This subsection is under review. Considering that the price of coal skyrocketted as a direct result of
James Watt inventing a
more efficient steam engine, and that this is far from an isolated example of inventions increasing the temptation of natural resources, I've lost confidence in the assumption that more efficient technology is what's needed to solve the world's sustainability crisis. It seems counterintuitive at first, but the market dynamic of efficiency increasing resource value makes sense – if a tonne of coal can do twice as much work then industry may perceive it as twice the value. Markets that formerly deemed coal too dear, such as mills, started to see it as economical, increasing demand, driving up the price, and thus motivating more agressive extraction – the onset of the
Industrial Revolution. It seems to me that more efficient technology is simply more addictive technology, giving more economic justification for a particular amount of environmental destruction, and thus inventions of technological efficiency could actually just be enabling humanity to destroy Earth's ecosystems even more efficiently!! However, it's clear that inefficiency is bad too. There's a moral dilemma here, and I think that the emphasis has to be on
sustainability from the outset, not on efficiency as an afterthought. |
Any dream device would use entirely libre technology, including all hardware components. This goes far beyond RYF which only addresses software; it would be the ultimate in technological liberty. Furthermore:
allowUnfree = false;
);My dream smartphone would have the following features:
I currently have 2 ThinkPad X60 Tablets, which is about as close as I've found so far to what I want. However, I've since seen devices that achieve the same hybrid laptop–tablet roll by having the screen detach entirely as a standalone tablet. This is more flexible and allows the tablet mode to be much less bulky. I prefer to think of this as actually having a screenless laptop with a tablet which can be used as the laptop screen, i.e. that both parts are autonomous with their own CPU and operating system, with software integration. For best flexibility, the tablet should be able to dock in both landscape and portrait, the portrait mode being especially useful for reading documents and such.
The capacitative sensing should have accurate position and pressure sensitivity with at least 10 multitouch pointers for best enjoyment with Hexiano.
These days devices seem to be ditching the ports, but until devices are efficient enough to run and charge off a photovoltaic backing, they will still have a power port. Having one cable plugged in isn't a problem, so why not additionally use this same cable for a network connection and a port replicator?
For example, the power adaptor could have an Ethernet port,
HomePlug connectivity, 4 USB ports, 1 FireWire port, VGA, DVI, HDMI, and digital audio. Wouldn't that be just excellent!