In a bid to go low-tech—part of my recent efforts to declutter/simplify my life—I recently bought an Ericsson R310s off eBay. I specifically wanted a phone that couldn’t take pictures, couldn’t record videos, couldn’t play music, couldn’t receive FM radio, couldn’t play videos, couldn’t send or receive email, couldn’t do video calls, couldn’t access the internet, couldn’t blog, couldn’t open Microsoft Office documents or PDFs … you get the picture. I just want it to be able to make calls, receive calls, and occasionally compose and send a text or two without using an expletive on the person who designed clunky interface. And no, I’m not using the phone to remotely detonate a bomb (though that could come in useful where my in-laws are concerned).
It turned out that it didn’t work, for some reason—I sent it back, and will be getting an Ericsson T39 in exchange instead; fingers crossed—but that’s not why I’m writing this post. During my efforts to work out the problem with the phone, I realized something: it’s actually not that easy to go low-tech here in Singapore. The seller had initially suspected that the problem was due to my 3G SIM card, and that started a whole week of detective work into whether I could downgrade from 3G to 2G (apparently, I can’t) and then whether I could purchase a prepaid SIM card that was 2G (apparently there were 2G and 3G cards, depending on which telco I bought it from). Needless to say, it caused me a week of frustrated fiddling and online searching, only to end up with a phone that doesn’t work and a prepaid 2G SIM card that I can’t use until my current cell phone plan is up. I would have saved myself quite a bit of trouble (and possibly some money as well) if I had just renewed my plan or signed up for a new one; I would be holding a free, guaranteed-to-work 3G phone right now. Silly me.
Who would’ve thought? To go to back to using 2G phones (approximately five years or older) in Singapore is a lot harder that I imagined. I’m not sure how it is in other countries, but here in Singapore consumers are encouraged to keep moving forward. “Out with the old, in the with the new” is the motto of just about every industry here, from cars to cellphones to real estate (though it’s a shame that doesn’t apply to Singaporean politics). Various trade-in and rebate programs make it almost pointless for the general consumer to stick with current technology for any longer than five years, and certainly almost insane to willfully opt for an older technology than what’s currently available.
So what would a regular consumer in Singapore make of Last Year’s Model? Started by Anil Dash (Vice President of Six Apart, the company behind TypePad and Movable Type) and supported by Gina Trapani of Lifehacker and Joel Johnson of Boing Boing, the initiative has got a quite a backing, and some initial good press to boot. Personally, I applaud the idea—and suggest a couple of qualifications when I consider the reality.
I agree that if we stop needlessly replacing our tech stuff every time some new gizmo lands on the market, it will certainly make headway in our efforts to go green. But sticking with old technology isn’t always greener; in fact, with the amount of attention that environmental issues and the green movement is getting now, new tech products are getting very environmentally-friendly indeed, so hanging on to your old CRT TV or first-generation Mac may not be such a cool idea where the environment is concerned. Here are a couple of examples to consider.
Due to the introduction of the 65nm Cell CPU in the 40 GB PlayStation 3 in late 2007, the PS3 became ”6 decibels quieter, puts out less heat, and uses about 100 watts less power.” There are already rumors that Sony may use—or is already using?—a PS3 65nm RSX in its current 80 GB iteration to cut power power consumption further. I’m still holding on to my early-2007 60 GB PS3 that sucks up enough juice to power about two or three LCD TVs.
At the CES press conference this January, Panasonic unveiled its ultra-thin Neo PDP Eco plasma display, which purports to consume up to 50 per cent less power than other plasma TVs. The latest reviews (see here and here )indicate that Panasonic’s new 2009 plasmas are not only environmentally-friendly but also surpass their previous plasma line-up in terms of picture quality.
So, the suggestion from Last Year’s Model to “hang on to a gadget or technology product that you own, instead of just buying a new one” needs serious deliberation. Old equipment (especially those that are not well-maintained or worn with age) are often a lot less efficient than new ones, and cost more to maintain. If you own a piece of technology that’s not working so well, you may want to look into the viability of disposing of the product safely and responsibly, and getting a new one. You will certainly have to spend some money for the purchase, but you need to consider other factors (e.g., power consumption, compatibility with current technology, the specific functions you need the product to perform) before you can decide whether keeping or disposing of the product is greener and more practicable.
Instead of just encouraging consumers to refrain from buying new stuff, I would like to see an initiative that persuades companies to offer green options that make sense to their customers, e.g., trade-ins and rebates for new, more environmentally-friendly products while taking care of the proper disposal of the old products.
PS: Just an observation. Going green is currently very fashionable, and that usually means a lot of people going ga-ga over anything—products, events, anything—labeled “green” without really thinking or caring about it. For all the people I know who observed—or were ostentatiously publicizing—Earth Hour earlier in March, at least half of them still set their printers to print single-sided leave their computers during lunch hour.
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