4 Reasons Why The Apple Tablet Could Be Good For The Environment
There’s been a lot of talk about what the Apple Tablet will do for the PC industry, Apple profits, the future of content delivery, etc. What I haven’t seen is a whole lot about what the product will do for our Environment. If the Apple Tablet is able to take some market share from netbooks and notebook manufacturers it could have a bigger impact on the environment than it does on Apple’s bottom line.
First, the Tablet uses less natural resources to create. While it may still offer a decent sized screen, there’s no unnecessary plastic for a built-in keyboard or for the outer shell of a flip open netbook or notebook. Plus, Apple has been moving their products towards a more green approach, making their products out of recycled materials whenever possible. While a green build has yet to be confirmed, it would fit into Apple’s recent green friendly approach. Times Apple Tablet sales in the millions if it takes off and push down typical computer sales and it’s a small win for the environment.
Second, Apple is working with various content delivery companies to create a new way of delivering newspapers, magazine and even ebooks to users. Much like the Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook, the tablet could greatly reduce the number of newspapers prints, books purchased in physical form, and if they hold true to their multimedia abilities, CD’s and Movies purchased as well. We live in Digital times, the only problem so far has been figuring out how to store all of our digital items efficiently, a small, powerful portable device could be the answer for many users. If Apple adds any time of cloud storage space for the item, it could be an even bigger win for the company.
I’m assuming the tablet will feature full multimedia capabilities with a kick ass music player, if that’s the case the ability to use one device as a computer, MP3 player and even portable video player could help greatly reduce the amount of power used to control 2, 3 even 4 devices all at one time. Sure it may not have a phone attached, but it could offer most other functions required by users. Throw in an eventual bluetooth remove for your home TV and other functions via software and hardware and the Tablet could turn into the all-in-one device users have been begging for.
Finally, the unit aside from using less resources to produce, could reduce the number of computers per household, which in turn could help save on energy consumption. According to iLounge rumors this week, there will be two docking stations available for the Apple Tablet. If docking with full keyboard and mouse capabilities is available, it would allow users to buy a device that uses less resources to create and then shy away from secondary devices for more comfortable home use with their familiar peripherals. Given the low power consumption of Mac products this could be a big win for consumers and the environment.
It’s hard to know exactly what green technology the Apple Tablet will provide, however if one thing is for certain, it’s that Apple has made excellent strides towards greening their products over the last several years, if the tablet follows those same environmentally more friendly principles, the Tablet may not just change the way users think about computing, but also the way their use effects our environment.
What do you think, if the Apple Tablet ends up offering excellent computing with a simple to use docking station and integrated apps and games functionality found on iPhone and iPod Touch devices would you be willing to use it as a synergetic part of your daily life, thus connecting what you do and how you do it?
