An Open Letter to Apple

August 28th

Tags: Recycle, Health, Plastic.

Dearest Apple,
I love your products. My 12″ PowerBook is just the right size for me; it travels well, and takes a beating graciously. I adore OS X and all of its bells and whistles—I think I might perish without Exposé. But there’s a problem.

I also love this planet that we inhabit, and you’re doing a terrible job of caring for it. I do not want to have to decide between an awesome, stylish, highly functional device and my conscience. Please be a better steward of the environment so that I do not have to buy a Dell.

Thank you,
Heidi

P.S. You could start with a comprehensive recycling program.

4 Responses to “An Open Letter to Apple”


  1. apple has a recycling program in place, and has for some time, with a very strong presence in their immediate vicinity. the more important question i have to ask, though, is simple. who is getting rid of a mac? i’ve seen macs made in the stone age that still work, and the few that don’t make beautiful aquariums and mailboxes.

    i read on a volvo website once that “love and a hammer” will keep a volvo running forever. similarly, love and repairing permissions will keep any mac running for an eternity. maybe you should write about ways to repurpose older computers instead of sending them off to die, or about local organizations that will gladly take a second-hand computer.

    Michael August 29th, 2006 at 1:29 am

  2. Hey Michael!

    John and I have 2 ancient Powerbooks that are beyond hope—failed motherboard, etc. As I think I might have mentioned to you before (I’m not sure) John is a very adept computer whiz type, so you can rest assured that he has tried everything.

    Also, the upgrade from OS 9 to OS X and the recent switch from Power PC to Intel has also built a great deal of obsolescence into the line.

    I should have mentioned that locally we can bring them to Crutchfield for recycling for a small fee, so we are lucky here in Charlottesville.

    And even if these things were all untrue, there is the problem with your repair permissions argument.

    So onto your other points. It isn’t just what happens to Apples once they die that is problematic. Did you check out that link? Here’s a more in-depth chart of what Apple is failing to do. Apple uses highly toxic plastics and other chemicals in their products. While this is true for many of their competitors, Apple is doing a worse job of phasing out nasties. Can we agree on that at least?

    How’s the new life and kitten?

    Heidi August 29th, 2006 at 7:44 am

  3. personally, i am thinking about trying to find an obsolete mac for the kitten, so he’ll stop playing with mine.

    as far as you and mr. gruber are concerned, i still find some use for repairing permissions, and recently brought a misconfigured airport card back to life by doing so. it may be voodoo, but it worked.

    finally, regarding toxic chemicals and plastics… they may be called apples, but you aren’t supposed to eat them.

    Michael August 29th, 2006 at 8:13 pm

  4. OMG I am done taking you seriously. You’re a punk, but I know you’re not stupid.

    Heidi August 30th, 2006 at 12:05 am

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