Recycled Green Tech News
Sorting truly sustainable tech from greenwash
Thursday 17 July 2008, 7:00 PM
iPhone heaven/iPhone hell
Steve Jobs owes me nearly two hours of my life back. Or at least he would do if I wasn't so chuffed with the iPhone that finally became mine after a bum-achingly long period propped on stool in an Apple Store yesterday.
Actually blaming Jobs or even Apple is probably unfair, as short of building their own 3G infrastructure, and fabricating a time machine to go back and bid for a spectrum license, there was no way to avoid having to work with one of the mobile operators.
I've been lucky enough to have a free work mobile for the last five years so had forgotten what an interminable process signing up for a mobile contract is. Actually not just that - even before you get to that stage, the shiveringly dull task of getting your head around all the purposefully obtuse minutes, talk-time and other bunkum terminology employed by the mobile operators is enough to kill a bull elephant stone dead from sheer exasperation.
But I digress, the specific torture I had to endure to become an iPhonista, was wallowing through the 02 registration and sign-up process in the Apple Store. If you have been following the hoopla surrounding the launch, you'll know that Apple was forced to run a virtualised version of Windows on all its in-store Macs in order to integrate with 02's sign-up software - which is web-enabled - but unfortunately only for IE - a platform Apple and Microsoft have chosen to abandon on the Mac. (I am not sure where the motivation came from for that - probably apathy rather than anything approaching strategy).
Having been on the receiving end of this dastardly 02 application, I really wish Apple hadn't bothered jumping through those technical hoops. I am not sure what the alternative would have been but it surely would have been better than the barrage of banalities I was forced to sit through. After having to dictate my email and address no less than three times to the Apple salesperson, things went from frustrating to farcical.
As I hadn't been in my present or previous address for long enough, the 02 system demanded that I pay a £100 deposit to be paid back to deductions from my next three months bills. ( I opted for the 8G, £35 month tariff which meant the handset still cost me £99). This meant the Apple man, or boy in this instance, phoning up the 02 call centre on his iPhone in the middle of the Apple Store, and shouting out my card details to the presumable ex-artilleryman now gainfully employed by O2. The card was declined, so we repeated the process again with Apple boy now shouting my credit card details across the Apple store trying to make himself heard over the lunchtime throng of teens and bored office workers. The second card was declined - despite me pointing out that there was nothing wrong with either card and the fault probably lay in the perfect storm of Apple Store circus noise, crap phone reception and possibly brain-dead 02 call centre drone.
We tried again with another 02 drone and finally cleared the deposit hurdle. Great, the finishing line in sight, I started to relax. Only to face another barrage of online forms, insurance questions and no end of bar-code scans and cross-referencing of codes. Honestly, my last mortgage application was infinitely easier than this, in fact I bet the last space shuttle launch was a darn site was less fail-safes and cross-checks
The process did finally come to an end, not as I feared with me slamming the nearest piece of designer IT onto Apple-boy's coiffured head, but with the appearance of a natty little black cardboard box with a silver apple log on either end and the familiar icon-strewn surface of the iPhone embossed on its lid. I should have told them where to stick the box and marched out of there, a consumer who will not be messed with, but I was weak. They had me at "just take a seat on this uncomfortable stool please sir".
But I can honestly say that having spent two days with the pocket Mac now - calling it a phone is like calling a Sabre-tooth tiger a cat, technically accurate but dangerously misleading - I don't regret my bout of meek consumerism one bit. Forget all that you have read about 3G connectivity, Outlook integration, video-playback - using the iPhone makes you smile. My first train ride and serious play and I was literally grinning to myself like a chimp in a banana factory. Looking around at the other commuters toying with their Crackberrys and other so-called smartphones, they might have well have been using 1980's brick-phones complete with batteries in a handy suitcase.
And anyway, I did manage to salvage some consumer pride out of the whole affair -- 10 percent off the carrying case - which was a snip at just £25. Proof, if proof is needed of how good the iPhone is, is that I don't even that bit of daylight robbery. However I do have a bloody good idea where Apple should direct its flair for simple and elegant user interfaces next and it's not a consumer gadget, a registration application for mobile operators that doesn't make the client want to commit suicide five minutes in would be a start.
Tuesday 1 July 2008, 10:46 AM
Microsoft blogger defends standards expertise
Attending a session at the Red Hat conference in Boston recently, I got to witness a Microsoft exec brave, or with enough front, to step into what can only be seen as enemy territory for any Redmondite.
Microsoft national technology officer Stuart McKee was there to take part in a panel a debate about OOXML – probably one of the most divisive issues his employer has been involved in a while – and it has been involved in a few.
During the panel debate McKee said:
"We don't have a standards office. We didn't have a standards department in the company. We found ourselves so far down the path of the standardisation process with no knowledge. We don't have a standards office. We didn't have a standards department in the company."
And:
"I think the one thing that we would acknowledge and that we were frustrated with is that, by the time we realised what was going on and the competitive environment that was underway, we were late and there was a lot of catch-up."
This kind of admission was surprising to hear in some ways but not in others. Microsoft doesn't exactly have a strong-pedigree of playing well with others, let alone the intricacies of standards processes.
Anyway – the idea that Microsoft was completely unprepared for the furore around OOXML was believable to a degree but not having any standards expertise didn't quite ring true – nevertheless that is what McKee said and our job is to report those kinds of comments.
However one of his colleagues at Microsoft – Jason Matusow - found the comments odd, obviously blaming inaccuracies in reporting, given that he actually works on standards and interoperability for the organisation.
He had this to say about the story:
"More than eight years ago, a corporate standards organization was formed in the company to help product teams be better participants in standards orgs, to make more strategic decisions about what and where to contribute specifications, and how to deal with the legal issues surrounding standards bodies (there is an entire specialization in the legal field for this kind of work believe it or not).
Currently, the standards organization at Microsoft has more than 25 full-time employees in it and is focused not only on standards, but how the company thinks about interoperability and standards as a whole. What's more, because we are active in more than 150 standards orgs at any one time, and more than 400 overall - we have more than 600 product team and field employees who have been internally certified for standards work (and most of them are active in some committee or other). Our products have supported literally more than 10,000 standards and we have contributed specifications in the areas of development languages, runtimes, networking protocols, systems management, hardware, mobility, document formats, security,...the list goes on. "
I think the thing to talk about here – is how much expertise did Microsoft have around standards pre-OOXML. I guess it doesn't make sense to think they were as bad at is as McKee claims – his excuse for why they played "catch-up" so hard and alienated so many standards bodies in the process around claims of vote-rigging – but although Microsoft has obviously been involved in standards processes for 20 years, that doesn't translate to them being expert in it or having a specific department.
At the end of the day, my role as a reporter is to report what was said – and a Microsoft spokesperson did say that the company "found ourselves so far down the path of the standardisation process with no knowledge." While this may not be an accurate reflection of the true-state of Microsoft – the comments were made.
Friday 27 June 2008, 4:34 PM
Is Dell being paid to be green?
Following from an earlier post around Dell's claims this week that it had achieved 80 PLUS Gold power supply certification for a server product, I have done a bit more digging (well, reading really)
After learning on the 80 PLUS web site, that the efficiency certification organisation has provided around $5m of incentives to IT companies to help them "transition to 80 PluS certified power supplies", I was slightly confused as to why tech companies – usually not short of a few quid – might require this kind of financial backing.
Anyone who is familiar with the economics of the US power generation market will know the answer right away – but for everyone else, the answer boils down to the fact that US utility companies don't want their customers using any more power.
Yep, that might sound counterintuitive or even counter-capitalist, but the fact is that the massive costs involved in building new power plants in the US means that the utility companies are very concerned about keeping up with demand. The biggest threat to their business model is not failing to find future growth opportunities, like most of other markets, but failing to service existing customers and the power cuts and shortages which would result.
"Our goal is to avoid the capital cost of building new power plants," said Greg Whiting, manager for energy conservation talking to IDG News Service earlier this year. "Encouraging companies to conserve power makes more sense than for us to keep spending to add marginal capacity."
Whiting made the comments at a meeting that took place in San Francisco in March this year where 19 US utility companies met to explore ways of cutting US energy consumption. This IDG article gives an excellent overview of the issue and what was discussed at the conference.
Circling back to the initial release from Dell, I have to say that while any moves to make servers and datacentres more efficient is a good thing, making out as if something that you are more or less paid to do by another company, has been done out of sheer altruism is disingenuous.
Yes, its good that Dell has complied with the 80 PLUS scheme, but it, along with the likes of HP and others, should also be upfront about the fact that power companies are very keen for them to do this – and indeed are giving subsidies to make it happen – and not try and make out that it is done solely to benefit customers or save the planet.
I have approached Dell for comment on whether they actually received any "incentives" from the utility companies behind 80 PLUS and if so how much are we talking but so far I have received much in the way of an answer – apart from this statement which doesn't really say much at all:
"Right now, our focus is passing this value back to the customer through energy-efficient technology and innovation. We’re also exploring ways to drive additional awareness of energy efficiency through customer empowerment and engagement initiatives. Stay tuned."
And:
"We’re committed to designing the world’s most energy-efficient technology, which extends well beyond our participation in this programme. 80 PLUS is a very good yardstick, and helps customers and manufacturers We aren’t releasing specific amounts, but stay tuned for more details about ways we’re working with 80 PLUS to drive value and help customers achieve their environmental goals."
Thursday 26 June 2008, 11:26 AM
ZDNet.co.uk is upwardly mobile
ZDNet.co.uk has updated its mobile site to make it even easier to find the latest tech news, blogs, reviews, and features as well as comment from other IT professionals on the hottest issues.
To access the service, text ZDNET to 63320 (standard operator data charges may apply) and you'll be texted a link to click on, or type www.zdnetuk.mobi into your mobile web browser.
Wednesday 25 June 2008, 5:37 PM
Update: Tech charity says could have saved many lives
Just received this update quote, to an earlier blog , from Jean-François Cazenave, president of Telecoms Sans Frontieres, commenting on the fact that the organisation announced today that it has been forced to quit Burma after it was refused authorisation to enter the main areas affected by Cyclone Nargis that killed at least 133,600 people.
"Our first thoughts go to victims of the disaster which we would of liked to help. It's a shame we were not authorized to the affected zone as we could have helped to save many lives. Telecommunications play an essential role in aid coordination," he said.
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