Apple & The Environment
All is not well in Cupertino…
Those of you who know me well are aware of my affection for Apple Computer. I have been a long-time customer, supporter, and advocate.
In the past several years, however, I have become increasingly aware of much of Apple’s darker side. The company’s PR machine usually has a nice statement to smooth things out, which does little to make feel better, but still seems to have a certain amount of contempt for those seeking greater accountability.
Shareholder meetings are frequently accompanied by protests from environmental groups (as noted in the linked MacRumours article above), and there have been recent reports regarding the working conditions of an iPod OEM in China. I would very much like to see Apple take charge and lead tech companies in greater environmental awareness. Its computer recycling program is a great step forward, but still more could be done.
As an interesting aside, were I an Apple shareholder (I haven’t been for a few years—perhaps a bit shortsighted…) I would gladly forgo a certain amount of profit if it meant that the company would be a better steward of the environment and of human rights. That said, it is far easier to make such a claim than to strip all of the environmental and labor issues from such a large company, let alone one in such a highly competitive industry. If any company can make serious inroads, however, I’d put my money on Apple having the greatest potential. I hope that turns out to be the case.
[Update 8/29/06]: This is not related to the content above, but Google and Apple seem to be getting a bit more snuggly. I think the news is quite interesting in relation to the China-related issues both companies have been having the past year or so. The Microsoft connection obviously adds an interesting dimension, and this may reflect more poorly on Google (as the Techcruch post alludes to) than anticipated.
TAGS: This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Business Ethics, Corporate Governance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Interesting News, Socially Responsible Investing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.