Stefan Mileschin

Apple's daft decision to abandon a green licensing system in favour of controlling its users is already costing it in lost customers.

Cupertino decided that it wanted to make tons of money forcing its long suffering users to have to return their toys to its stores everytime they needed a new battery. This involved gluing them shut rather than using a screw.

Unfortunately this move was in breach of a green certification programme called EPEAT as it meant that iPhones could not be recycled. Apple's response was to walk away from the standard.

The result has been rapid, according to the Daily Telegraph, with San Francisco deciding that its 50 departments and 28,000 employees will no longer be able to use city funds to buy Apple desktops, laptops or monitors.

But Jon Walton, the city's chief information officer, said the city's policy doesn't apply to iPhones and iPads.

The University of California, the largest US public higher-education system, is considering whether to suspend Apple computer purchases because of the change.O ther government departments and schools are expected to follow suit.

The federal government requires that 95 percent of its laptops and desktops are certified by EPEAT.

Apple is furious that government departments are refusing to accept its new standard. This is based on the fact that Apple tells you its products are green, and you buy them. Ironically Apple was involved in designing EPEAT - it was just in those days it didn't see how it could lose money by having screws in its hardware.

The winners will be companies like Dell, HP and Apple's arch-nemesis Samsung which has no problems meeting the standard.

http://news.techeye.net/hardware/san...n-epeat-fiasco