CES 2009: Visiting the Motorola Renew Mobile Phone
Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch
In the spirit of second chances, I stopped by Motorola's booth to check out the Renew mobile phone and see if it might be worth a few kinder words than I gave it before. But, turns out it's a greenwashed phone that, I'm guessing, won't sell well. While light and compact, the screen alone looks like something from five years ago. Consumers now want sleek displays with loads of great features, keyboards, touch screens...This had none of it. Instead, it is a very basic phone that would work well for the general users, but not someone looking for a great green phone.
The worst part, they only had information about the carbon off-setting and the pre-paid enevelope for recycling your old phone on the display unit's stand. Nothing about the (only) other green aspect of recycled materials used for the casing - something that might spark the curiosity of visitors about other possibilities for greener gadgets.
And who knew that "Carbonfree" was trademarked...
Verdict: 100% greenwashed. No progress made.
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