I am catching up on my reading and had to discuss the latest letter from Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) – A Greener Apple.
The letter actually is aimed towards Greenpeace and other environmental organizations who claim that the computer and consumer electronics company is not doing its part to protect the environment. So, Steve addresses them in this letter. He discusses how Apple is removing toxic chemicals from the products, how they recycle the products and also discusses the “future”.
I found the letter to be very open and straight forward, which is very unlike Apple. The apology at the end of the letter, “We apologize for leaving you in the dark for this long,†reinstates this thought.
However, if this piece is anything compared to his previous letter, Thoughts on Music, which created a tidal wave of discussions in the industry and record companies eliminating DRM on some of their products, I am keen to see what this letter brings.
Any thoughts?
Apple is in a unique position now – from all accounts seen as one of the most innovative companies in consumer electronics. The public, and more importantly, corporations and their boards, are using Apple as a benchmark to judge their initiatives. Jobs and his management team have shown a lot of strength in approaching some problems the rest of the industry would rather avoid or lobby against than innovate to solve.
I don’t know, but I hope for the sake of all of us, this sort of thing catches on. Depending on regulation to make these things happen can only take us so far. In the end, plain old self-interest and innovation should bring us the solutions.
Yes, I too find Apple breaking new ground and going where no one wanted to go. What I am finding a bit unfair (to put it lightly) about organizations like Greenpeace pointing their fingers at Apple is that Greenpeace did not even consider the other companies that are involved in this.
Apple’s policy has always been to promote the things that they have accomplished and not bragging about promises in the future like other companies do. In his letter, Jobs he points out again and again that they are doing a lot more and are ahead of all the other companies. Apple is actually doing something about it while others are only promising.
I now hope that this will shake a few people awake and make them base their information on facts.