apple when the naive individuals who have parted with their cash for one of these extraordinarily meaningless and overpriced pieces of plastic, have to change the whole thing because of a simple battery run down, but it does nothing for the planet.

All but the most stupid of Apple religionists, will know that Apple are the most cynically exploitative of companies but I do feel that for Mr Jobs to pontificate about the green qualities of the new iMac while producing another buck - making pollution device is going a step too far.

For pity's sake how long is this disgusting ethos going to be allowed to continue before we say, "enough"?

Willie
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Actually, having a non-removable battery is MORE environmentally benign than having a removable one. All batteries wear out, even rechargeable ones. Most folks replace their own batteries in phones, toys, whatever, and simply toss the spent ones in the trash: very bad!!!!

In order to replace the iPhone battery, you need to either have Apple do it (for the cost of AppleCare for the iPhone: you will need to replace the battery within the two year time frame most likely), and the Apple will deal with the spent battery. It is highly likely that they WILL either recycle or property dispose of it.

Eddie O
 
willie45 said:
I am not certain the battery is replaceable, and if it is would still require shipement back and forth to the factory for the work to be carried out. In other ways too, the iphone is a poor performer in terms of the environment. It contains toxic chemicals which other manufaturers have since phased out. Apple, lamely, have stated they will phase these out by the end of next year. Strange philoshop when the iPhone only came out this year.

I do wish you would put aside your prejudice and take on the idea that multi-nationals, even Apple, have some responsibilities.
Click to expand...

Greenpeace made up the allegations about the iPhone. The iPhone is just as compliant as any other mobile phone.
 
I would prefer a nice thin phone than a thicker phone with a replaceable battery. :)
 
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