the a.r.w. recommends: Blackle
Apparently Google has a more energy-efficient counterpart known as Blackle. Created by Heap Media, this black search engine site boasts a decrease in energy usage due to the simple fact that it isn’t white:
Image displayed is primarily a function of the user’s color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen.
The inspiration to create Blackle came from a blog post at ecoIron which claimed that “the shift to a black background…will save a total of 15 (74-59) watts. That turns into a global savings of…$75,000, a goodly amount of energy and dollars for changing a few color codes.”
Despite skepticism, and the obvious fact that this “green” search engine has not yet surged in popularity, Heap Media continues to seek improvements for Blackle and encourages every user to make the switch. In addition, they display an Energy Saving Tips page to help promote this environmentally-friendly consciousness.
I was only recently told about Blackle’s creation and I’m eager to see how user-friendly this search engine really is. Critics state the clarity provided on a white Google page is lost on Blackle’s black background.
What do you think? Experiment with Blackle here.
12 responses so far
That’s really funny - I wonder how much energy Emo Google has saved with its black background!
That’s cute & interesting, but if websites start inverting their colours I’m going to go white on white to protest.
Hah! I hadn’t even heard of Emo Google! Thanks for the link — that is hilarious!
Interesting…
My fav google is gizoogle.
I dunno, it’s kinda bringin’ me down, man….
It’s easier on the eyes, that’s for sure. Remember Maddox (no not Jolie-Pitt) and his “best page in the universe” site? Ok, he was kinda lame, but he DID have a black background purely for the reason that it caused less eye strain and fatigue.
In conclusion, I like the blackle. But I also love the color black on its own.
Sorry to rain on the parade, but Blackle actually makes no difference for an LCD screen (which most of us use-especially if you’re a blogger). For Cathode Ray Tube Screens it does present a marginal (5-20%) savings.
But, the color that shows on the screen matters very little in terms of energy for the Liquid Crystal Diode monitor.
Matt, I haven’t heard of gizoogle. Apparently I’ve been in the dark (pun intended).
UN, As always, you crack me up.
kja, I need to show you some HTML so that you can include a link in your comments — I have no clue who Maddox is, other than the Jolie-Pitt reference. That said, I love the color black on its own too.
s, Always raining on my parade. I’ll let it slide…this time. Next time, I’ll run my post by you first.
I think that the black is hard to read…maybe I’m just not used to it…
I have it as my home page… but…. I find that it actually doesn’t deliver as good of search results as Google. It seems as though they don’t update it as often, plus it doesn’t have image search. Booo.
Sarah GH, It’s certainly hard to read when compared to the simplicity of regular Google.
Princess Pointful, Interesting. I didn’t consider that there would be a difference in the search results. Image Search is certainly key, especially for us bloggers. For that reason, I guess I’m sticking with google.
Psst, here’s (the original) Maddox: http://maddox.xmission.com/