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I don't think this is an honest question. There's no "fixed budget" of energy that is ethically ok to use. The parents point was that these devices are woefull

I don't think this is an honest question. There's no "fixed budget" of energy that is ethically ok to use. The parents point was that these devices are woefully inefficent no matter which way you look at them. The "best" thing to do would be neither, and is usually to just use the device you have - particularly for low power electronics as the impact of buying a new one is more than the impact of actually running the thing unless you run it 24/7/365

mewpmewp2 2y ago
> There's no "fixed budget" of energy that is ethically ok to use. Not even 0.00001 W? How is it ethical to live in the first place in such case? > The parents point was that these devices are woefully inefficent no matter which way you look at them. It's always a trade off, of productivity, enjoyment vs energy efficiency, isn't it? If I find a setup that allows me to be more productive and enjoy my work more, certainly I would need to balance it with how much potential waste there is in terms of efficiency. > The "best" thing to do would be neither, and is usually to just use the device you have That's quite a generic statement. If my device is a budget android phone, do you expect me to keep coding on it, not buying better tools?
- seadan83 2y ago
  FWIW (just to clarify on this one area if I may) >> There's no "fixed budget" of energy that is ethically ok to use. > Not even 0.00001 W? How is it ethical to live in the first place in such case? The idea of no fixed budget is there is no binary threshold. Where above is bad and below is okay. Just a spectrum.
r3trohack3r 2y ago
I’d be interested in hearing you reconcile your statement by making an ethical case for the energy use of video games and the hardware that runs them. Is there a level of energy that is ethically okay to use for video games?
- maccard 2y ago
  No more or less than any voluntary activity. What about baking for pleasure? My point isn't that all energy use is bad, it's that there's no line that says "use to hear as you wish but everything after this is wrong"
ClumsyPilot 2y ago
> the impact of buying a new one is more than the impact of actually running the thing unless you run it 24/7/365 This is wrong for basically everything we ever use - from a house, to an electric car. And especially for small items like electronics
Tepix 2y ago
Read up on the 2000 watts society

mewpmewp2 2y ago

> There's no "fixed budget" of energy that is ethically ok to use. Not even 0.00001 W? How is it ethical to live in the first place in such case? > The parents point was that these devices are woefully inefficent no matter which way you look at them. It's always a trade off, of productivity, enjoyment vs energy efficiency, isn't it? If I find a setup that allows me to be more productive and enjoy my work more, certainly I would need to balance it with how much potential waste there is in terms of efficiency. > The "best" thing to do would be neither, and is usually to just use the device you have That's quite a generic statement. If my device is a budget android phone, do you expect me to keep coding on it, not buying better tools?

seadan83 2y ago
FWIW (just to clarify on this one area if I may) >> There's no "fixed budget" of energy that is ethically ok to use. > Not even 0.00001 W? How is it ethical to live in the first place in such case? The idea of no fixed budget is there is no binary threshold. Where above is bad and below is okay. Just a spectrum.

r3trohack3r 2y ago

I’d be interested in hearing you reconcile your statement by making an ethical case for the energy use of video games and the hardware that runs them. Is there a level of energy that is ethically okay to use for video games?

maccard 2y ago
No more or less than any voluntary activity. What about baking for pleasure? My point isn't that all energy use is bad, it's that there's no line that says "use to hear as you wish but everything after this is wrong"

ClumsyPilot 2y ago

> the impact of buying a new one is more than the impact of actually running the thing unless you run it 24/7/365 This is wrong for basically everything we ever use - from a house, to an electric car. And especially for small items like electronics

Tepix 2y ago

Read up on the 2000 watts society