Green computers

[worldgonewild]

Surfing Dell style.

I think ther OLPC shows the dilemma in green politics.
Giving computers to poor people is bad for the environment, and this is part of the problem.
Many "green" policies crap on poor people from a great height.
I think the OLPC initiative is great, and will make the world a better place, but green it is not.
What you are doing in effect is increasing the number of computers that ultimately have to be thrown away or recycled. They are doing it in places where there is practically no recycling capability.
If you're going to power a computer by a hand driven dynamo, then you are massively increasing the mechanical stresses it suffers, and also of course it is a moving part, and these are the source of a large % of failures.
Also it's hard to see them being repaired. I've been doing IT for a long time, and I'm hesistant to screw with sick laptops, and I can call upon an infrastructure of spare parts, tools etc. Hard to see that happening in the places the OLPC is destined for.
Also my laptops live in a comfortable environment free from dust and water, which PCs hate, a lot.
So OLPC will have shorter lives and then be chucked in the bin.

Yes, I completely agree with you.

You're mixing two slightly different threads. For anyone else interested in the 'One Laptop per Child' initiative see here .

No-one ever thinks of maintenance implications for a new product/system. It's highly annoying.

You maybe interested in posting your comment/thoughts on this blog Domini;

olpcnews

Having worked in the computer industry, maintenance is thought through, usually.
A few years back, I did a review of green PCs for PC Mag, and it was interesting how much the maintainability varied so much. A maintainable device is often of course greener.

Desktop PCs are highly modular, and you can fix upgrade and extend their lives by at least a factor of two. These days, most people live near a "corner shop" IT outfit who will do this for you.

Laptops however (as I did in a different review) are almost inherently unmaintainable by non-specialists. Even if you have the skills, the bits are sometimes hard to source.