Low-tech is the new high-tech
Low-tech is easy to use, long term and less harmful
Low-tech is easy to use, long term and less harmful
Hi-tech internet is energy guzzler. Instead of saving energy, it consumes energy at an increasing rate. In 2012 Internet used 8% of world’s electricity. Most of it is fossil fuel energy. Paper and pencils are more ecological than digital word processors. High-tech is literally denting the world for worse. Low-tech can help repair it.
By 2017 electricity usage by internet could have grown by twice. Mobile technology, wireless internet, streaming services such as Spotify, Youtube, Netflix, and 24*7 availability of internet are causing ever increasing energy consumption. Annual data traffic of internet rose by 45%, while internet users rose by 5%. About 60% of world’s population doesn’t access internet.
Low-tech Magazine’s founder Kris De Decker writes: Limiting the demand for data could happen in many ways, some of which are more practical than others. We could outlaw the use of video and turn the internet back into a text and image medium. We could limit the speed of wireless internet connections. We could allocate a specific energy budget to the internet. Or, we could raise energy prices, which would simultaneously affect the offline alternatives and thus level the playing field. The latter strategy is preferable because it leaves it to the market to decide which applications and devices will survive.
High-tech startups aren’t sustainable in the long run. Low-tech Kongo Gumi has been in business for 1413 years. Patagonia’s requests its customers to avoid buying new clothes. It is possible to build profitable and sustainable businesses without high-tech.
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