WEBVTT - Is green technology a trend?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With

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<v Speaker 1>tech Stuff from how stuff works dot Com. Hello everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot Com.

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<v Speaker 1>Sitting next to me, as usual, looking bemused, is senior

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<v Speaker 1>writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, all right, then I have

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<v Speaker 1>a question for you. Yeah, go ahead. Is green technology

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<v Speaker 1>just a trend? Oh? Good? I thought we're gonna ask

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<v Speaker 1>if it was easy being green? No? No, um, I

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<v Speaker 1>do have a frog in my throat, but I'm just

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<v Speaker 1>gonna ask that. No, no, no, um. So is green

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<v Speaker 1>technology just a trend? That is the the topic for

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<v Speaker 1>our podcast? My answer is no. All right, thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>tuning in. Alright, that's good talking to you again. I

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<v Speaker 1>want to learn more about green technology. I guess we

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<v Speaker 1>should probably go a little longer about that than that.

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<v Speaker 1>All right. So green technology, UM, it seems a bit

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<v Speaker 1>trendy because it is everywhere right now. I mean, this

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<v Speaker 1>is one of those things where companies are all claiming

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<v Speaker 1>that they're going green. Um, it's it's sort of the

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<v Speaker 1>political thing to do being environmentally conscious to suddenly very

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<v Speaker 1>fashionable lack of a better word, and UH and technology,

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<v Speaker 1>of course is is right there with everyone else. And

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<v Speaker 1>you might wonder if this is just sort of a

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<v Speaker 1>passing fad, a fancy if you will, uh, But I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think so. I think it's probably more important than that.

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<v Speaker 1>And while it may lose some of the support and

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<v Speaker 1>focus that it has right now, over time, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think it's ever going to go away completely. But I

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<v Speaker 1>can see why you might think that it would be

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<v Speaker 1>just a trend because jokes aside, to your point, it's

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<v Speaker 1>not easy and green. These these companies who are making

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<v Speaker 1>uh computers and electronics have to do quite a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of retooling to you know, take into account a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the environmental trends, getting rid of certain chemicals during

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<v Speaker 1>the manufacturing process, cutting down on the amount of electricity

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<v Speaker 1>that it takes to run the machines that manufacture those things,

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<v Speaker 1>taking into account uh ways to reduce electricity used by

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<v Speaker 1>those machines. You know, these are processes that require a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of research and development and you know, new machinery

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<v Speaker 1>and retooling to to take into account. And it's I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna use take into account six more times if I can.

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<v Speaker 1>But sorry, um, but um, yeah, I mean I think

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's difficult. And you might say, yeah, they're gonna

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<v Speaker 1>do this just long enough to get a good reputation

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<v Speaker 1>for being green, and uh, then they're gonna just gonna

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<v Speaker 1>dump it or only gonna take it so far before

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<v Speaker 1>they really just sort of say, oh, yeah, well we've

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<v Speaker 1>we've taken these new measures. Uh, we're gonna go ahead

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<v Speaker 1>with it. And another part of that equation is that

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<v Speaker 1>they have to, you know, those costs go somewhere. Either

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<v Speaker 1>they have to pass those costs along to the in

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<v Speaker 1>consumer so that we end up paying more for the

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<v Speaker 1>electronics that we're used to having at cheaper costs, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>across the board, either we're the ones paying for it,

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<v Speaker 1>or they have to eat those costs. Now, I don't

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<v Speaker 1>know how much you know about economics, but in general,

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<v Speaker 1>companies don't like eating costs. You look at these these

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<v Speaker 1>I mean you have again we talk about sort of

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<v Speaker 1>the whole domino effect of this affects that, which affects that.

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<v Speaker 1>When we talked about our electronic versus Paper um podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>we got into a lot of details about that kind

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<v Speaker 1>of thing about how you can't just take into account

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<v Speaker 1>the production cycle. You also have to take an account

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<v Speaker 1>transportation of materials and all these other sort of factors.

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<v Speaker 1>Same thing here. When you're looking at the cost of

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<v Speaker 1>producing a truly green friendly product versus the normal, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>wasteful or possibly hazardous version of that product, it's more

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<v Speaker 1>expensive in most cases. And if you're a company, you're

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<v Speaker 1>either answering to your private owners or shareholders who I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>the whole purpose of them buying into that company is

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<v Speaker 1>to make money. At the end of the day, they

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<v Speaker 1>do it, you know, different ways, either through products or services,

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<v Speaker 1>but at the end of the day, the reason for

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<v Speaker 1>that to exist is to make money, and if you

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<v Speaker 1>are taking away from that, then there's no reason for

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<v Speaker 1>it to exist anymore. So someone has to meet those

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<v Speaker 1>costs somewhere, and it's usually going to be the end consumer. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>but the end consumer maybe well, actually, in my opinion,

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<v Speaker 1>the end consumer is the person around which this trend

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<v Speaker 1>is going to play out. I think it's whether it

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<v Speaker 1>becomes a trend or not, it's going to be based

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<v Speaker 1>on the end consumer, I think, yeah, I think it

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<v Speaker 1>fully depends upon the end consumer and how much he

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<v Speaker 1>or she is willing to pay in order to go green. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And to make matters more complicated, of course, we're in

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<v Speaker 1>a global recession, so we have people who are more

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<v Speaker 1>cautious about spending money. They realize that the environment is

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<v Speaker 1>an important issue. And I would say that maybe not

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<v Speaker 1>a vast majority, but I would say at least a

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<v Speaker 1>small majority realizes that that in the negative environmental impact

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<v Speaker 1>of technology and other um, corporate and and and consumer

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<v Speaker 1>market type things, are you know, that's something we have

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<v Speaker 1>to address. UM. The question is is it something that

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<v Speaker 1>we have to address that will affect my pocket? You know,

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<v Speaker 1>like am I willing to pay for us to address this?

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<v Speaker 1>And And traditionally that's been kind of a sticky situation.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's one of those things where we want

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<v Speaker 1>to fix, but we don't want to be the one

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<v Speaker 1>to have to pay for it. So I think more

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<v Speaker 1>people are willing to give up a little bit more

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<v Speaker 1>or to switch to different products right now than we've

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<v Speaker 1>ever seen in the past. I think there's more of

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<v Speaker 1>an environmental consciousness out there than has ever been in

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<v Speaker 1>the past. UM. But I think the next year or

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<v Speaker 1>two will really show us whether or not people are

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<v Speaker 1>willing to to really take the sacrifices that are going

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<v Speaker 1>to be necessary to to have a truly green lifestyle.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, it's not just the companies that are gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be making these decisions. We make them by the way

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<v Speaker 1>we purchase products and the you know, the way we

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<v Speaker 1>live out our daily lives. So the way you live

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<v Speaker 1>out your life really does make a difference. That's true.

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<v Speaker 1>That's true. UM. You know, it was funny because when

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<v Speaker 1>we started talking about doing this podcast, I was I

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<v Speaker 1>was trying to think of places I could go to

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<v Speaker 1>get more information, and UM, one of the people I

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<v Speaker 1>trust a lot in that regard would be our friend

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<v Speaker 1>Jamie Himbach over a tree hugger, and she she writes

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<v Speaker 1>about tech um and it's environmental impacts all the time.

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<v Speaker 1>It's all sorts of great blog posts. UM, but I

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<v Speaker 1>was looking at one of them, and it's kind of

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<v Speaker 1>illustrated a point for me. UM, as this transitional period

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<v Speaker 1>we're in where people want to buy green stuff and

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<v Speaker 1>the manufacturers aren't quite there yet. Um. She was talking

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<v Speaker 1>about Sony Ericsson's new phones, the green Heart Phones, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>and Uh, Basically the point is that the phone itself

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<v Speaker 1>is not really all that much different from a regular phone,

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<v Speaker 1>but they've produced the the amount of packaging and uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, made the charger a little bit more energy efficient.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, her point being essentially, I'm sorry what,

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<v Speaker 1>yeah exactly, you know it makes a difference, but you

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<v Speaker 1>know the difference it's making right now isn't isn't really

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<v Speaker 1>all that significant? And the greater impact of the entire industry,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, and I think that now. I mean, people

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<v Speaker 1>need to basically vote with their pocket and say, you know, look,

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<v Speaker 1>I want a greener product so that the companies no, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>people will pay for it and they will continue to

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<v Speaker 1>make strides and recycling, which actually Sony Errickson is you know,

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<v Speaker 1>saying that is going to come out of this this project,

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<v Speaker 1>but um, you know, it's it's just sort of not

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<v Speaker 1>there yet. And recycling is another one of those things. Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, because a lot of these companies are taking

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<v Speaker 1>back uh products. I see that Dell has a partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with Goodwill of all people to take back computers at

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<v Speaker 1>Goodwill locations. Um, but um, you know that that's one

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<v Speaker 1>good move, certainly, But there also been reports of some

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<v Speaker 1>manufacturers basically just you know, dumping them or you know,

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<v Speaker 1>sending them to uh other countries to be yeah, to

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<v Speaker 1>be basically roasted on fires and the chemicals drip into

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<v Speaker 1>the ground, you know, contaminating groundwater and poisoning the people

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<v Speaker 1>who are supposed to be taking them apart. Right, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you have you of nearby villages where people's health is

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<v Speaker 1>affected by this sort of thing. Yeah, I mean, it

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<v Speaker 1>really does pay to to research any company before you

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<v Speaker 1>just go ahead and uh and assume that their green

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<v Speaker 1>claims are true. Um, for example, the the whole the

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<v Speaker 1>whole recycling thing. Uh. Yeah, just a little research goes

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<v Speaker 1>a long way, because there are legitimate recycling programs out

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<v Speaker 1>there where these companies will take your electronics, they will

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<v Speaker 1>take them apart in safe environments, uh and recycle everything

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<v Speaker 1>that can be recycled and and then dispose of everything

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<v Speaker 1>else in a responsible manner. But that costs a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money, so you know, you have to you have

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<v Speaker 1>to look around, because even though there are a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of recycling programs, many of them take the cheap route,

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<v Speaker 1>which of course is shipping them to some other country

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<v Speaker 1>and just getting them out of the way. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>you're not you know, you're no longer polluting the immediate area.

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<v Speaker 1>But you're definitely contributing to a negative environmental impact. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think letting the companies that you work with, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the people that you buy a PC from or an

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<v Speaker 1>electronic device from, know that this is something that's important

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<v Speaker 1>to you. UM. You know that that makes a difference

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<v Speaker 1>and UM, or it should UM. And you can always,

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<v Speaker 1>if it really matters to you, vote with your pocketbook

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<v Speaker 1>and say, you know what, I'm not going to buy

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<v Speaker 1>this thing because I know that that you that you

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<v Speaker 1>are not sincere in your environmental claims. You know, green

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<v Speaker 1>Piece has a report they put out every so often,

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<v Speaker 1>and uh, you know a lot of the electronics folks

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<v Speaker 1>just you know, don't do so well. No, but I

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<v Speaker 1>think ahead I was going to say, of course, there's

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<v Speaker 1>always the term that that we've mentioned a few times

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<v Speaker 1>and that you'll eventually run around. Uh, you'll run into

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<v Speaker 1>if you start researching green technology. UM. It's called greenwashing.

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<v Speaker 1>And greenwashing is when you are are trying to come

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<v Speaker 1>across as an environmentally conscious entity, uh and say that

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<v Speaker 1>your products or services are environmentally friendly, when in fact

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<v Speaker 1>it may be that that some other aspect of producing

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<v Speaker 1>that product. UM is actually very harmful to the environment.

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<v Speaker 1>So you might concentrate on one or two really good

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<v Speaker 1>things about your product and ignore everything else. So it

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<v Speaker 1>may be that, you know, you could say, oh, well,

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<v Speaker 1>this monitor consumes less electricity than the average monitor out there.

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<v Speaker 1>But what they might not tell you is that the monitor,

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<v Speaker 1>in order to produce the monitor, they had to use

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<v Speaker 1>this very dangerous chemical that if it's ever released into

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<v Speaker 1>the atmosphere, is you know, sixteen thousand times more potent

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<v Speaker 1>than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping greenhouse gases,

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<v Speaker 1>which is more or less a true story. Yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>made up the sixteen thousand I can't remember exactly how

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<v Speaker 1>much that would be the less Yeah, yeah, that would

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<v Speaker 1>be the less part of the more or less. But

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<v Speaker 1>that's that's greenwashing, where you you're you're playing up certain

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<v Speaker 1>aspects as being really environmentally friendly, well kind of pushing

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<v Speaker 1>the others under the carpet so that, uh, you look

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<v Speaker 1>like you're a responsible company and you're you're trying to

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<v Speaker 1>do the right thing. Um, and it's it's it's a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty common practice. And it's not just electronics. It's lots

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<v Speaker 1>of different quote unquote green businesses. But it's one another

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<v Speaker 1>one of those things that a little research can really

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<v Speaker 1>help you out. There are plenty of blogs out there

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<v Speaker 1>that make it their mission to to investigate the claims

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<v Speaker 1>and make sure that these companies are in fact telling

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<v Speaker 1>the truth when they say that their products are environmentally

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<v Speaker 1>friendly or make the smallest amount of impact on the

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<v Speaker 1>environment as possible. Uh, you were when you were mentioning

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<v Speaker 1>the whole people can vote with their pockets. That's one

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<v Speaker 1>of the things that kind of scares me in a way,

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<v Speaker 1>only in the sense that if we see companies offer uh,

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<v Speaker 1>things like the the green phones, you know you were mentioning.

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<v Speaker 1>I've seen several green phones come out that we're very

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<v Speaker 1>very basic phones, you know, just essential cell phone technology,

0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:19.280
<v Speaker 1>so nothing smartphone ish about it, nothing like that, nothing

0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.240
<v Speaker 1>sexy or sleek, and the big selling point was that

0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:24.920
<v Speaker 1>it was green, not that it had all these cool features.

0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:28.760
<v Speaker 1>I think that's also a problem is that if companies

0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:32.360
<v Speaker 1>aren't willing to invest both in the green technology and

0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:35.679
<v Speaker 1>in presenting the sort of features that people expect these days,

0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.160
<v Speaker 1>there's a danger that consumers won't buy the green products

0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.120
<v Speaker 1>at all because it just doesn't do what they needed

0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.760
<v Speaker 1>to do. So then you've got companies who can say, well, look,

0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:46.920
<v Speaker 1>they're not interested in the environment because no one's buying

0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.480
<v Speaker 1>this phone. It may not be because the phone is

0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.439
<v Speaker 1>green or not green. It's because it's not doing what

0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:54.600
<v Speaker 1>the consumer wants it to do. That's a good point.

0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.480
<v Speaker 1>So that's a good point. That's that's kind of a

0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:01.760
<v Speaker 1>that's that's something that legitimately worries me because you know,

0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.800
<v Speaker 1>I would hate to see a product, a line get

0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.520
<v Speaker 1>abandoned just because people weren't buying it because it didn't

0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.240
<v Speaker 1>have the the suite of functions they expected it to

0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.880
<v Speaker 1>as opposed to it being green. I mean, I'm willing

0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.320
<v Speaker 1>to pay a little bit more for technology that is

0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:20.520
<v Speaker 1>legitimately a green, environmentally friendly technology if it in fact

0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:24.800
<v Speaker 1>does what I needed to do right right. But you know, um,

0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:29.480
<v Speaker 1>I was also thinking about how slow, how much time

0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:34.520
<v Speaker 1>it takes to get real green, genuinely green technology into

0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:40.480
<v Speaker 1>the process of making uh well, electronics and computers and

0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.600
<v Speaker 1>all kinds of other things, other materials, building materials and

0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.440
<v Speaker 1>things like that, and um, you know that may actually

0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:52.200
<v Speaker 1>work in the favor of eliminating the trend nous of

0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.480
<v Speaker 1>green and actually making it a day to day normality

0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:57.920
<v Speaker 1>and you know, because it takes a lot of time

0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:00.600
<v Speaker 1>and a lot of money to convert. And if uh,

0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:04.600
<v Speaker 1>the trend sustains itself long enough, uh, it won't be

0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:06.960
<v Speaker 1>a trend anymore, and it will be you know, people

0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.520
<v Speaker 1>will have converted. And if people say, well, you know,

0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.480
<v Speaker 1>I don't care anymore, well, by that point it will

0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:14.720
<v Speaker 1>be very expensive to convert back to the old way

0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:17.880
<v Speaker 1>of doing things, and so it will establish itself in

0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:21.720
<v Speaker 1>in a permanent way. Um. You know, even even the

0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:26.200
<v Speaker 1>financial meltdown has caused you know, one good thing in

0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.840
<v Speaker 1>a way. Um, it's not really good for the people

0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.800
<v Speaker 1>of munc, Indiana, because there were factories there where GM

0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:37.360
<v Speaker 1>and ford um had closed their plants and a lot

0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:38.840
<v Speaker 1>of people are out of work, and that's certainly not

0:15:38.880 --> 0:15:42.560
<v Speaker 1>a good thing. Um. But there's an Italian company actually

0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.600
<v Speaker 1>that wants to uh put a lot of those people

0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:51.240
<v Speaker 1>back to work making um wind energy equipment, turbines and

0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.600
<v Speaker 1>things like that. Yeah. Yeah, basically they would, they would.

0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:57.000
<v Speaker 1>There are all these skilled laborers right there. Um. The

0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.760
<v Speaker 1>bad thing is, according I've heard this on Marketplace, the

0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:06.320
<v Speaker 1>American public media show, and apparently the biggest problem is

0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:09.120
<v Speaker 1>they've got hundreds and hundreds of people who need jobs

0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:13.440
<v Speaker 1>and they just don't have that many jobs. Plus, um,

0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.000
<v Speaker 1>they're not going to be able to get the factory

0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:20.000
<v Speaker 1>online until apparently, UM, but it does. It does present

0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.040
<v Speaker 1>a kind of opportunity, and you know, once they get

0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:26.760
<v Speaker 1>that factory going, you know, there'll be another source of

0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:31.600
<v Speaker 1>quality wind equipment, uh, you know, power generation equipment that

0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:36.000
<v Speaker 1>you know will be um you know in the United States.

0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.560
<v Speaker 1>So that's that it may be it may be something

0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:42.640
<v Speaker 1>you know, one advantage. And well there's also the fact

0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:44.840
<v Speaker 1>that there are a lot of governments that are that

0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:48.720
<v Speaker 1>are starting to pour money into green research, green businesses,

0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:53.640
<v Speaker 1>giving incentives to businesses that are taking an environmentally friendly

0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:57.120
<v Speaker 1>kind of approach UM, including the United States. Obama has

0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:01.080
<v Speaker 1>stated multiple times that he's very interested in in uh

0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:04.879
<v Speaker 1>encouraging this industry to grow within the United States and

0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:09.240
<v Speaker 1>create jobs. So in that sense, you're talking about entire

0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:13.000
<v Speaker 1>countries getting behind this movement, which can change it from

0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.200
<v Speaker 1>being a trend into a legitimate industry that's around for

0:17:17.320 --> 0:17:22.439
<v Speaker 1>you know, decades, if not centuries. You're talking about really

0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.439
<v Speaker 1>putting the power of an entire government behind it, and

0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.840
<v Speaker 1>that that's a lot more powerful than just saying, hey,

0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.359
<v Speaker 1>you know, you use this light bulb instead of that

0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:35.440
<v Speaker 1>light bulb, and you're going to save yourself twenty five

0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:40.919
<v Speaker 1>bucks a year on electricity bills. So, I mean, we

0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.399
<v Speaker 1>are seeing some of that play out right now, and

0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.159
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure we'll see more of that in the future. UM,

0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:51.760
<v Speaker 1>everything from upgrading the United States UH electric grid infrastructure

0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:56.520
<v Speaker 1>to UH providing incentives to to auto manufacturers that look

0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:01.159
<v Speaker 1>at ways of of making more fuel efficient cars or

0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.080
<v Speaker 1>electric cars. When we when you see that sort of

0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.480
<v Speaker 1>thing with the government incentive again, that's that's showing where

0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.160
<v Speaker 1>you're taking some of that cost out of that equation

0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.320
<v Speaker 1>that we were talking about earlier, and then it becomes

0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:17.280
<v Speaker 1>smart to go green. It makes financial sense to go green, um,

0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:20.400
<v Speaker 1>as soon as it makes more financial sense to legitimately

0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.800
<v Speaker 1>go green than it does to greenwash. We're in good

0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.320
<v Speaker 1>shape right now. I don't think we're there yet. Right now,

0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.240
<v Speaker 1>I think it's still there are a lot of companies

0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.360
<v Speaker 1>that are saying, hey, let's just talk about these one

0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:34.640
<v Speaker 1>or two things that are really good about our product,

0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:37.080
<v Speaker 1>and then hope no one knows is the other things,

0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:39.879
<v Speaker 1>and we'll make a killing. Because the green movement is

0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:44.400
<v Speaker 1>huge right now. Until that changes. Um, it's it's still

0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:46.800
<v Speaker 1>gonna be a rocky road ahead, I think, and it

0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.439
<v Speaker 1>may just seem trendy in the short run because so

0:18:49.480 --> 0:18:52.280
<v Speaker 1>many people are talking about it too well. Yeah, I mean,

0:18:52.320 --> 0:18:54.879
<v Speaker 1>I think what happened is over the last couple of years,

0:18:54.880 --> 0:18:58.479
<v Speaker 1>it's really taken hold. I mean, the environmental movement has

0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.160
<v Speaker 1>been around for decades, but I think once al Gore

0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:07.480
<v Speaker 1>started his his crusade, that really started to kick things off.

0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.040
<v Speaker 1>And then uh, it became a pretty focal point in

0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:17.440
<v Speaker 1>the the uh United States election campaigns. And now it's

0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:21.800
<v Speaker 1>just it's firmly entrenched. I mean, we have entire television

0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:27.440
<v Speaker 1>networks based on it, so it's here to stay. I think. Yeah,

0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.400
<v Speaker 1>it might be a little painful in the interim, hopefully

0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:34.200
<v Speaker 1>that will pass more quickly, and it's the early days

0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:36.720
<v Speaker 1>of the era. Yeah, I think. I think once we

0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.440
<v Speaker 1>get past this rocky first stage where no one's really

0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:44.520
<v Speaker 1>sure what's the right path right now, once we get

0:19:44.520 --> 0:19:47.400
<v Speaker 1>past that and we get enough buy in from from consumers,

0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:51.760
<v Speaker 1>then it'll really you know, the winds will change. Yeah.

0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:56.919
<v Speaker 1>I am tapped out me too good because you know

0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:07.560
<v Speaker 1>what that means. Yes, it means listener mail dive dive, right,

0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:12.400
<v Speaker 1>So this listener mail comes from Tim. Tim. Tim wanted

0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:16.920
<v Speaker 1>to write to us about our recent podcast on spam,

0:20:16.960 --> 0:20:19.840
<v Speaker 1>and he says, really, you can get spam even if

0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:22.840
<v Speaker 1>you never give anyone your address, because a really determined

0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:25.560
<v Speaker 1>spammer will try to send a message to every possible

0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:28.840
<v Speaker 1>address on the domain simply by generating random user names.

0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:31.440
<v Speaker 1>They can do that because normally, if an email address

0:20:31.480 --> 0:20:35.000
<v Speaker 1>is messed up the domain, it is addressed to, example

0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:37.560
<v Speaker 1>at tech stuff dot com. That's not our email, by

0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.119
<v Speaker 1>the way, so don't write. Then we'll reply back with

0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:43.000
<v Speaker 1>a no such user message. If they don't get that message,

0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.800
<v Speaker 1>they assume it's a live address on the list it

0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:49.280
<v Speaker 1>goes um. Yeah, Tim, that's true. It's one of those things.

0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.480
<v Speaker 1>It's it's one of those annoying things that spammers used

0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.480
<v Speaker 1>to try and get that list as big as possible.

0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.439
<v Speaker 1>It's called a dictionary attack. Yeah. You also see that

0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:02.560
<v Speaker 1>happening with people who are trying to brute force a password,

0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:04.919
<v Speaker 1>where they're trying to figure out someone's password. They'll just

0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:07.000
<v Speaker 1>use a dictionary attack to go through all the common

0:21:07.040 --> 0:21:11.400
<v Speaker 1>words um in the dictionary as a possible password breaker,

0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.520
<v Speaker 1>and then you'll even see things where they'll add numbers

0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:16.639
<v Speaker 1>at the end because some people just tag a number.

0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:21.320
<v Speaker 1>So my password is goober six. Um, that is not

0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:28.920
<v Speaker 1>my password. Sure it isn't. Not anymore just hit inner okay,

0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:33.239
<v Speaker 1>but anyway, Yes, those dictionary attacks are really irritating, and

0:21:33.280 --> 0:21:36.080
<v Speaker 1>they are also fairly effective. You just go through a

0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:40.520
<v Speaker 1>list of potential names, and you may not hit everyone,

0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.680
<v Speaker 1>but you're gonna hit a lot of people that way.

0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:48.120
<v Speaker 1>Thanks to him for pointing out again how incredibly depressing

0:21:48.160 --> 0:21:52.159
<v Speaker 1>it is to have email. We appreciate it. If you

0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:55.960
<v Speaker 1>would like to write us, our email address is tech

0:21:56.000 --> 0:21:58.879
<v Speaker 1>Stuff at how stuff works dot com. If you'd like

0:21:58.920 --> 0:22:01.760
<v Speaker 1>to learn more about green technology, you can read all

0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:04.800
<v Speaker 1>about it at how stuff works dot com. And Chris

0:22:04.840 --> 0:22:10.359
<v Speaker 1>and I will talk to you again really soon for

0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:13.320
<v Speaker 1>moralness and thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff

0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:15.560
<v Speaker 1>works dot com And be sure to check out the

0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.920
<v Speaker 1>new tech stuff blog now on the how stuff Works homepage.

0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.879
<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:27.360
<v Speaker 1>It's ready, are you