Thursday, February 25, 2010

An Ecological Perspective

ELEVENTH ENTRY:

This is not so much ICT, but I think it is something that deserves attention. This is an outlet regulator that was created by Conor Klein. His “design does not require any human interaction due to its ejection action. Once any connected gadgets reach their fully charged state, the outlet's cable will eject itself from the walls socket, stopping any energy consumption.”


Outlet Regulator Video from conor klein on Vimeo.

Other designs have been developed to curb the energy consumption of the many gadgets we have now. They are not perfect, however, in that they have unfavorable side effects. Some designs require the active participation of the user (turning it on/off). Others make gadgets perform below optimal levels (slower speed, memory failure, etc.). Of course we want to maximize the utility of all our gadgets, whether they be for business or pleasure, but we should not disregard the impact of our techie lifestyle on the environment. All the ICT stuff we have use energy to operate and it is not hard to imagine that this could account for a considerable chunk in total energy consumption. I think ICT laws should also look into this aspect as we move forward to a more highly technological world. But for now, it wouldn’t hurt if we try out designs like this outlet regulator to help in reducing the world’s energy consumption and solving the problem of climate change.

The challenge is to make ICT development a sustainable one.

Sources: http://vimeo.com/9392135http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100224/tc_pcworld/outletregulatorconceptaimstoconserveenergy;_ylt=Av9gUB4W7eNFF9dG8ubkbvIjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTNiNjBqZTV2BGFzc2V0A3Bjd29ybGQvMjAxMDAyMjQvb3V0bGV0cmVndWxhdG9yY29uY2VwdGFpbXN0b2NvbnNlcnZlZW5lcmd5BHBvcwM4BHNlYwN5bl9zdWJjYXRfbGlzdARzbGsDb3V0bGV0cmVndWxh

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