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For example, referring to the topic of this article, the City and County of San Franciso requires EPEAT certification for computer purchases.

Customer. Gone.

And where America's favorite city goes, others may follow.

I have no argument with you there. Maybe the was an effect that Apple expected and decided to continue anyway knowing that their recycling standards had not changed; just the ability to meet the disassembly requirements of the EPEAT program that would facilitate the recycling by anyone. And perhaps you're right that they will adjust the design to accommodate these requirements, but I doubt it. Most likely, the same government agencies that require EPEAT certification of computers they purchase will amend their policies to accommodate innovations in technology that are still highly recyclable, albeit not by anyone.
 
Maybe the was an effect that Apple expected and decided to continue anyway knowing that their recycling standards had not changed; just the ability to meet the disassembly requirements of the EPEAT program that would facilitate the recycling by anyone.

I'd be more inclined to believe that The Tim is throwing a fit of Jobsian proportions, and there's an opening for a new vice-president of environmental responsibility at Apple (and the head of laptop engineering is polishing his resumé).
 
Are local governments supposed to buy Apple products? Shouldn't they be using Linux or any other cheaper alternative?
 
I'd be more inclined to believe that The Tim is throwing a fit of Jobsian proportions, and there's an opening for a new vice-president of environmental responsibility at Apple (and the head of laptop engineering is polishing his resumé).

And perhaps that's the case, but he doesn't seem like the fit throwing type. I would be more inclined to think that the move toward thinner but still more powerful laptops and other devices will render the EPEAT standards as obsolete and will lead to either a modification of current EPEAT policies and standards, or the introduction of another standard or policy that takes into account the highly recyclable nature of certain products and not immediately dismissing their certification due to the inability to have just anyone completely take it apart.
 
Are local governments supposed to buy Apple products? Shouldn't they be using Linux or any other cheaper alternative?

The term "cheaper" is a TOC (Total Cost of Ownership) term for businesses and other organizations.

Often the purchase price of the computer system is a fairly small component of the total cost of (purchase price + software license costs + support costs + decommisioning costs + power costs).

If a system doesn't support the software that you need to do the job, nothing else matters. For most business applications, that means you need Windows or an Apple to run Office. Cheap Linux with an occasionally compatible open-source ripoff of Microsoft Office won't do the job. (Also, "cheap Linux" can be hard to find, support contracts for Linux often push the per-seat price up into the Windows volume license domain.)
 
Are local governments supposed to buy Apple products? Shouldn't they be using Linux or any other cheaper alternative?

Perhaps they should be using Linux, but due to the nature of governments or other institutions, they primarily stick with the systems that will run OS X or Windows.

The funny thing about this is that my university has nothing but iMacs in the classrooms and the advising offices(blah blah blah). However, because the standard in communication and productivity has been established by Microsoft for some time now, every single one of those Macs is running Windows either primarily, or through Parallels. The formats of .doc and .ppt still rule the educational sphere as I'm sure the majority of the business sphere.
 
And perhaps that's the case, but he doesn't seem like the fit throwing type.

While I agree that a "Tim fit" probably would be less likely to involve hurling projectiles and other physical violence, I'm sure that the subjects of his scorn would be just as uncomfortable....

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...every single one of those Macs is running Windows either primarily, or through Parallels.

So, Microsoft is probably making more money from you than if you'd bought Windows PCs from the beginning.

Love it. ;)
 
While I agree that a "Tim fit" probably would be less likely to involve hurling projectiles and other physical violence, I'm sure that the subjects of his scorn would be just as uncomfortable....

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So, Microsoft is probably making more money from you than if you'd bought Windows PCs from the beginning.

Love it. ;)

Oh no, I use LibreOffice and iWork. I found out the hard way when I had a presentation ready that I made with Keynote and then had to beg for an extension. I have not had a single professor accept any document format other than .doc or .docx.
 
Oh no, I use LibreOffice and iWork. I found out the hard way when I had a presentation ready that I made with Keynote and then had to beg for an extension. I have not had a single professor accept any document format other than .doc or .docx.

Sorry, my bad. I should have said "So, Microsoft is probably making more money from your university than if they'd bought Windows PCs from the beginning."

All those Windows and Office licenses do keep Redmond happy - even if you use copycat products that rip off Microsoft's formats.
 
Sorry, my bad. I should have said "So, Microsoft is probably making more money from your university than if they'd bought Windows PCs from the beginning."

All those Windows and Office licenses do keep Redmond happy - even if you use copycat products that rip off Microsoft's formats.

Oh, I'm sure tons of money. Especially since all the machines were running Windows 7. Then add on enterprise support along with all the Office licenses.

And yes, I know using copycat products maintain Microsoft's majority presence in other industries, but when I am the President of a university; that will change. Or maybe not.
 
How does a user-replaceable battery guarantee that it will be properly disposed of?

If anybody can replace the battery, then there's a good chance the duff one will end up in the kitchen bin.

Having a user-replaceable battery of course does not guarantee it will be disposed of properly. Are you implying that Apple are gluing batteries to their motherboards to ensure that they can make sure the batteries are recycled? Or that all users will send their MBP to Apple once it's gone pear-shaped? Neither is very likely.

If they can't be safely removed and recycled, then Apple has a much bigger problem on its hands: they will lose the capacity to sell any products within the EU. This applies to their iPads and iPhones as well. The fact that they can sell their products within the EU means that not only can they be safely removed and recycled, but that Apple will have demonstrated that they can be.

This nonsense that the Apple products are unable to be recycled is just that, nonsense. They just don't happen to follow EPEATS silly made up rules.

I don't know the standards that products must meet in terms of recyclability in the EU (and would be curious to know more about this), but do you really think the EU can test millions of products every year for recyclability? It's much more likely they investigate suspected infractions after the fact. I never said that the retina MBP has no recyclable parts, but based on Apple's decision to withdraw from the EPEAT standards, it would appear that the rMBP is either less easily recyclable, has fewer parts that can be recycled, or both.

Enjoy your new PC! Apple does quite a bit for the environment as most people know. Screw EPEAT! I hope more companies follow Apple!

I always love the "enjoy your PC" posts direct at people who dare question anything Apple does. Do you really think that after 13+ years, thousands of dollars, and thousands of hours spent using Macs that I'm just itching to switch to a Windows PC? No -- it just means that next time I make a computer purchase (which, since I just bought a MBP last year, will hopefully not be for a couple years) I will consider more options.

I very much prefer OS X and overall prefer Apple's hardware, but if I know that I can't upgrade it (such as adding more RAM like I did to my current MBP) or that it's not up to par environmentally, I would be foolish not to at least consider other options out there. Let's hope that by that time Apple will return to balancing environmental concerns, upgradability, and "smallifying" everything instead of clearly favoring the latter at the expense of the others. My non-retina MBP is plenty small enough; I would much prefer they don't make it less friendly for the environment and those who want to service it themselves or through their local Apple dealers.
 
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Liberal idiots

goes to show you, typical liberal idiots cannot think on their own. they "need" the government to tell them what to do. really?

liberalism is a mental disorder.
 
Simple. Phillips heads SUCK ASS!

Ever strip one trying to undo a screw? I've stripped several. In fact, since most phillips screws are cheap, soft ones, they'll strip a little bit each time you unfasten it, no matter how careful you are.

Torx are much less likely to strip, and they are pretty much standard in cars.

And there are variations of the common 'Phillips' screw head. Anyone ever heard of 'posidrive'? Well, maybe not a posidrive, but what I've run into at times is what looks like a phillips head, but the center is shallower, making removal using a 'standard' phillips driver bit a joke as the thing strips the head to high heaven... They suck hard... Torx are less likely to strip, but I laugh at those ones with the pin in the center. As if that was going to stop anyone. I had a security Torx bit set pretty soon after they came out. Some heads you could even use a standard flat blade driver to break the pin out and use a standard Torx driver on.
 
And there are variations of the common 'Phillips' screw head. Anyone ever heard of 'posidrive'? Well, maybe not a posidrive, but what I've run into at times is what looks like a phillips head, but the center is shallower, making removal using a 'standard' phillips driver bit a joke as the thing strips the head to high heaven... They suck hard... Torx are less likely to strip, but I laugh at those ones with the pin in the center. As if that was going to stop anyone. I had a security Torx bit set pretty soon after they came out. Some heads you could even use a standard flat blade driver to break the pin out and use a standard Torx driver on.

Actually, it's called "Pozidriv". "posidrive" or "pozidrive" are common misspellings.
Phillips screw drive was designed to cam out and possibly damage if too much force is applied. This is to prevent damage to the fittings.
The design was that the driver itself would be damaged, but in reality cheap, softer metal is used for the screws so the damage is caused to the screw head instead.
 
You seem to be confused. Apple made a decision to change a computer (Macbook Pro) that was certified by EPEAT, environmentally friendly and fairly easy to service, to one that now is not meeting EPEAT standards, is less environmentally responsible and much less easy to repair.

Plus, Apple has announced they're withdrawing all of their computers from the EPEAT certification program all together, which seems to be a pretty obvious indication of what direction their other computers are going to go. So San Francisco is no longer buying their computers.

Did the Blackberries, iPhones, Androids, and tablets you mentioned used to meet the EPEAT standards, and now their respective companies are going out of their way to make them worse for the environment? No. There are no EPEAT smartphone or tablet devices, so San Francisco has no choice in the matter.

Apple used to make EPEAT-compliant computers. They've announced that they're no longer going to do so. San Francisco wants to stop buying their computers from Apple. Pretty straight-forward to me...

Thank you. People going off half-cocked didn't read the Arstechnica article or are having trouble comprehending it.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/apple-pulls-products-from-green-electronics-registry/
 
Having a user-replaceable battery of course does not guarantee it will be disposed of properly. Are you implying that Apple are gluing batteries to their motherboards to ensure that they can make sure the batteries are recycled? Or that all users will send their MBP to Apple once it's gone pear-shaped? Neither is very likely.

No. It is obvious that Apple glues on the batteries so people have to send their Rmbps back to Apple for repairs, and fork out hefty repair costs to Apple in the process, rather than to the 3rd party retailer down your block. I am sure they are able to find some way to readily repair those macbooks (perhaps some special solvent that easily dissolves the glue?), else they wouldn't offer such a money-losing proposition.

However, assuming Apple is indeed serious about following through on their recycling policy, this will at least ensure that the replaced battery gets properly disposed of. So at least some good comes out of that. :)
 
It honestly amazes me how many people on this site blindly follow Apple and anything they do.

Apple withdraws all of their computers from EPEAT so all of the sudden EPEAT is "stagnant" and "against innovation" etc and the City of San Francisco and its people are "idiots" and all anti-Apple. If this this was an article about how Apple renewed its commitment to EPEAT and the City of SF decided that they would be replacing some of their Windows PCs with Macs people would be heaping praises over EPEAT and SF, calling them "innovative-friendly" etc. (by the way, I want to shoot the next person that says that word in a sentence related to Apple). :rolleyes:

I don't see how Apple's new direction of less-recyclable and harder to repair computers is good for anybody. The Unibody MBP was already thin enough for me and I think for most people. But nope, gotta shave off another few mm!
 
goes to show you, typical liberal idiots cannot think on their own. they "need" the government to tell them what to do. really?

liberalism is a mental disorder.

Wow. You need to stop drinking the Hateorade and take a deep breath.
 
[voice of IT "support" person]

"Your Apple Book was infected with the Flashback virus, the only way that we could be sure to clean it was to re-imagine your laptop.

Here's your new ThinkPad."

;)

ps: Our corporate IT group is reformatting and reimaging all of the Apple laptops that caught the Flashback malware. It's the only way to be certain that they're clean.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but how did users at your corp come across said malware?

As I recall Flashback wasn't lurking in any "work related" sites? :D
 
I'd love to see the government have macs. Although more expensive, they would save money on IT costs

But Apple is in the IOS business and could care less.
 
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