iPhone 3G to be shipped in eco-friendly packaging: spuds

I'd rather see goods encased in a cubic foot of tasty Jell-O. Think of the cushioning possibilities!

We're talking potatoes here, a pretty perishable product, best grown locally. The potatoes used for this PaperFoam won't solve any world hunger. It will however, reduce the need for alternatives (mostly plastics and/or foam - made from far worse materials like oil).

So it's a trade off I guess - but denouncing environmentally sound innovation just because it's made from food stuffs "that could've fed someone" is not the answer.

I agree, the ingredients for PaperFoam should be grown specifically for it and shouldn't (and probably aren't) taken from any crops destined for human consumption.

Also, the production process is apparantly complicated engouh and not something impoverished communities will (be able to) undertake.

Biofuel is a different matter, since the potential demand is so huge it will most likely impact production for human consumption at some point.

I wonder how Apple has solved the OOBE with this new generation of iPhone...

While I am, in theory, for any technology that reduces our reliance on oil, I have a problem with using basic foodstuffs to do it. Businesses wanting to use the produce for manufacturing are usually able to pay more than to the farmers than businesses and individuals wanting to use the food as food.

I hate to be the one "just think of the poor starving little kiddies in Africa" person, I'm not generally like that since there are usually more than enough other people getting vocal about it, but this sort of thing can have a huge impact on the availability of food to impoverished communities.

Biofuels are obviously the best example of this, and this PaperFoam stuff just gives me further cause for concern.

Sam

I have a DVD that came in an eco-friendly package, with a potato-based tray. (Barenaked Ladies' Talk To The Hand: Live in Michigan, if you must know)

One of my friends licked it, he said it didn't taste very good.

remember not everyone has to activate in store, for existing o2 users in the uk we get a phone call, there register a new contract down the phone and post the phone out to us. There is no queing for existing customers so the packaging would be nice. Not every iphone user in the world is using AT&T.

Okay, folks I'm gonna be honest here. I'm gonna eat it.

For real; I keep my apple boxes!
Will the new iPhone not use iTunes for activation? I didn't like that system very much..

As if people throw away the boxes for their Apple kit.

first

Given that all of these phones will be opened at the store for activation, will any of the packaging matter? Why even bother with a box?