The benefits and dangers of analog media storage are mixed. Books and newspapers are easily recyclable and compostable. Compact discs have been made from polycarbonate plastic for some time, but research into biodegradable corn discs and 51% paper blu-ray discs has been successful in contributing to sustainability. Ethereal digital media only takes up space on a hard drive but the materials and embodied energy in our ever-growing collections of gadgets needed to enjoy this content is considerable. E-waste is a relatively invisible, though undeniable problem in America (often exported to India and China), but pressure from consumers and activist groups such as Greenpeace has brought cleaner, more recyclable technology to the market. Furthermore, the datacenters that provide and store the vast sums of digital content require immense amounts of electricity, generally only as clean as the rest of our energy.
The trend towards digitizing media shows no sign of stopping. For the time being, we can enjoy the saved landfill space and logging that may otherwise be afforded to books and newspaper, but not forget the land taken up with e-waste or the costs of dirty electricity. Legal requirements for clean technology composition, energy efficiency, and incentives for clean energy generation are only going to be more important as technology continues to revolutionize established facets of our lives.
I would agree with some of your arguments. I am an avid Iphone user, I get most of my information each day though this singular device. However, some sources are not available. For example if I want to find out what is going on around campus I grab a copy of the CT, or look at the table cards in our dinning halls. I would also suggest that the more dependent we are on these devices the dumber we become. It becomes more difficult to connect with another human and to gain true insight into our world. As far as the waste from these devices go I would say that it would be about the same as it was before they were developed. We use some things less now, but we have to use more components and machinery to make these devices. I am sure that it takes a lot of memory and storage to keep all of our electronic records, but that is really nothing compared to keeping all of that data on hard copy file. Its a balance between billions of tress or pieces of metal and energy.
ReplyDeleteI find myself torn when it comes to the issues associated with the new media changes we have been experiencing over the past few years. While on the surface it appears that digital copies of media would produce less waste, the constnat upgrading of our digital devices is leading to great amounts of hazardous e-waste as you have mentioned. This waste is extremely harmful to both the environment and human health. I think if we are going to transition to obtaining most of our media from digital sources then it is extremly important to make upgrading our current devices a viable alternative to simply replacing them. Also, with this shift there is going to need to be more enforcement of recycling policies for old electronics.
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