[vox] Re: [fwd] Tiny Linux startup sees through HP-Dell "Recycle"

[vox@lists.lugod.org]

    I see thier point, but I don't think their conclusions are entirely
accurate. It is true that HP and Dell are both pushing their recycling
programs, but that article doesn't tell the whole story.
    The first thing they omit is that other consumer groups are mad at the
two companies for boasting about their programs so much when in reality they
recycle so little. I read about that just a couple days ago. The groups
claim they recycle much less than they sell, in which case there should
still be plenty left to donate. Also, when I went on a tour of the HP
recycling facility (in Roseville) a couple years ago, they made a point of
how at this time, the recycling program is only for corporate customers, so
no consumer PCs are being recycled. That may have changed, but I don't know
of anyone who's had their PC recycled.
    They also ignore any other motivation the company may have. The big one
they miss is the PR boost they get from saying they're the most
environmentally friendly PC business. A lot of people care about that kind
of thing these days, so being able to claim that makes you look better. In
addition, some companies are requiring some sort of recycling option when
they buy their new computers, so their old ones don't get thrown away. Being
able to say you will take a company's old computers and recycle them can
help win a lucrative contract. Even if you lose a little $ on the recycling,
you still might make a lot of money on a contract you wouldn't otherwise be
able to even bid on.
    Last, they refer to the "financial burden" of computer recycling, but
that burden really isn't as bad as it sounds. They get a lot of gold, parts
that can be resold, and other things of value out of computers. The
operations can either support themselves or come close to it.

    Symbiont is a business, not a non-profit out to help schools, so I can
see why they would want to make big PC makers look as bad as possible, but I
think this one was kind of a stretch. They say what the big PC makers do
isn't recycling, but they never say what to do with a dead computer or the
disks you take out to make a diskless computer.


> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 14:22:47 -0700
> From: Bill Kendrick <nbs@sonic.net>
> To: LUGOD <vox@lists.lugod.org>
> Subject: [vox] [fwd] Tiny Linux startup sees through HP-Dell "Recycle"
> Reply-To: vox@lists.lugod.org
>
>
> Interesting. :)
>
> -bill!
>
> ----- Forwarded message from David Sokolowsky
<dsokolowsky@lucent.com> -----
>
> Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 17:13:44 -0400
> From: David Sokolowsky <dsokolowsky@lucent.com>
> Subject: [K12OSN] Tiny Linux startup sees through HP-Dell "Recycle"
> To: "Support list for opensource software in schools." <k12osn@redhat.com>
> Reply-To: "Support list for opensource software in schools."
<k12osn@redhat.com>
>
> "May 20, 2004
>
> A New York startup selling Linux-based thin-client management software
> has called foul on HP and Dell for recent efforts to fund computer
> recycling programs. Symbio Technologies says the computing giants stand
> to sell more new PCs if future diskless clients are destroyed, instead
> of being donated to schools or resold."
>
>
> http://rd.mailshell.com/www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4964141825.html
>
>