Do you really need a new iPhone? No you do not. The iPhone 4 will do perfectly fine for now (according to some random bureaucrat), so the iPhone 5 should be illegal to sell until further notice.
The parent raises a valid point that shouldn't be dismissed simply by carrying an idea to a comical extreme.
Do you really have trouble understanding that part?
I'm a proponent of the idea that companies that sell you products should have to take them back at the end of their useful life. That is, Apple would take back your unwanted phone and be responsible for recycling or disposing of it, it would no longer be your problem. This would encourage companies to engineer products with longer useful lifespans, or to facilitate refurbishing instead of destruction.
Quit the hyperbole.
Nope, I'm pretty sure it's the opposite. At any point in time, if you want to dispose of some electronic gadget in the EU, you can send it to the manufacturer for disposal, and sue them if they refuse. If the manufacturer does not have a local branch, then the onus is on the importer/distributor down the chain.
Unfortunately, most people don't know or simply can't be bothered.
I used to just drop stuff at the local skip/recycling centre, where they keep electronics in a separate area, because I knew people would scavenge it for parts; a few months ago the skip changed their policy and now forbid people from picking up anything from the "electronics area", under some health&safety-touting rule. I bet it's actually because electronics disposal in the EU is now big business, thanks to the above-mentioned directive: producers are now under de-facto blackmail, so they pay specialised companies to deal with their waste, which in turn rely on local skips to pick up stuff. These companies need to get hold of waste to get paid, so they basically stop people from recycling at the source. Politically speaking it's mission accomplished (establishing a "green" economy etc etc), but in practice it's actually discouraging people from recycling among themselves, which is the most energy-efficient way to tackle waste; and recyclable electronics still show up in non-diversified skips across the African continent (or worse).
Hate is also a fairly strong word.
We have special bins for any batteries. The bins are available in many shops.
All packets of batteries (here) ask you to not just throw them into the trash but to send them to the special bins. This is part of law.
(http://www.environmentlaw.org.uk/rte.asp?id=245)
This law is part of EU directives.
I could be wrong though.
And that's why I'm happy I don't live in the EU.....too many people with this nanny-state attitude, who want bureaucrats managing every little detail of their lives.
Today it's a magazine ad with 15 days of sponsored WiFi. At the rate we're going, it's only a matter of time before we have Free Happy Meals with hallucinatory ad-sponsored connectivity delivered over the network straight to the visual cortex.
--
Edit: corrected "15 minutes" to "15 days," which is what I actually meant to type. Thanks JimmaDaRustla!
Advertising is everywhere :(
This might work? (for outdoor ads) - http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/73/Sao_Paulo_A_City_Withou...
Here's an article about this: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/books/review/Collins-t.htm...
On the other side, I'm a little surprised nobody's developed a mini-quadcopter billboard yet. Think of an array of small flying devices, each hockey-puck sized device would hold a battery, 3-color LED, radio, and maybe a processor -- they would auto-arrange into a grid, and light up in patterns to make images when seen from afar.
(This should be possible with current technology, and the business applications are undeniable.)
The biggest hurdles to overcome are:
-Creating the flight management software
-Networking 260,000 devices with wifi technology
-Getting 5-6 MWh into the air to charge these 260,000 devices each hour.
-Battery life expectancy.
http://gilgatech.tumblr.com/post/49231953391/quadcopter-bill...
Next month: A free car with your print magazine*
*selected subscribers only
*selected subscribers only
Edit: seriously though, I'd hate to be the unsuspecting subscriber who tries to bring his Forbes issue onto an airplane
Edit: if I were Microsoft and I wanted the most bang for the publicity buck, I'd sell these issues exclusively at airport newsstands
It would be great for the recipients as well, especially if lasted longer than 15 days.
Recently[1], there have been promotions for 500MB/mo free data, if you buy the hotspot for $50. One catch is they tack on $1/mo if you don't use it at all. Apparently the hardware is horrible, with crazy overheating problems; best usage practice is just to remove the battery and run from USB. You can get them attached to all sorts of carriers, but this one is Sprint; I figured it was worth a try.
[1] http://www.freedompop.com -- beware affiliate links
https://www.freedompop.com/service_plan_terms.htm
> If you choose the free Broadband Service and use less than 5mb in any
> given month, we'll charge you a $.99 Active Status fee to keep your
> account active.http://www.geek.com/mobile/fully-functional-android-phone-em...