Cisco has just released the latest in its TelePresence line of products that allow “total immersion” video and audio conferencing. Obviously video conferencing fills needs both in terms of environmental impact of travel, and time constraints of users. I was pretty excited to see the pictures, it looks like a cool offering.
I then made the mistake of looking at the pricing on what is essentially a few big LCD screens, some high quality microphones and speakers and an underlying software offering. Pricing on the Cisco offerings are as follows;
The Cisco TelePresence System 500 has a list price of $33,900 USD; the Cisco TelePresence 3200 has a list price of $340,000 USD. Both ship in the third calendar quarter of 2008. A $90,000 USD list Cisco TelePresence System 3200 upgrade kit is also available for Cisco TelePresence System 3000 customers.
I have to say that Skype (even with a bit of drop out from time to time) is starting to look better and better!
News that Neptune Energy has been given the go-ahead to place an experimental turbine capable of producing 1MW of power in 80m of water 4.5km off the south coast of Wellington.
Director of Neptune Energy, Chris Bathurst says;
When we first started this people said it wasn’t technically possible. Then they said the fishermen would never allow it.
Bathurst’s calculations suggest there is enough tidal movement in Cook Strait to generate 12GW of power, more than one-and-a-half times New Zealand’s present generation capacity.
That’s a pretty compelling figure.
Not software related but definitely hi-tech and a NZ success story in the making.
News this morning that Windflow Technology reports an improved six month position. They’re still running at a loss but less so than in previous periods. Good things on the horizon include;
- Orders for 30 turbines for the Te Rere Hau wind farm near Palmerston North. This brings to 44 the number of turbines either in production, or scheduled for production. Five have already been installed at Te Rere.
- Currently bidding to supply the proposed Mt Cass wind farm in North Canterbury which will have 80 turbines
- In the running to supply two turbines to a Hawaiian project.
Keep up the good work Windflow
This is cool. Project Better Place is partnering with the Israeli Government, Renualt and Nissan to roll out what is in effect subscription based transportation throughout Israel.
The plan by Project Better Place to bring EVs to the masses by creating a network of charging stations and battery exchange depots. The idea, according to founder Shai Agassi, is to sell EVs like cell phones, where a monthly fee gets you access to batteries and the charging infrastructure.
- The cars will use lithium-ion batteries
- They’ll offer a range of 60 miles in the city and 100 miles on the highway
- Performance similar to a 1.6 liter gasoline engine
- 500,000 charging stations to be installed throughout Israel
- Renault developing battery packs that can be replaced at automated exchange depots
Obviously, given Israel’s geographical location, and geopolitical situation, a petroleum alternative is a very appealing prospect
Hot of the press is this report released today by the New Zealand Institute looking at climate change and specifically New Zealand’s response to it.
The title, “Actions Speak Louder Than Words”, is very apt, the report is saying much that sensible New Zealand has been for quite some time that is;
- We need to develop our economy to be less impactful
- We need to develop a world leading national environmental brand to offset international concerns around environmental footprint
- We need to ease the gas on the rhetoric but apply more to the action
Good thoughts from the NZI, time will tell if the politicians have the will and the clout to action them (and in defence of the politicos, these issues take unified actions - govermental, commercial and societal).
Yet another high-flying Silicon Valley entrepreneur is planning to capitalize on the growing popularity of “green” technology, and to do it, he’s tapping the wisdom of crowds as well as their cash.
Steve Newcomb, a co-founder of search startup Powerset, is in the early stages of launching a venture-capital fund that would accept green investments as low as $100, with a maximum investment of $1,000.
Cool. I posted yesterday about cleantech in general and NZ Windfarms lts in particular. I got a reply which indicated some stumbling blocks for cleantech investment, namely poor investment targets and limited ROI. While a crowdsourced VC targeting cleantech won’t solve these issues per se, it will give cleantech startups the impetus to become more realistic and chase both the green nirvana and business viability.
Clean tech is the big thing of the future. It’s also (relatively) insulated from the sub prime woes as no matter the economy, Kyoto continues.
Strange then that WindfarmsNZ share price has slumped so markedly of late. Especially so given the good performance just released. Windfarms is poised to leverage both gains made by its sister company Windflow New Zealand, and also to make significant gains from the coming to prominence of clean and renewable electricity generation sources.
Diversity’s advice would be to buy on these ones (but bear in mind that Diversity’s advice comes cheap (well free) with all care but nix responsibility!)
News this morning that a mega-merger between rival meat companies PPCS and Alliance is being talked about. I’ve said for awhile that Fonterra is an example of what good can come from mergers. Fonterra has created a dairy industry that is diversified, both geographically and in terms of product line. It markets a value added product and considers itself as much an IP company as a production one.
The meat companies however are where the dairy companies where before Fonterra was created. Basically they are price takers selling a completely commodity based item (cut up dead sheep and cow basically) to whomever will buy it. It just seems so ludicrous when essentially the dairy and meat industries are in similar positions that one industry is building the value while the other is steeped in the days of old.
The question remains whether the meat companies have the vision and leadership to put petty egos and empires aside and build something that could prove beneficial to all - given what I have witnessed from the meat companies I’m not overly confident that they can.
Note - this post does not address in any way the environmental impacts of increased dairying on New Zealand or the planet. I’ll leave that analysis for others!
Over on the SaaSu blog they’ve got this post detailing how SaaS can increase sustainability for its customers and the world at large. While Diversity blogs are proponents of SaaS in all its shapes and forms, the SaaSu post might just be a little bit evangelical for our tastes.
Don’t you think?
A friend sent me a link to this site which headlines an animated movie looking at our collective mass consumerism model.
While a diatribe against consumption is somewhat outside of the usual subject matter of this blog, and arguably somewhat opposed to things I write about (yep - that sexy new MacBookAir is another example of perceived obsolescence that is one of the energy sources for the consumer society), I’d like to think the life I lead is at least a little balanced in terms of total foot print.
It’s tempting to turn this post around and say that in fact SaaS is a more environmentally friendly way of delivering software (and it is - more energy efficient, less hardware demands at the user end yada yada yada), but that would be somewhat opportunistic.
So what do the readers think - is our focus on things tech yet another addition to consumer society or are there ways that tech can help”cure the disease” (if indeed the contention is correct that consumer-itis is an affliction)
There endeth my shade-of-green post for the day.
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