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Bob Pearson, Dell's VP, Communities & Conversations goes after Apple in his blog, "The Real Meaning of Being Green". Here's how he starts it off:
Several Dell folks were surprised and perplexed to see Apple's new "green" MacBook ad since its release last month and we've been watching the discussions in the blogosphere. After chatting with our environmental teams about the topic, we realized that instead of ignoring it, we should have a conversation about the real meaning of being green from the viewpoint of a Fortune 500 company.What follows is not a conversation at all, but instead head-on, direct criticism. Pearson's first point is that Apple talks a good game about the environment, but won't take sustained action He says:
We don't recall Apple joining the conversation about the environment, either via key conferences or the blogosphere or via reporter meetings. In fact, we believe Apple employees are not allowed to blog, as far as we can tell. If you want to make "big claims," you should be willing to tell "big stories" in an open environment and let others critique your efforts. Don't skip this step and go right to ads that may not even be truthful.Next, he claims that Dell's laptops are greener than Apple's, saying:
Apple hasn't stated any goals, just made claims, which as far as we can tell, are not accurate. Our Latitude E-series makes energy efficiency, the use of BFR/PVC-free components and the elimination of mercury a priority. They were designed and built with the environment and easy accessibility in mind, arguably more so than the Macbook.Finally, he says that Apple should focus on green action, rather than making green-sounding ads, and touts the work Dell has done to green the entire company. He concludes:
We wish Apple would be more bold in making a difference rather than making ads.
Apple aint so green.
Apple has this idea in mind, stretch the truth, word things in such a way as to confuse the consumer into thinking something good about apple, that may not be 100% true. In the green ad, apple points out that it's the greenist family of "macbooks" and that it doesnt use harmful chemicals like you'd find in most computers. What they leave out is the fact it's the greenist family on laptops "mac" has ever made, and not compared to other laptop makers. Also that the harmful chemicals in most computers in in refernce to computers that people already have in they're homes, and not the new computers that are now hitting the market. It's plain old spin, even the people at apple have been quoted saying "People who take our ads at face value are fools". Working in a place that sells PC and mac computers, I can say most apple customers take these ads at face value. But Apple doesnt have the stigma of big bad microsoft, and I have a feeling apple will milk this whole "Apple is the lil innocent company" for as long as it can push up they're sales. Not that any green company would ever build a device where you cant remove the battery, or ship computers as a box inside a box, inside a box, as apple does.
Greenness as a tech differentiator is NEW
I found Dell's blog entry interesting because it is rare for tech companies to criticize each other's greenness. That has been the realm of Greenpeace and other NGOs. It adds quite a different timbre to the game if the tech players will point fingers at each other for their environmental friendliness, or lack thereof.
Greenwash at Apple, Dell
Last week, Tom Lauria, Vice President, Communications for the International Bottled Water Association commented on a post at ecopreneurist.com about greenwash happening over at Nestle Waters where he accused me of being an anti-corporate type that hides behind ’saving the earth’ to bash businesses because I hate capitalism. My sense is that many companies do not think there is any valid way to criticize green claims made by companies without being anti-corporate and anti-capitalist. But now with Dell jumping in the game, the gloves are off. I'm hoping the greenwash police win!
http://ecopreneurist.com/2008/12/23/dell-vs-apple-the-corporate-greenwas...