People are obsessed with being green.  From skits with Al Gore looking for BearManPig to Recyclops from The Office, media is showing a concern about the environment.  There are some who care about the environment because it is trendy, and then there are those who are actually conscientious samaritans who will recycle and make an effort to lower his or her carbon footprint.  I know that when Steve Jobs announced the iPad, he said that the iPad was greener, but how green is the iPad really?

While I think that Apple has the resources and the capabilities to create greener products, as Apple continues to get knee deep with lawsuits, they better watch their back as other companies who do not have as many legal battles are progressing their campaigns for greener technology.  For example, Nokia, one of the companies that Apple is disputing with, is currently patenting “a cell phone with heavier components in a strong frame, which would sit two sets of rails, one allows it travel up and down, the other side to side. As the user walks around or jostles the phone, the frame bumps against strips of piezoelectric crystals at the end of each rail and generates a current, which then charges a capacitor that keeps the phone’s battery topped off” [via TreeHugger].  Essentially, as users move, their energy will be able to power and charge his or her phone.  However, there are many other ways that I envision being able to find energy in the unseen.  Perhaps there is a future for solar powered cell phones (except for those who live in the U.K who do not get as much sunshine), or phones powered by the energy generated from spinning or ellipticals at gyms. Regardless of what Nokia is doing to excel their company, it is clear that the competition is growing and that Steve Jobs, or rather Apple, should be thinking ahead of the curve.

Until Apple is able to think of a greener campaign, perhaps Steve Jobs should watch this clip of Recyclops and try to refocus on how Apple can become a greener company:

The news trending today was not only on the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile causing a shift in the earth’s axis and making our nice 24 hours days shorter by 1.26 milliseconds, but was the news was also discussing  Apple suing HTC due to patent laws.  According to Engadget, Apple is suing HTC for 20 patents that seem to specifically target the Android.  To read a further breakdown of the supposed 20 patent issues, go to Engadget.  According to TUAW, Steve Jobs states “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it.” Later, Jobs states that “We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”  While I don’t think that this law suit will become a showdown like Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, it seems as though Apple is having quite their fill of legal drama.  In the meantime, while Apple tries to settle these issues with Nokia, and now with HTC, other companies will have to understand, “That’s just the way it is.”