Feature Articles

What is an environmentally friendly computer? This is the first question on every visitor's mind as they peruse EcoPCReview. It's both easy and difficult to answer. One of the first observations is that it's almost impossible to conceive of a completely green computer. There are too many complex, technological components that go into a computer, and all of these components have associated raw materials, energy, toxins, and greenhouse gases associated with their manufacture and use.

While OLPC aims for a universal educational computer solution, Microsoft and VIA Technologies have major initiatives for expanding specifically in the developing world.  Both companies are championing programs to cross the digital divide.  Microsoft wants to add a quarter of a billion computer users by the end of the decade.  VIA, more ambitiously, aims to reach an additional billion users by 2010.   

This article is a brief introduction to the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive and the problems of implementation over dozens of member states.

WEEE is a European Law effected February 2003 that targets collection and recycling for all types of electrical products. In plain terms, it's about take-back requirements for electrical gear. WEEE imposes this responsibility on the producers of electrical products, not on the end-users. It states that end users of electrical equipment from private households should have the possibility of "returning WEEE at least free of charge."

AMD and Intel are two of the largest names in the microprocessor industry, claiming nearly 95% of the total market share between them; indeed they are both well known for their products in this regard. So what happens when the two largest microchip manufacturers in the world focus some of their attention on emerging markets? As it turns out, quite a lot.

It was a little over thirty years ago when Bill Gates and partner Paul Allen set out to do what was then considered little more than a dream - to have "a computer on every desk and in every home". This seemed an immensely lofty goal to accomplish at the time - something left to fantasies of the "distant future" along with hover cars and jetpacks. And while we're still a long way away from having personal jetpacks, we have come extremely close to Mr. Gates' ultimate goal. Enter Nicholas Negroponte.

The "life cycle" environmental impacts of various products have been the subject of intense study, from the "cradle" of raw materials to the "grave" of recycling or refuse. As trade increases globally, international differences in economic efficiency, production methods, environmental legislation, and energy sources can lead to different environmental impacts of goods, depending on their location of production or disposal.