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Would this be a good way to fight Global Warming at the grassroots level?

Specifically, sending an email to Steven Jobs informing him that you won't buy any more iPods until he makes a solar powered version available. Discussion: One of the two obstacles that solar energy has in replacing fossil fuel on a large scale is the high cost and inefficiency of solar PV cells, the devices that convert sunlight (or any light) directly into electricity. It's going to take somebody with some vision, imagination and most importantly money to make PV cells cheap enough for evey Joe and Mary Sixpack to mount them on their roof and totally disconnect their homes from the fossil fuel power grid. Congress has the money, but since it is essentially split 50-50 these days, any Federal money is going to be spent where the most readily harvestable votes are, namely in farming states where the ethanol boom is already underway. Its true that iPods only consume a negligible amount of energy, but that would actually make it easier to reach the goal of producing a 99.99% "green" iPod that doesn't require recharging from an inefficient recharger on the wall thats being energized by a fossil fuel power plant somewhere. Buyers of next generation iPods would be a perfect market for such a device, and once its successful, Microsoft will of course want to play "me too" and compete with Apple in the same market, pushing along the drive to reduce manufacturing costs and increase PV cell performance. So here's a chance for the current Disposable Income generation to be at the forefront of the Global Warming fight and with little sacrifice on their part.

Public Comments

1. every little bit helps.... but better idea - why dont we make our homes solar and or wind powered???
2. Actually, I think all small electronics should have the 'Eco-Drive' type of power source. iPod, digital cameras, cell phones, etc.
3. <<It's going to take somebody with some vision, imagination and ... money to make PV cells cheap enough>> maybe some science might be involved? <<mount them on their roof and totally disconnect their homes from the fossil fuel power grid.>> ya know, i use lights at night. you? <<Its true that iPods only consume a negligible amount of energy,>> but it's a few orders of magnitude higher than a calculator, for example, uses. and then of course, we'll want to use them indoors, which means that we'll need far brighter lights to power their cells. and that means that we'll all need to replace our current indoor lights with 500 watt bulbs, to make our ipods work.
4. I don't know how many people listen to their iPods with them exposed to the sun. I know a lot more folks who listen to their iPods while on the move, so they might be able to use some type of inertial generator - kinda like the self-winding watches - to power them. If you're somebody who keeps your iPod in a holster or pocket while outdoors, something like an iHat: a hat with built in headphones covered with flexible PV arrays. Apple could make these quite fashionable...think of all the people that own iPods. What kind of message would it send out to folks that you're being both practical and green without getting in their face. Even curious people who don't own an iPod may see them in such great numbers that they decide it's time to "get with the program".
5. The best way to fight global warming stop everything from cutting down trees which stops the greens house effect, from toxic waste, hospital waste, landfills, factories,cars and everything in between. I'm glad that they're finding new ways for cleaner and safer methods for every day living. Like there working on cars that has energy from hydrogen fuel cells, cars that run on nothing but sunlight, smaller more efficient cars like a car that travel 2000 miles and use very little gas. So I'm not really worried about what they should be doing, we should be worried about what we are doing.
6. Not bad, however I don't think ''green'' ipods is the cure for what ails the Earth.
7. The reason that solar power isn't cheap is because rampant demand in the sector has outpaced the availability of solar-grade silicon. Basic supply and demand will keep it pricey. The following companies are pursuing non-silicon solar technology and visionary production processes that have a good shot at making solar power widely affordable http://www.miasole.com/ http://www.nanosolar.com/ http://www.heliovolt.net/ So bottom line: solar powered iPods may not be the answer, but if you want to green up your mobile electronics, then go to Eclipse Solar Gear and buy one of their backpacks or messenger bags that are equiped with PV panels and a car-style power adapter. http://www.eclipsesolargear.com/BackPacks.asp
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming
9. Steve doesn't read general e-mail to him. It's filtered out. You could try talking to the marketing folks and threaten them with bad press.
10. Apples web site is profuse with politically correct hyperbole about how much they care about the environment, but I couldn't find one single reference to solar energy. I think yours is a good idea because it would result in either a badly needed jump start for the solar industry or unmask Jobs as yet another double talking baby boomer billionaire.