Filed under: MobileMe
MobileMe may be Apple's least "green" product, packaging-wise
When I purchased my MacBook Pro in early 2008, I threw down US$69 for a .Mac (now known as MobileMe) membership. I expected to get an email confirmation of my .Mac order (which I did), followed shortly by another email with an activation code.
Instead, I received the hot mess you see in the pic above (US size 9.5 shoe included for scaling purposes). First, a huge FedEx package, about the same size as the current MacBook's packaging. Rattling around inside of it was a cardboard box with .Mac emblazoned on the front, large enough to fit a CD or DVD inside. But instead of a CD or DVD, I found a small paper booklet with a sticker on the front page containing my activation code. In all, it was about a pound of packaging (at least) for something that really didn't need to be mailed to me at all.
Nearly three years later, the situation hasn't improved. The New York Times notes that MobileMe's packaging needs to go on a diet, and they're absolutely right. Apple's made a big deal in recent years about its push for "greener" practices in both its products and its packaging, and they've made big strides. In 2006, Greenpeace gave Apple very poor ratings for its environmental practices. Greenpeace spent the next few years hounding Apple for its environmental record, until earlier this year when Apple got top ratings. Apple has since slipped to ninth place in the rankings.
The packaging for most of Apple's products has measurably shrunk along with the products themselves. By eliminating iTunes installation CDs from its iPod line, Apple has been able to reduce the size of iPod packaging considerably; the newest iPods' packages are barely bigger than the iPods themselves, and packaging for both Macs and iPhones has shrunk, too.
iPhone 3G vs. iPhone 4 packaging
MobileMe's product packaging hasn't changed a bit in three years, other than the name on the front. The package still occupies the same footprint as the boxes for AppleCare, OS X Snow Leopard, and even an Airport Express -- all products which contain DVDs with installable software inside. Those products have a reason to be the size they are. MobileMe doesn't.
One of these products is a marvel of minimalist packaging. The other is MobileMe.
The activation codes for MobileMe could easily transition to electronic-only, especially once the Mac App Store goes online. If, for whatever reason, Apple feels that MobileMe must continue to have physical (i.e. paper) activation codes, then as the New York Times suggests, the company could mail those codes in a small envelope rather than using all that wasteful cardboard packaging.
There's another alternative that I like even better: skip the activation codes entirely and make MobileMe free to all Mac and/or iPhone owners. I'd like to believe that Apple has something like this up its sleeve -- perhaps that's part of what Apple's new North Carolina data center is destined for. But if Apple wants to keep charging for MobileMe, the least they can do is shrink the size of the product's packaging to something less wasteful, because in its current incarnation, MobileMe may be Apple's least "green" product of all.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Gaz Beirne said 7:05AM on 10-29-2010
Although there's no excuse for MobileMe codes to be electronic only, they do get let down by the shippers. My new Apple TV, in its tiny box barely big enough to contain everything, arrived rattling around inside another box about 5-6 times the size of it.
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Gaz Beirne said 7:07AM on 10-29-2010
*not* to be electronic only.
Derp.
Richard said 7:08AM on 10-29-2010
There is absolutely no need to buy the MobileMe packaging anyway, so the ones creating the 'less' green problem are the customers
1) Go to me.com
2) Sign up for a 60 day free trial
3) Go to the accounts section and upgrade to full account
Done, no packaging, no disks and best of all it's instant.
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SmileyDude said 7:41AM on 10-29-2010
One downside to that is that when you buy a Mac, iPhone or iPad, you can get MobileMe at a discount. But that means taking the boxed version.
Perhaps some MobileMe gift cards would work better?
MoonWalkerCTE said 8:08AM on 10-29-2010
@smileydude
You get 60 days for free o.0
Hawkstara said 8:17AM on 10-29-2010
I signed up online when I bought my first iPhone.
4nNtt said 12:29PM on 10-29-2010
Yeah. That is the way I signed up in 2005. No packaging. I think the AppleStore box exists for gifting. Otherwise you can just signup for the free trial and then extend it. As a bonus you get to help the environment and get a couple free months.
4nNtt said 12:43PM on 10-29-2010
This should be mentioned in the main article. Hopefully TUAW edits this article.
Drakhul said 2:32PM on 10-29-2010
What you mean to say is there is no excuse for Apple to still be sending out gigantic boxes with a code in them...
I buy my updates from another vendor at a reduced rate (just under $60 this time, including express shipping). Why would I pay more just to avoid getting a box?
ebernet said 1:39AM on 10-30-2010
I agree with @rakhul - I even emailed his Steveness about this over a year ago.
Renew online, automatically - 100+tax.
Renew by buying a physical box on eBay, $50, plus a whole lot of unneeded packaging and energy getting it from probably China, to some warehouse, to the vendor, and then to me!!
It should cost LESS than $100. If Apple is able to make such margins on Mobile Me that third party vendors can sell it to us for $50 and still make a profit, then at least have the auto-renewals, online, cost $60 and I would do it. But for $50 more to auto renew, I end up wasting the packaging every time. They really need to solve this!
danleech said 7:11AM on 10-29-2010
I agree with Richard. I didn't receive any physical product when I signed up for MobileMe after my free trial expired.
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iBearTouch said 7:22AM on 10-29-2010
Same bloody packaging as iLife 11, right down to the FedEX box. Ban iLife! iLife is evil!!! Why pick only on mobile me. Gee whiz
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Edicius said 11:03AM on 10-29-2010
iLife comes on a disc though.
Jacob B said 7:36AM on 10-29-2010
They could easily do it using a card the same as iTunes credit, at least then any1 buying it as a gift has something to give the other person.
Totally agree that at the moment the packaging is a waste. You look at it and expect to find a CD/DVD inside, then find a few bits of paper
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Tekunoloji said 7:38AM on 10-29-2010
It's FedEx's fault.
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John said 7:39AM on 10-29-2010
Apple Care doesn't come with a CD either in its package, at least for the iPod versions so it's a similar idea with that.
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Hussain Mahmood said 6:35PM on 10-29-2010
It comes with a CD for Mac AppleCare, which has some diagnostic tools on it.
Jonathan said 7:41AM on 10-29-2010
Same experience as other readers - upgraded from the free trial and received all my activation details via email. Never received any packaging.
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Eideard said 7:52AM on 10-29-2010
After 40 years of ecology activism I still hate being lumped in with the anal vegan Left.
Greenpeace is about as useful as Congress.
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Howie Isaacks said 7:54AM on 10-29-2010
Big deal! If you're so worried about packaging, then recycle it. I'm sick of all of this "green" crap. I'm tired of the enviro nazis constantly bashing Apple, and other computer makers.
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