The fact that this year’s Computex has been underlined with double green lines has it appear almost interesting even for environmentalists and eco warriors. An entire industry, which consumes huge amounts of electric power and wastes millions of gallons of fresh water, has turned into an almost ideal world. This world isn’t brave, but it isn’t all that bad either.

Reason has taken over many decision making processes in IT purchases due to increasing energy cost and user awareness for power consumption – be it because of environmental concerns or simply due to raising energy cost. Right after the initial press conference this Monday, the Taiwan trade organization (TAITRA) handed out a little gift to journalists, and even these gifts have been selected very carefully to fit into the green IT envelope. The gift is a mobile power source, which utilizes a small solar panel to generate electric power. Two AAA batteries are available to store power for a limited time, and a USB plug can be used to power an MP3 player or other devices for a limited time. According to the tiny manual, charging the batteries takes up to six hours. While the device won’t be capable of powering any larger USB device, it works well for small MP3 players or even for charging a cell phone.

When we were about to leave the new Nangang exhibition hall, a little truck cut our corner inside the hall and forced us to wait for it. We found it particularly funny to see that Computex was literally trying to become green, as the truck was transporting half a dozen beautiful green plants for booth decoration...