I have serious reservations that the proposed 'behavioral shaping' can result in what is ultimately needed: a better educated consumer.
Most of the suggested solutions on the linked site: http://tinyurl.com/5sws5e follow that same thinking. They're either new features or add-on products continuing the churn in consumer pass through. It is hard to fault product like the Watson: http://tinyurl.com/6myoed though I find it ironic the proposed solution is a device that uses energy to display how much energy you are using, never mind the oil, copper, heavy metals etc that were needed to make it. Will it encourage people to switch off items like they're 42" flat screen? yes.. but does it solve the hard fact that we're living well beyond a 3 Earth footprint? People will still buy the more energy efficient 64" HD with bluray etc etc screen when it becomes cheap enough. It irks me when the term 'green' is used to imply a system is somehow better for the environment. More often than not the term is a marketing gimmick indicating the new version is, at face value, slightly less bad than the previous and so if you care about the environment you should upgrade and dump the old one in the bin. Take the example of the Power Saving feature in any operating system. Its generally thought of as a 'green' option.. resulting in less power consumption. However, this encourages the user to leave the machine in standby mode.. consuming more power than is needed. You will never see car manufacturers promote the virtues of walking as a way to reduce how much you have to spend at the pump... how does that help sell cars? We're conditioned to thinking that by buying a Prius we're somehow saving the planet. The introduction of hybrid SUV's on the market in the US is indicative of the magnitude of the paradigm shift in consumer thinking needed. Einstein "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.". Lets be realistic here, we cannot 'design' our way out of this problem. Maybe I'm a little too cynical but the linked site seems to propose how to make the best of a bad job... how to create new products that are marginally less bad that the previous version... and in some cases the proposal simply adds to the problem - consumption of resources. I would suggest that if a designer truly feels like saving the environment.. get a job as an educator. http://tinyurl.com/36oca8 The world needs less 'stuff'... not new systems that consume decreasing resources at a slower rate... that still leaves us in a zero sum game... albeit a slightly longer one. //rant off On a slightly lighter note, watch Saving the Planet by George Carlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
