Sustainable IT | Ted Samson » Climate Savers green catalog proves unripe

December 13, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Climate Savers green catalog proves unripe

TAGS: Hardware

I've had green hardware and gadgetry on the brain these past couple of weeks, no doubt thanks to the holiday season. If you're looking to stock your home or your office with some energy-efficient computing wares -- not just PCs but also mobile devices, servers, and software -- you might consider perusing the Climate Saver's Smart Computing Product Catalog.

The catalog contains 317 product listings (at least as I write this), which you can sort by product category (Desktop, Mobile, Server, and the oh-so unhelpful Other), manufacturer, and/or region -- that is, where the product is available.

While somewhat useful, the catalog could certainly use some sprucing up. For example, it doesn't have a particularly elegant UI -- the word spartan would be far more apt. Further, when you perform a search, you're presented with a long list of product names, the product type, and the manufacturer name. You don't get any more details until you click the product name. It would make more sense to add at least one descriptive sentence below each product name in the search results page. Otherwise, a user has little incentive to randomly click uninformative product names such as "Surveyor" or "Z-One Digital IBA."

Clicking on a product name takes you to a page where you'll find a product description, a link to the vendor site, and sometimes and image. Said description might be a basic list of specs -- or a wordy description of the product, clearly written by the vendor's marketing team as opposed to a neutral third party. Pricing information is notably absent.

OK, so I'm clearly not enamored by the catalog as a whole. It's certainly a good idea to provide a single place for would-be buyers to browse for energy-efficient hardware and software from various vendors. However, the catalog's usefulness is stymied by its sparse UI, the fact that it's difficult for a user to drill down and find useful product information, and the absence of a tool to compare similar products by their specs and prices.

Related links:
Via packs power into teeny green Artigo PC kit
Chinavision pen camera has green-spy appeal
Green gadget guide for geeks

Ted Samson is a senior analyst at InfoWorld and writer of the Sustainable IT blog. Subscribe to his free weekly Green Tech newsletter.

Posted by Ted Samson on December 13, 2007 10:18 AM

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