From A Friend.
We want dead gadget stories!
We would love to receive stories showing clearly how products simply can’t be fixed or upgraded, because of clear choices made by the product designers.
Please send your stories to Stories@deadgadgets.com and include the following information:
•Make and model
•Year they bought it. Is it under warranty?
•Why it’s dead. (Doesn’t turn on, won’t reboot, can’t upgrade it to run certain software, etc)
•Steps taken to try to fix it, or cost to fix it. (Making the call to get an estimate on what it would cost to fix it (vs replace it) is good. But actually getting the company to say they WON'T sell you a replacement part gets to the heart of the issue. So that’s an extra step, but if you could ask them to document this, it will help us tell this story. Feel free to include whom they spoke with at the companies, so there can be no question of misunderstanding.)
•Picture of the dead gadget. (Be sure we can see the manufacturer name or logo!) For our dead gadget gallery (soon to come).
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Got Dead Gadgets?
Sometimes ya just drop the ball
So tonight was Earth Day and I totally dropped the ball. I knew about it, had it in my mind to post about, and somehow totally missed posting about it. Hopefully folks picked up on it on there own. Basically at 8 PM local time they asked folks to turn off all unnecessary power for an hour to show what an effect this can have on CO2. The first one a year ago was highly successful and they were hoping for 100 million to do so this year.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Cool Shirts from Darwin Design
Looking for a cool gift for that someone special in your life? Darwin Design is a company started by my friend/photograpaher/journalist Otto Pohl. They have a really great business model that includes social and enviro causes and have these great shirts that sell the message about global warming and the mess we're in. And if you order before April 1, you get $10 off. Also, mention my name and they'll hear you mentioning my name (hehe....see because you probably thought that I...oh never mind).
Live Sustainably
Dave
Danish Windmills and Electric Cars
Here's a very cool story from the WSJ about how effective windpower in Denmark is and how it looks like they actually NEED electric vehicles to keep the system working well. Talk about a win win situation.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
They're Trying to Kill The Electric Car....Again!
For those of you who have seen Who Killed The Electric Car you already know that the EV1 was made because of the California Zero Emission Mandate tht called for each car maker to make a certain number of electric cars. The car companies sued the state of California and had the mandate repealed, and the cars were destroyed.
It’s been about 5 years since EV proponents stood here and unsuccessfully pleaded with this board to keep the original ZEV program numbers for electric cars. So what has happened in those 5 years?
According to the World Health Organization, tens of thousands of Americans died as a result of auto related pollution in each one of those 5 years.
Since 2003, the US has spent over a trillion dollars for foreign oil. The burn rate is well over a billion dollars a day and climbing fast.
The price of gas 5 years ago was $1.40. It’s now $4.00. Even the oil industry has agreed that peak oil will occur within the coming decade. Bush’s multiple entreaties to the Saudis over the past three months to increase production have all been denied. In times of both record prices and record demand for oil, the only possible reason that the Saudis will not increase production is because they cannot. According to Matthew Simmons in, “Twilight In the Desert”, if the Saudis have peaked, the globe has peaked.
We’ve spent close to a trillion dollars fighting a war in Iraq, and we all know we’re there because of the oil under their ground. The Chinese are buying oil contracts all over the world with the intent to lock up as much of this resource as possible for their own growing needs.
Over the past 5 years, the scientific evidence of climate change has become widely accepted, and according to NASA’s James Hansen, we are rapidly approaching a tipping point, after which, we cannot stop significant climate change.
If 100% of the vehicles sold every year were ZEVs, it would still take over 20 years to convert the American fleet to zero emission. The auto industry sold about 85 million vehicles in the US over the past 5 years. Not one of those vehicles was Zero Emission.
Carmakers say they cannot build EVs fast enough to meet the goals in the current regulation, but I’ll remind you that in 1941, the entire auto industry switched inside of 12 months to making tanks and planes for the war effort. I submit that the problems we are facing today are every bit as crucial as then.
The consequences of delaying implementation of ZEVs, means more Americans will die from pollution, we will move closer to the devastating tipping point of climate change, and more billions of our dollars will go out of the country, with much of that money going to buy the bombs and the bullets that will kill our soldiers.
The decision you are making today is historic. Whether you choose to continue down the hydrogen highway on the hopes that fuel cells will solve these problems is a huge gamble. The clock is ticking, however, and I’ll remind you that the capital you are using in this gamble is the environment, our national security and human lives.
I ask that you please vote with this in mind.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Nah, there's really no climate change happening
Here's a heartwarming story from CNN today about a 220 square mile ice sheet in Antartica that is about to break off.
Subaru's R1e EV
This is Subaru's R1e, a two seater EV that they are presently testing in North America, Asia, and Europe. It has about a 50 mile range, top speed of 65 mph and can recharge 85% in...get this....15 minutes! Amazing. Check it out here and then scroll down and tell them your thoughts.
Live Sustainably (and drive a small ev)
Dave
