The Greenest Computer?

The greenest computer is the one that’s already there. Let’s focus on repair, not replacement.

marching toward 2014I’m going to take a little break from my discussion of downtown Phoenix issues and talk about another thing that occupies my life (and is, for all intents and purposes, my “day job”): information technology.  More specifically, I’m going to talk about sustainability within technology.

One of my guiding philosophies on computer purchases is this: How repairable is the machine?  In other words, what percentage of that computer’s parts can be replaced by me?  And how easy is it to do that?

Prior to graduating from high school in 2006 and preparing to enter Arizona State University later that year, I received a Dell notebook computer.  That machine is still running strong because I’ve been able to replace the hard drive, the battery, and upgrade the system memory as needed.  The computer will be eight years old in early 2014 and, with Windows 7 installed on it, my mother uses it for her computing needs.

In 2011, I decided to make the leap over to the Apple world and invest in a MacBook Pro — which, at over $1,500, was a considerable investment.  What really pushed me to the land of Cupertino was the longevity of their notebook batteries.  A colleague of mine at ASU received as a high-school graduation present a MacBook and, at 5 years in, that battery was still holding as much of a charge as it did when she received it.  My Dell notebook (the same one I talked about above) was about to need its third battery in six years.

IMG_1065Fast forward to today: the penultimate day in 2013.  I’ve just replaced the original platter-style hard drive in my MacBook Pro with a solid-state drive and about to replace the battery in the machine.  I’m thankful to the crew at iFixit for sharing tips on how to make the battery user-serviceable and for selling batteries.  In the process, though, I’ve been scratching my head.  I’ve noticed that the screws holding in the battery aren’t your normal Phillips-head screws but are, instead, tri-wing screws.  Unless you have a computer screwdriver kit (and I do!), you’ll have to head off to the Apple Genius Bar to get them to install a new battery for you.  Nope; no, thank you.  My MacBook is out of warranty so I’m on my own.

In the process of thinking about this, I’m thinking about how user-repairable computers and other electronic gizmos are.  The worst culprit in this is Apple, despite how they claim their computers are environmentally friendly.  In the historic preservation world of the built environment, we say that “the greenest building is the one that’s already there.”  We can take that phrase and shift it to technology: “The greenest computer is the one that’s already there.”  I will refuse to purchase (or authorize the purchase of) the new MacBook Pros with the high-resolution “retina” displays because of the lack of user-serviceable parts.  A look at these MacBooks shows that if a component breaks down, you’re stuck with having to get a brand new machine.

That’s silly and irresponsible.  Why should I need to purchase or get a new machine just because a hard drive — a part that has been user-replaceable for many years — stops working?  Or if I choose to upgrade the memory?  Or if I need to replace the battery?  I get Apple’s philosophy of having dedicated places to fix their equipment and catering to users with limited IT resources.  But what about those places that have IT departments and oversee a fleet of hundreds of Apple computers?

And then there’s the software side of things.  I was an early adopter of the iPad.  It worked great until I received the third generation iPad (my father now has my original iPad).  Apple made the decision to say that iOS 5 will be the last version of iOS that’s supported on the original iPad.  Was it a performance thing?  My reading of specifications show that the original iPad and the second-generation iPad are really close together in specification; however, the second-generation iPad supports iOS 7.

I get that my viewpoints are certainly in the minority of technology users and that there’s a business to be had in selling computers.  I don’t look at a computer as something that I’ll use for a couple years before I upgrade it; I see it as something I’ll use (and possibly abuse) until I have a technological reason to need to upgrade.  I’ll be that person with the decade-old MacBook out in the wild.  And I’ll be OK with that.

Quick post on iOS 6

…in which we make the obligatory iOS 6 initial thoughts post.

iOS 6 icon (credit: Apple)To nobody’s surprise, Apple (at its WWDC keynote address) formally announced the next major edition of their mobile operating system, iOS 6. The big features added to iOS 6 include Siri support on the new iPad, a new Apple maps app (iMaps?), OS-level Facebook sharing, an app called Passbook, and a few other things.

The news is generally welcome. The verdict is still out on whether the new Apple Maps app will have transit directions. As to be expected, very few sources are reporting on this. Some places say yes, many many places are silent. Of course, the fallback will be using Google Maps in the browser.

Another feature that is very welcome is the addition of per-account signatures for each of your email addresses. And, for educational use, I’m welcoming the new Guided Access feature, which will enable device administrators (e.g. parents or teachers) to lock down their device so only one app may run.

A theme that emerged at today’s WWDC keynote — and made very evident by the launch of the latest MacBook Pro (you know, the one with the Retina Display) — was that it’s time to look forward in technology and leave some technologies behind. If you have the first iPad, you won’t be able to upgrade to iOS 6. Likewise, only the fourth generation of iPod touch will be the only iPod touch that can get the iOS 6 upgrade. The iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S are also upgradeable…and so is the iPhone 3GS, announced at WWDC three years ago.

iOS 6 upgradeable devices (credit: apple.com)

As I usually say: “Interesting, interesting…”

iOS 6 and transit maps?

…in which we wonder about Apple’s new mapping application.

On Monday, Apple is set to release the sixth major version of iOS, its mobile operating software. Normally, however, changes are a good thing and each new version of iOS has been better than the last.

One of the big stories that’s flying around in this weekend before iOS 6 is formally announced is that Apple is dropping from Google Maps in favor of using its own mapping solution. Apple and Google have been trading punches lately and Apple has purchased several mapping companies. Of course, these are all rumors and we won’t know for sure until Monday morning. But if the rumors are true, then I’m sure that Apple will call their new mapping application “amazing,” “revolutionary,” “magical,” and other synonyms.

But, will it really be that?

I’m sure that it will be aesthetically pleasing. And that the graphics will be great. But one of the best features of Google Maps — and the big reason why I use it — is that Google Maps offers transit directions. You see, I don’t have a car. The option for me to get reliable directions to get from Point A to Point B via transit, as in the screen capture on the right, is absolutely mission-critical.

The other problem, at least for Phoenix, is that Valley Metro is very protective of their transit schedules. It took several years after Google Transit’s launch before one could plan transit trips here in Phoenix. If there is a transit feature in Apple’s new maps, what data will be there? I highly doubt that Phoenix’s will be there at launch.

Thankfully, we can still access Google Maps via the browser. But a native app was so much better. Ah, there’s something to be said about restricting an ecosystem.

Apple closing iWork.com public beta

Apple is ending the iWork.com public beta service and rolling that into iCloud. Here’s what Apple has to say about that.

We at Downtown Technology Company and edwardjensen.net have used the iWork.com public beta for sharing our documents with our clients, friends, family, and those with whom we want to share our work. This morning, we received this email from Apple that the iWork.com service will close at the end of July, being replaced with the iCloud documents sync.

Here’s the email from Apple:

Dear iWork.com user,

Thanks for participating in the iWork.com public beta.

Last year, we launched iCloud, a service that stores your music, photos, documents, and more and wirelessly pushes them to all your devices. Today, there are already over 40 million documents stored on iCloud by millions of iWork customers. Learn more about iCloud.

With a new way to share iWork documents between your devices using iCloud, the iWork.com public beta service will no longer be available. As of July 31, 2012, you will no longer be able to access your documents on the iWork.com site or view them on the web.

We recommend that you sign in to iWork.com before July 31, 2012, and download all your documents to your computer. For detailed instructions on how to save a copy of your documents on your computer, read this support article at Apple.com.

Sincerely,
The iWork team

Keep that in mind when creating and sharing content. We’ll report when we fully test the iCloud documents sync.