Apple lays claim to greenest notebooks ever in new ad campaign

[AppleInsider]

Not one for modesty, Apple on Monday night launched a new campaign and TV spot touting its new aluminum MacBook lineup as the most environmentally friendly portables ever.

The freshly posted campaign page backs up the confident stance by centering on the unibody aluminum and glass displays of the MacBook designs, which together cut down on the number of parts and are easy to recycle versus the plastic and other materials used by rivals.

It also touts the elimination of brominated flame retardants and PVC from the insides of all three models, better power management that includes the LED-backlit displays, and the smaller packaging that lets Apple ship and store more units in a single space than earlier models as well as competitors.

A new TV ad, posted below, not only marks the start of a public campaign to promote the systems under their new green role but also Apple's first commercial for the new MacBooks outside of the minutes-long promo video found on its own website.

The new initiative continues a green turnaround for Apple, which has been the target of Greenpeace and other environmental groups for historically neglecting the eco-friendliness of its products, with gradual improvements to Apple's manufacturing process often accompanied by criticisms and threatened lawsuits. Company chief Steve Jobs has promised to clean virtually all toxic materials from Apple's hardware by the end of 2008 but hasn't yet signaled that it has achieved this goal.



Even so, a marker of progress made has been Greenpeace's recent response to the new MacBooks, which praised Apple for its new portables but is urging the electronics firm to finish the job with its desktops.

[teckstud]

I'd rather have a matte or semi-matte screen laptop any day over a glossy glare reflecting laptop -and I don't care how environmentally unfriendly it is. I mean really- how more dangerous could that be over a car, boat or spaceship?

[anantksundaram]

This advertising approach is going to be, imho, one of the important contributors to the long-term (upward) movement of Apple's stock price over the next decade. Apple is light years ahead of its competition on this front.

If they can stick with the theme, and be credible about it.

(JSYK, I am no tree-hugger.)

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

This advertising approach is going to be, imho, one of the important contributors to the long-term (upward) movement of Apple's stock price over the next decade. Apple is light years ahead of its competition on this front.

If they can stick with the theme, and be credible about it.

(JSYK, I am no tree-hugger.)

Sorry- environmentally friendly is not necessarily state-of -the art. What's good for Al Gore is not particularly good in the real world- especially those Leopard folders that look like recycled paper- whatever!

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Sorry- environmentally friendly is not necessarily state-of -the art. What's good for Al Gore is not particularly good in the real world- especially those Leopard folders that look like recycled paper- whatever!

But in the new world, environmentally friendly *is* the new "state-of-the-art."

This advertisement however, is just a standard (but smart) move in the economic climate we find ourselves in. Now is the time to advertise just a little bit more than usual to ensure that no one forgets about your virtues.

It doesn't hurt that the ad positions the product as exactly that kind of product that you *should* be purchasing in today's energy and environmentally conscious world, nor that it conveys a piece of that miraculous future that awaits us once we get through these tough times.

[BjK]

Does this mean that the trash icon will be replaced with a recycle bin in my dock?

[wilco]

Originally Posted by BjK

Does this mean that the trash icon will be replaced with a recycle bin in my dock?

Yes, it does.

Now what are you going to do?

[Booga]

The new initiative continues a green turnaround for Apple, which has been the target of Greenpeace and other environmental groups for historically neglecting the eco-friendliness of its products

Bull. Greenpeace create a scale in which the actual eco-friendliness of a company's products is overwhelmed by what the company publicly promises to do in the future. So despite Apple always consistently being one of the most environmentally friendly computer companies in the world. Greenpeace gave them low marks because they didn't make promises about the future while other companies did. Of course, Apple went and implemented environmentally friendly practices faster than the other companies that made those promises, but Greenpeace seems to value promises more than action.

[anilsudhakaran]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I'd rather have a matte or semi-matte screen laptop any day over a glossy glare reflecting laptop -and I don't care how environmentally unfriendly it is. I mean really- how more dangerous could that be over a car, boat or spaceship?

I totally disagree about the glossy screen. It is beautiful. You hardly notice any reflection or glare, even when there is any.

[Macd-to-death]

They need to focus on making this computer the most useful ever by giving some goddamn adapters for this ridiculous miniDisplayPort. Like miniDP to HDMI! Both carry sound, but right now I have to use a mini-DP to DVI adapter, and a DVI-to-HDMI adapter. DVI doesn't carry audio, so have to use an entirely separate port. How do you sell a computer without preparing all of the adapters to your proprietary BS in advance?!

[cwfrederick]

i love the environment and think we should do more to protect it, but whining about minute amounts of toxic chemicals in consumer electronics (and of all companies apple) is ridiculous.
eff greenpeace!
go save the whales, reduce deforestation, curb the effect of invasive species, remove plastics from the ocean.......
they're nothing but a bunch of delusional left-wingers who care much more about their image than our environment. if anybody really feels guilty about buying a computer they can even it out by not using plastic bags for their groceries for a week.

[NasserAE]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I'd rather have a matte or semi-matte screen laptop any day over a glossy glare reflecting laptop -and I don't care how environmentally unfriendly it is. I mean really- how more dangerous could that be over a car, boat or spaceship?

In general, people always hated something about laptop screens. It used to be the narrow viewing angle, the easy to scratch matte screen, and now the glossiness. I have to tell you this though, my new MacBook Pro screen reflection is far less than my wife's white MacBook (both have glossy displays). I was worried about what people were saying about glossy screen but now I would choose glossy over matte anytime.

[bloggerblog]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I'd rather have a matte or semi-matte screen laptop any day over a glossy glare reflecting laptop -and I don't care how environmentally unfriendly it is. I mean really- how more dangerous could that be over a car, boat or spaceship?

So I take it you don't recycle? All your cardboard boxes, beer cans, plastic bottles, grocery bags, magazines, and glass bottles go in the trash?

[AHeneen]

So is this the first advertisement where Apple hasn't used the hideous black & purple space desktop? I hope this is a new trend...I think the grass desktop is the best Apple desktop in Leopard.

Originally Posted by Macd-to-death

They need to focus on making this computer the most useful ever by giving some damn adapters for this ridiculous miniDisplayPort. Like miniDP to HDMI! Both carry sound, but right now I have to use a mini-DP to DVI adapter, and a DVI-to-HDMI adapter. DVI doesn't carry audio, so have to use an entirely separate port. How do you sell a computer without preparing all of the adapters to your proprietary BS in advance?!

I agree!! And why don't they include these damn things instead of charging you $30 apiece? My MBP came with a remote and a DVI-VGA adapter. Not just that, but I could even go out and buy adapters and cords cheap with DVI (my 6' DVI-HDMI cable was $20)! Now that they've changed to a proprietary interface, you're stuck with Apple's pricy adapters. After spending $1299+, we can't even get an adapter in the box...let alone no adapters at all (for some interfaces)!?!?!?!?!

Originally Posted by cwfrederick

I love the environment and think we should do more to protect it, but whining about minute amounts of toxic chemicals in consumer electronics (and of all companies apple) is ridiculous.
eff greenpeace!
go save the whales, reduce deforestation, curb the effect of invasive species, remove plastics from the ocean.......
they're nothing but a bunch of delusional left-wingers who care much more about their image than our environment. if anybody really feels guilty about buying a computer they can even it out by not using plastic bags for their groceries for a week.

Not so sure about what I've bolded, but c'mon Greenpeace...there's WAY bigger problems to b---- about!!! We're supposed to go broke with all these higher prices for "green" energy and hybrid cars and whatnot...it is estimated that China will offset 20 years of the EU's proposed "carbon credit" system in just 8 months. Go b---- at China and the rest of the third world factories about pollution and hazardous chemicals...we seem to be doing a much better job than they are! I swear, these people are like radical Islam....it's our way or f--- you no matter how much you try to compromise!!!!!

[dontlookleft]

Originally Posted by bloggerblog

So I take it you don't recycle? All your cardboard boxes, beer cans, plastic bottles, grocery bags, magazines, and glass bottles go in the trash?

Oh, I see what you did there. The chain on the tree around your waste. I see it.

It is important to recycle, I guess, but think about those gas guzzling diesel piles of crap that pick up your recyclable material. The machines that run to get your crap recycled. OH and the part where you put your recyclables in a PLASTIC bin. I laughed a little there.

I'm open to counter arguments. Go on. It doesn't mean I'll reply, but I do like to read.

[AHeneen]

Originally Posted by bloggerblog

So I take it you don't recycle? All your cardboard boxes, beer cans, plastic bottles, grocery bags, magazines, and glass bottles go in the trash?

How much more environmentally-friendly and recyclable are these compared with the previous models? I don't think there's a drastic difference. I recycle my paper and cans and plastics bottles...but I don't drive a hybrid or care about minute differences in the recyclability of a laptop! I'd take a model with matte over glossy any day...a Mac doesn't get recycled or thrown in the trash, it gets sold on eBay for at least $100 no matter how old, broken, or non-functioning it is! What do you have to say about me?

[meeksdigital]

Originally Posted by anilsudhakaran

I totally disagree about the glossy screen. It is beautiful. You hardly notice any reflection or glare, even when there is any.

then you totally don't use your computer for any sort of professional visual arts work. the glass/glossy screens are an absolute abomination, and while I commend apple for their move towards "green," they need to think twice about taking away matte screens from us professionals who NEED them. the move to all-glass notebook screens is complete bullshit, and that's why I bought a refurbished 2.6ghz 15" macbook pro to hold me over for the next few years until they bring back the damn matte screens.

[/rant]

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by BjK

Does this mean that the trash icon will be replaced with a recycle bin in my dock?

No it will be replaced with 4 bins and you have to put the right stuff in each one. Just one wrong item will prevent you from emptying them.

Generally, recycling is little more than another marketing angle. It can't hurt for people to do it but Apple have so little marketshare, the impact is minimal. What it does is increase costs same as printing on recyclable paper.

I'm not entirely sure how a computer gets recycled to be honest. I've seen computers from 10 years ago still in use so where is the point someone takes it to be recycled? Judging by the build quality of the Macbook line, I reckon they won't be getting recycled for a good few years.

[teapea]

wow . . does anyone actually care about the enviroment other than green peace??!

especially in america, the land on the SUV . . .

[otwayross]

Originally Posted by Marvin

No it will be replaced with 4 bins and you have to put the right stuff in each one. Just one wrong item will prevent you from emptying them.

Generally, recycling is little more than another marketing angle. It can't hurt for people to do it but Apple have so little marketshare, the impact is minimal. What it does is increase costs same as printing on recyclable paper.

I'm not entirely sure how a computer gets recycled to be honest. I've seen computers from 10 years ago still in use so where is the point someone takes it to be recycled? Judging by the build quality of the Macbook line, I reckon they won't be getting recycled for a good few years.

well a good place to start finding out is here in wiki

a notable point is the quote that "Electronic waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste."

and this: "In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills come from discarded electronics."

agreed that if a machine is built better it'll last longer before being recycled, and that recycling is the last action in the environmental push (materials selection and reduction of materials use should come first)

...but anyone who thinks recycling doesn't matter has obviously been living a little too long
near one of the aforementioned landfills (on top in the case of some housing estates)
and has lost a few brain cells in the process

[Phizz]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I'd rather have a matte or semi-matte screen laptop any day over a glossy glare reflecting laptop -and I don't care how environmentally unfriendly it is. I mean really- how more dangerous could that be over a car, boat or spaceship?

Well then please, buy one of those light dispersing anti reflection films to cover your screen and quit whining. Or move to Dell, whatever.

[Cubert]

I actually think that the most important part of the ad is that they refer to a "family of notebooks" - combating beliefs that Apple has a very limited product line.

[sandor]

Originally Posted by dontlookleft

Oh, I see what you did there. The chain on the tree around your waste. I see it.

It is important to recycle, I guess, but think about those gas guzzling diesel piles of crap that pick up your recyclable material. The machines that run to get your crap recycled. OH and the part where you put your recyclables in a PLASTIC bin. I laughed a little there.

I'm open to counter arguments. Go on. It doesn't mean I'll reply, but I do like to read.

i could go point by point, but that takes too much time. eh, oh well.

municipal waste collection is engrained, and it is by far the most efficient process. Could you imagine if every individual household tried to take their waste, individually, to a landfill/recycling center? In Philadelphia, these trucks are multi-use as well - they plow the streets in the winter. Furthermore, diesel engines are far more efficient than gasoline, and can run, unmodified, off of non-petroleum based diesel fuels (cellulosic/cane/trap grease/etc based diesels). You get rid of the petroleum, and you keep the higher efficiency and lose the horrid sulfur.



Landfills ("waste management areas") in the Philadelphia area actually recapture the methane off put by the decomposing waste, and use it to run not only the plants, but send millions of cubic feet of "natural gas" out to surrounding business parks, etc. The technology is most definitely there, and in use, to have a closed loop system much like Brazil's cane-produced ethanol. Down there, the ethanol plants are self-sufficient, and capture waste energy (heat, etc) to be used in the process.


And plastic bins? well, plastic, especially recyclable plastics, are not necessarily bad. These containers tend to last a very very long time, and if they end up needing to be disposed of, can be recycled into various other items.



Reduce Reuse Recycle

I've always figured they are in order of importance.

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by otwayross

well a good place to start finding out is here in wiki

a notable point is the quote that "Electronic waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste."

and this: "In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills come from discarded electronics."

agreed that if a machine is built better it'll last longer before being recycled, and that recycling is the last action in the environmental push (materials selection and reduction of materials use should come first)

...but anyone who thinks recycling doesn't matter has obviously been living a little too long
near one of the aforementioned landfills (on top in the case of some housing estates)
and has lost a few brain cells in the process

I'll go with you on the rest of this but this delusional idea that the "toxic waste" has any realistic affect on humans living near the landfill is complete and utter FUD - same goes for Nuclear plants...

[iReality85]

Originally Posted by BjK

Does this mean that the trash icon will be replaced with a recycle bin in my dock?

That's right. I mean, c'mon, they've been recycling for years now on Windows!

[piot]

Originally Posted by cwfrederick

i love the environment and think we should do more to protect it, but whining about minute amounts of toxic chemicals in consumer electronics

Good point. It's such a tiny amount of toxins perhaps we should add a bit more?
300,000,000 computers will have been sold in 2008. Think about it!

[otwayross]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

I'll go with you on the rest of this but this delusional idea that the "toxic waste" has any realistic affect on humans living near the landfill is complete and utter FUD - same goes for Nuclear plants...

have a look at these two articles
where ewaste ends up
how dangerous to live near a landfill
there are plenty more articles/reports if you care to look for them...

you're welcome to live near a landfill if you really want to
but you might want to think of others (like pregnant women and/or children)
some stages of human development are more fragile to heavy metals and carcinogens than others

it does depend on the way the landfill was constructed in the first place and the risk of contaminants getting into the water table.
either way it's not a good model to mine, refine, use, bury, mine etc.

[otwayross]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

I'll go with you on the rest of this but this delusional idea that the "toxic waste" has any realistic affect on humans living near the landfill is complete and utter FUD - same goes for Nuclear plants...

oh and this one
know your landfill poisons

remembering that most ewaste ends up in some 3rd world country with lower
landfill construction standards than the US

...so it can only be a good thing that Apple removes these components right !?

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Phizz

Well then please, buy one of those light dispersing anti reflection films to cover your screen and quit whining.

If you're going to tell people off like that, please come up with a better solution than a lame one than that. Seriously, an add-on film? Unless you've actually put one on successfully, you're best off not recommending it. It's not easy to do well.

[rbonner]

Originally Posted by Marvin

No it will be replaced with 4 bins and you have to put the right stuff in each one. Just one wrong item will prevent you from emptying them.

Generally, recycling is little more than another marketing angle. It can't hurt for people to do it but Apple have so little marketshare, the impact is minimal. What it does is increase costs same as printing on recyclable paper.

I'm not entirely sure how a computer gets recycled to be honest. I've seen computers from 10 years ago still in use so where is the point someone takes it to be recycled? Judging by the build quality of the Macbook line, I reckon they won't be getting recycled for a good few years.

We have single stream here in Austin, one can for all types. And, the bin is bigger, made out of recycled plastic, and the trucks come around every 2 weeks to save the fuel and emissions. Nice system, someone put some thought into it.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by anilsudhakaran

I totally disagree about the glossy screen. It is beautiful. I hardly notice any reflection or glare, even when there is any.

TFTFY.

The poster you're replying to apparently can notice reflection. So can I. Many's the time that I have to adjust my screen or reposition my laptop to try and get the screen to behave more like a monitor and less like a mirror. That's not to say the picture isn't beautiful in the right setting. But it's also a pain in the wrong one.

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by otwayross

oh and this one
know your landfill poisons

remembering that most ewaste ends up in some 3rd world country with lower
landfill construction standards than the US

...so it can only be a good thing that Apple removes these components right !?

Great - you found some stuff on the internet for me to read. But it's on the internet so it must be true! And I'm 100% sure they don't overestimate the effects at all... Do you go down to the stream and drink the water? Yes, we should keep the water clean but that (in todays advanced water treatment process) isn't doing anything to humans - if you want to argue it's bad for animals I'm with ya on that but when people don't drink water out of the lake/river and going swimming isn't enough to kill you (although the site would lead you to believe that) it's not really as big a concern as people would have you believe, for humans anyway (again, I'll give you the animal arugment as they don't have the benefit of modern technology, obviously).

Back to nuclear power - do you know how many people died from the 3 mile island incident?

Answer: 0

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by rbonner

We have single stream here in Austin, one can for all types. And, the bin is bigger, made out of recycled plastic, and the trucks come around every 2 weeks to save the fuel and emissions. Nice system, someone put some thought into it.

Same in Fort Worth - but it's every week. They give you this huge blue can for free. I'd say, at least for me, at least half of all the waste I create goes into the recycle bin (still bummed I can't put pizza boxes in there...)

[andyapple]

"Its advanced aluminum and glass enclosure is completely recyclable."

What about the electronics enclosed, are those recyclable?

"It runs on a quarter of the power of a single light bulb."

What size light bulb?

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by andyapple

"It runs on a quarter of the power of a single light bulb."

What size light bulb?

The one in Times Square for NYE

[dasein]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

Same in Fort Worth - but it's every week. They give you this huge blue can for free. I'd say, at least for me, at least half of all the waste I create goes into the recycle bin (still bummed I can't put pizza boxes in there...)

Here too. What a shame it took us so long to get this far. I lay the blame at the feed of religious environ groups who spend too much time with lawyers, courts, politicians and the like instead of engineers and business people. We could've been at this point and much further a generation ago had it been approached correctly. There's good money in trash....seriously. These people become too dogmatic for our own good sometimes, failing to think outside their catechism box. When I was a kid we'd go around collecting things like newspaper (we had school newspaper drives) and such.

[otwayross]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

Great - you found some stuff on the internet for me to read. But it's on the internet so it must be true! And I'm 100% sure they don't overestimate the effects at all... Do you go down to the stream and drink the water? Yes, we should keep the water clean but that (in todays advanced water treatment process) isn't doing anything to humans - if you want to argue it's bad for animals I'm with ya on that but when people don't drink water out of the lake/river and going swimming isn't enough to kill you (although the site would lead you to believe that) it's not really as big a concern as people would have you believe, for humans anyway (again, I'll give you the animal arugment as they don't have the benefit of modern technology, obviously).

Back to nuclear power - do you know how many people died from the 3 mile island incident?

Answer: 0

yes i totally agree the very small 3MI incident is indicative of all possible accidents
and following that logic apple should install nuclear reactors in all macbooks

no seriously - check out some pictures of genetic mutations surrounding chernobyl
national geographic has a beautifully disturbing collection...

how did we get onto nuclear ?

[steviet02]

Originally Posted by bigmc6000

Great - you found some stuff on the internet for me to read. But it's on the internet so it must be true! And I'm 100% sure they don't overestimate the effects at all... Do you go down to the stream and drink the water? Yes, we should keep the water clean but that (in todays advanced water treatment process) isn't doing anything to humans - if you want to argue it's bad for animals I'm with ya on that but when people don't drink water out of the lake/river and going swimming isn't enough to kill you (although the site would lead you to believe that) it's not really as big a concern as people would have you believe, for humans anyway (again, I'll give you the animal arugment as they don't have the benefit of modern technology, obviously).

Back to nuclear power - do you know how many people died from the 3 mile island incident?

Answer: 0

You have no idea how many people eventually died from being exposed to radiation from that incidient. Just because people didn't instantly die from that doesn't mean that people didn't die form that accident. Pull your head out of the sand for a little while and think about what your saying. You'll relent to the 'animal argument' but considering 90+% of the population eats animals you couldn't possibly see how that effects humans also? Wow, I'm amazed how short sited and outright dumb some people can be.

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by otwayross

yes i totally agree the very small 3MI incident is indicative of all possible accidents
and following that logic apple should install nuclear reactors in all macbooks

no seriously - check out some pictures of genetic mutations surrounding chernobyl
national geographic has a beautifully disturbing collection...

how did we get onto nuclear ?

Yes, Chernobyl was bad, very, very bad but it's flat out impossible for something like that to happen in todays world. I point out 3 mile island because it's by far the worst US nuclear disaster and not a single person died from it but we're all worried the old NIMBY crap. Now we're freakin' out about where to put it and the EPA is requiring scientific data for 1 million years...

I threw nuclear in there because it's another one of those NIMBY things.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernob..._safety_device

Also, one of your links says don't live within 2 miles of a dump. 2 miles - that's it? We're arguing about 2 miles?? I'm from a fairly rural area of the country - 2 miles was considered a fairly close neighbor for me...

[bigmc6000]

Originally Posted by steviet02

You have no idea how many people eventually died from being exposed to radiation from that incidient. Just because people didn't instantly die from that doesn't mean that people didn't die form that accident. Pull your head out of the sand for a little while and think about what your saying. You'll relent to the 'animal argument' but considering 90+% of the population eats animals you couldn't possibly see how that effects humans also? Wow, I'm amazed how short sited and outright dumb some people can be.

And you have no idea how many people die from eating bananas...
(hint - they contain a radioactive isotope of potassium, same with that salt substitute potassium chloride)

When was the last time you ate wild game? The animals you eat are all bred and slaughtered (with extremely few exceptions) in controlled environments. Heck - you probably think mad-cow is an epidemic where there has been, in fact 0 US born cases of it, ever.

EDIT: That 8 millirems they were exposed to (if you'll read the wiki entry otwayross linked to) is the equivalent of having a banana for breakfast for a year...