Worn thin: the limits of a “logic of innovation”
People overwhelmingly value battery life over “thin”. Numerous studies have backed the idea that people want battery life more than any other “innovation”. So why do manufacturers seem to sideline this straight-forward desire in favour of “thin”?
Exploring our e-waste: opening gadgets and learning about disposal
We hosted a very fast, two hour exploration of electronic waste at the Open Knowledge Festival. While we owe much of the growth of “Open Knowledge” to physical networks, hardware and electronics, we often ignore its material aspects and the consequences.
What we are throwing away
Our e-stuff is a goldmine. Recently the United Nations University and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) estimated that electronic waste now contains precious metal “deposits” 40 to 50 times richer than ores mined from the ground. Annually $16 billion in gold is built into our electronics and at least 85% is not recovered – lost […]