Dell fights apple about macbook environmental claims - pt1

I came across this article recently about Dell's challenge to apple about it's green claims regarding the latest range of MacBook. Following on from my last blog about the latest incarnation of iPhone. It is interesting how such a huge company could effect the rest of the industry it is in. Having recently been working on a number of Eco-design projects it seems that there are a number of ways that as designers we may be able to affect change within society to make a fundamental difference to the products we design and purchase.

The market leader idea is an interesting one and in terms of case studies we could look at the office furniture market for an idea of how a leader can influence smaller companies within the industry. As I have discussed before there is a movement called cradle to cradle which has been gaining momentum over the last decade or so. It is a very interesting system and new way of looking at things. The interesting thing about it is that it is just a big if not bigger in America as it is in Europe. For years Herman Miller have been at the fore of design and office furniture. They have become the market leaders in the industry and have moved into using cradle to cradle as a way of differentiation and a standpoint to show how good their design is. So where the market leader goes others follow and since this time other companies such as Steelcase and Orangebox have all followed suit.