With Windows 7 out this week and people buying new computers in order to get it, it brings into focus the carbon footprint, as reported by the guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/cif-green/2009/oct/21/microsoft-windows...:

Eric Williams of the United Nations University calculated five years ago, that most of the carbon footprint for a typical desktop computer comes not from running it but from making it. Manufacturing made up a staggering 81% of the footprint, a much greater proportion than for other household electric goods like fridges and TVs. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/4183/Energy-Intensity-of-Computer-Manufacturing)

The guardian concludes that if you want to cut the carbon emissions from your computing, the best way is to stick with your old machine – even if you stick with the old operating system.

On the same note, how about the iPhone... a couple of years back Greenpeace gave out about the Apples carbon footprint for the iPhone
(http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/14/greenpeace-iphone-not-good-for-the-envir...

Apple, who sold 7.4m iPhones in its latest quarter (http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/oct/20/apple-iphone-sales-record-resu..., while posting a profit of $1.67 for the same period, are now being transparent about this, listing manufacturing as being 38% of the iPhone carbon footprint. (http://www.apple.com/environment)

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