New AppleCare packaging - get that same comprehensive care in a sleek new box

The Greenpeace "study" on computer companies has been shown to be a publicity stunt, based on subjective metrics. Greenpeace has since apologized for its faulty "study."

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Home/ABC6DFDA-9DE9-4EA8-A269-65EAAB628676.html

That Apple did it for the environment is ludicrous. Look at that bleached white chemical laden cardboard that will take forever to rot in the ground, and as it does, it will leach bad things into the soil. The fact is that the largest amount of waste in our landfills is paper, and throughout the years, despite recycling, etc., we still throw away more than ever before. If you can't get fancy and recycle everything, as least recycle paper products. Boxes like the one you see above will end up in a landfill, and are entirely about advertising, and are entirely wasteful.

Enviromental and business reasons aside, it to be the same size as the box for the (old) iPod Nanos and the software cds that ship with every new mac. Perhaps their just standardizing....

It looks like Apple has officially abandoned their "new" logo with the swoosh.

I think people forget that the size of software packaging was once tied to the size of the included manuals. With the advent of easy to use electronic documents, PDF in particular, less and less software is supplied with manuals - at least the large manuals - some still come with Quick Start Guides. Anyhow, I think it's just taken time for the size of the package to shrink to mirror that change.

Look at game software, a few years ago games started coming in smaller packages but not much else has followed suit - that I've seen.

AppleCare prices have not changed: MacBooks (iBooks) have always been $249 vs. MacBook Pros (PowerBooks) for $349.

Just to pile on here--maybe Apple will listen? (Doubt it.) Any packaging for AppleCare is ludicrous. They should just email you the damn registration number, and be done with it--no fuss, no muss, and no paper waste. Trees saved, hugged, etc.

Apple's "environmental credentials" are based on the PR the company gives on environmental protection, rather than what they actually do - pure marketing fluff. Like how HP's laptops aren't quite RoHS compliant (while Apple's are)

Apparently there's a series of interesting articles refuting those claims, too.

http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM/FFD3F08B-6D43-46BA-BCC2-D075A506A016.html

But I will say, when I bought my Mac Pro, the only 'packaging' the AppleCare thing came in was a padded envelope - not even a box. And the padding was just for the CD.

It's a slow news day.

AppleCare and .mac are just services, as far as I know, which don't really need any physical presence and only cost Apple money they could be putting into R&D for something i might actually want to buy (video iPod? smartphone?). It's an empty box to hold the psychological satisfaction of buying something.

I don't necessarily blame the company for pandering to such consumer stupidity, rather the stupid consumers themselves who feel the need to carry a box after they fork out money.