Kicking Computer Sales are Mixed Blessing
05/26/04
Computers sales are set to increase by 13.6 percent over last year, due in large part to the first wave of replacements of Y2K purchases. This should total about 100 million new PCs. And for every one that comes in, one gets moved out. Luckily, many of the machines will be re-used through donations, or re-selling. But inevitably, this replacement cycle is going to produce a huge amount of waste computer parts, which, unknown to most consumers, will not simply be consigned to a landfill. The high concentrations of precious(and toxic) metals in their chips and wires make computers a prime target for reclamation efforts. These operations are carried out in the developing world, by workers earning paltry wages, and exposed to toxic working conditions.
And that leaves us wondering: What responsibility does the designer have to address this situation? Obviously, PC's as an up-gradeable concept will never be a long-term idea until the dizzying pace of innovation slows, but maybe there's something else that the design can do, if we assume that computers are going to be "Mined" later for precious metals. What do you think?
Previous post: Solid Wall of Water
Next post: The 'Q' is for Questionable Quality
Copyright 2004-2006
Dominic Muren and IDFuel Team