[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Komodo Rogue:
Dude I am SO PUMPED for my first android tablet, especially the transformer prime, as is everyone else here, so it's really hard to play devil's advocate right now, haha. I don't mean to be a jerk, but I feel obligated to address your comment, because it seems you're seriously mistaken on some things.

1. So computers, phones, tablets, and all kinds of gadgets are "recycled" or thrown out all the time, at an increasingly fast pace. What do you think happens to these gadgets? They end up in third-world countries, literally burning piles of silicon, where pirates try to recover discarded hard drives for credit card numbers and children walk the chemical death heap looking for little scraps that they can sell in hopes of making enough money to avoid starvation for another day.

Yeah I know that sounds all bleeding-heart liberal, but like it or not, it IS the truth.

2. The reason I bring up point number 1 is because you seem to think selling your old tech is some virtuous thing that prevents the inevitability of the lindfills. It doesn't, that's just something to tell yourself to avoid feeling any guilt. If you really want to curb your carbon footprint/pollution, then purchase tech less frequently, make them last, and try to support organizations that have good environmental track records. Yes, selling the original transformer is better than just throwing it out - but the BEST thing to do would be keep the original and not upgrade already. I'm not saying you SHOULD do this, or you're a bad person for loving tech (I'm just as guilty!), but let's call a spade a spade: when you're buying more silicon, it's going to make a trip to the landfill in a couple years.

3. "Regarding the whole "slave labor" argument, if you really want to help those people then do whatever you can to kill of their various dictatorships. If you think they'd be better off without the jobs provided by those factories, then you're delusional." Nope. I don't have time to dissect the wide range of issues wrong with your argument, but there are thousands of examples of corporations coming into an impoverished area for cheap labor or lax pollution standards and the end result is WAY WORSE for the native people. The fact that you wrote "save labor" in quotes is rather telling - do you think that's a myth? And unfortunately, the workings of the world are rather nuanced, and to "kill off various dictatorships" would not be an easy fix.

4. "And seriously, if you're really that worried about your impact on the planet, then just go ahead and kill yourself. That's the only way you're going to make a meaningful difference." Really dude? Well okay, I'll play anyway. You're probably right: most people will make the Earth a greener place if they died, if only for the absence of their pollution. But THINGS AREN'T BLACK AND WHITE. Are you saying "well I don't want to kill myself, so f*** it, there is nothing I can possibly do to be a better environmental steward?" Come on. You know better, that's just silly.

Again!

I'm not trying to say "You're a jerk," honestly. You're probably a cool dude - but you're very mistaken about this, and so I wanted to point out your ignorance, because the first step we can take to make things better is to promote awareness - so to you and anyone else reading this thread, tech recycling (or the lack of adequate tech recycling) is a HUGE PROBLEM and needs addressed.

I love tech, and think that the creative tech community will be able to address the issues that arising, but NOT if we turn a blind eye/pretend the problem doesn't exist/pretend the problem can't be solved/blame the problem on others.

Still can't wait for the Prime! :)

Sorry O/T but I don't want others to read the post I quoted and think there is any truth or accuracy to it.