What about all of the energy savings that computers bring us, Greenpeace?
It's a lot more efficient to make a couple Google searches than to drive to the library.
It's a lot more efficient to buy something on Amazon and have it delivered by UPS, which can combine trips like crazy, than to drive to the store--or possibly several stores--to buy it.
It's a lot more efficient that I used Campfire as an integral part of working remotely last summer rather than if I had had to fly across the country for the job.
Sure, it is still important to reduce energy consumption, and lots of computing doesn't directly replace more energy-intensive tasks (sending a tweet rather than ... driving to all of my friends' houses to tell them a very short message and then leave?), but computing has lead to lots of gains.
You're misreading the article. Green eace isn't saying that cloud computing should go away. It's saying that the energy that runs major data centers should be green, or if not green, at least not coal powered.
What about all of the energy savings that computers bring us, Greenpeace?
Advocating that computers should use less energy does not equal advocating that one should not use computers. There is no reason whatsoever to suppose that computers that use less energy are somehow less useful for coming up with other ways to save energy. Your argument is completely besides the point. How a dozen people can miss that and upvote you is beyond me and has probably more to do with a shared antipathy towards Greenpeace.
Comments
What about all of the energy savings that computers bring us, Greenpeace?
It's a lot more efficient to make a couple Google searches than to drive to the library.
It's a lot more efficient to buy something on Amazon and have it delivered by UPS, which can combine trips like crazy, than to drive to the store--or possibly several stores--to buy it.
It's a lot more efficient that I used Campfire as an integral part of working remotely last summer rather than if I had had to fly across the country for the job.
Sure, it is still important to reduce energy consumption, and lots of computing doesn't directly replace more energy-intensive tasks (sending a tweet rather than ... driving to all of my friends' houses to tell them a very short message and then leave?), but computing has lead to lots of gains.
You're misreading the article. Green eace isn't saying that cloud computing should go away. It's saying that the energy that runs major data centers should be green, or if not green, at least not coal powered.
But you probably drove to the library less than you made Google searches.
There'd be much less remote hiring without hi-tech options, too.
You're making the mistake of responding to Greenpeace, the #2 source of piracy after Somalia.