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A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

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Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#241

Post by phs318u »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #153
ashtonkem wrote: post #143

I really hate arguments about how much electricity wireless phone charging wastes because it makes people feel like they’re doing something when in fact they aren’t. Charging a cell phone every day for a year consumes about 1-2 kWh per phone. The average American household consumes 10,399 kWh per year, meaning that a typical smart phone consumes one 5000th, (0.02%) of a typical home’s electricity (excl. natural gas)…

I do notice a certain glee we have when we can frame other people wasting energy in ways we don't happen to waste ourselves. As if wireless phone charging or bitcoin mining or X are the last unturned stones in the pursuit of zero waste. Some condescension we can share on HN before we drive to Walmart for a single gallon of milk. It's weird how tempting it is. I had a roommate that used our clothes dryer daily. I have…

Were you hanging your clothes above your mining rig?

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#242

Post by rushils »

If Apple was truly out to help the environment, they would kill the lightning port altogether. Simplifying their product line to USB-C and aligning with the cables that the rest of the industry uses would actually contribute to helping the environment.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#243

Post by cable2600 »

dheera wrote: post #189
californical wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2-3kWh seemed impossibly low to me, so I checked, and yup, that’s amazing. A phone battery at 5V and 2500mAh (probably about the average) is approximately 12.5Wh of energy storage. Even if you used the entire battery every day, we’re talking 4kW per year, costing ~60¢ in the US. Your phone battery could only power a standard 60W incandescent lightbulb for 12 minutes, but powers your phone for hours. That’s amazing!

> standard 60W incandescent lightbulb Which is why nobody uses incandescent bulbs anymore. You can get the same amount of light for 1/5 of that power with LEDs, i.e. your phone could power that amount of light for an hour.

No more EZBake ovens or Toy popcorn makers that use inky bulbs.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#244

Post by rangoon626 »

bigbubba wrote: post #167
sgerenser wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well put. I’ve noticed a definite condescension towards those “wasteful” people in climates that virtually require air conditioning in the summer (e.g. almost anywhere in the Southern US). Yet they conveniently forget that heating in cold climates is usually more energy intensive than A/C is in warm climates.

Or you can just get a sweatter and let the house get cold. So long as the pipes don't freeze, a furnace can easily be run less without a substantial reduction in comfort. On the other hand when it's hot, there is only so nude you can get.

Winter is already miserable enough with a warm house

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#245

Post by projektfu »

paxys wrote: post #3

I don't think even the most hardcore Apple superfans are buying the "reducing waste" argument. They have the right to make their products more expensive, and that's fine. People are going to keep buying them regardless.

I once joined a gym that had a high startup cost and a high monthly rate but was close to work. Despite these high prices they wanted to nickel and dime. I quit.

The iPhone 12/128gb is $879. I might not mind paying that but if you’re asking me to be less wasteful at that price point, offer me a free charger if I need it.

I had the same opinion back in the day about paying for ethernet in a 5 star hotel when the wingate offered it for free.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#246

Post by reitzensteinm »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #152
ashtonkem wrote: post #143

I really hate arguments about how much electricity wireless phone charging wastes because it makes people feel like they’re doing something when in fact they aren’t. Charging a cell phone every day for a year consumes about 1-2 kWh per phone. The average American household consumes 10,399 kWh per year, meaning that a typical smart phone consumes one 5000th, (0.02%) of a typical home’s electricity (excl. natural gas)…

Is it just one person who is charging their phone wirelessly, or does it have the potential to be a large societal trend?

This conversation is already about quantifying the impact of trends. If just one person is doing it, it's not worth talking about.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#247

Post by redis_mlc »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #153
ashtonkem wrote: post #143

I really hate arguments about how much electricity wireless phone charging wastes because it makes people feel like they’re doing something when in fact they aren’t. Charging a cell phone every day for a year consumes about 1-2 kWh per phone. The average American household consumes 10,399 kWh per year, meaning that a typical smart phone consumes one 5000th, (0.02%) of a typical home’s electricity (excl. natural gas)…

I do notice a certain glee we have when we can frame other people wasting energy in ways we don't happen to waste ourselves. As if wireless phone charging or bitcoin mining or X are the last unturned stones in the pursuit of zero waste. Some condescension we can share on HN before we drive to Walmart for a single gallon of milk. It's weird how tempting it is. I had a roommate that used our clothes dryer daily. I have…

> As if wireless phone charging or bitcoin mining

Love the bitcoin submarine. lol.

To add something informative to the conversation ...

The reason that the big bitcoin farmers are located in China is that the power generation model is different in China than the West.

China is controlled by about 8 Dragon Families in concert with the CCP (you'll notice that in news stories the prominent actors all descended from Maoist leaders, etc.)

So if you're a bitcoin miner, you just talk to the Dragon Family in charge of power generation (for example, one family owns the Three Gorges Dam profit stream, plus most other dams), and hook up to a hydroelectric dam. No published electricity rates for you.

The above also explains why the arrest of the Huawei CFO in Canada is such a big deal in China - she is royalty, and the West is treating her like a common peasant.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#248

Post by Talanes »

joshl325 wrote: post #196
fastball wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The theory I've heard is that they're planning to remove the charge port entirely in the iPhone 13, and therefore it would be a massive engineering waste to make only a single generation of phones with USB-C. But yeah, I really wanted USB-C. Bought the phone anyway though.

I can see that happen. Which will suck if you use your phones for camping trips or vacation where you need to charge on the fly. Maybe in a few years wireless charging will be efficient enough that you don't have to bring a larger power bank to compensate for power loss.

Power-bank usage is clutch in professions that involve both a lot of phone communication and movement. Event staff an politician's offices (which have a surprising amount of overlap) both will run on multiple power banks a day during "Go" time.

Re: A Guy Walks into an Apple Store

#249

Post by vbezhenar »

dheera wrote: post #191
ashtonkem wrote: post #143

I really hate arguments about how much electricity wireless phone charging wastes because it makes people feel like they’re doing something when in fact they aren’t. Charging a cell phone every day for a year consumes about 1-2 kWh per phone. The average American household consumes 10,399 kWh per year, meaning that a typical smart phone consumes one 5000th, (0.02%) of a typical home’s electricity (excl. natural gas)…

IMO the single biggest environmentally-unfriendly move Apple made is not allowing user serviceability. Even a simple ability to swap your phone's battery for a new one would reduce a lot of emissions. But they want you to spend $$$ on new stuff, so they make it hard for you to fix. And on laptops, soldered SSDs, soldered RAM, non-swappable batteries. You HAVE to buy a new PC even if you just want a little more hard d…

Replacing battery in iPhone is very easy. It's stupid to replace the entire phone because of battery. iPhone is a good citizen in that regard. You can either do it yourself or ask any repair shop.
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