Got this email today.
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If Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved.
In response Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle, with the exact same functions as the white version, but obviously with lower energy consumption.
Help spread the word... use www.blackle.com
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http://www.blackle.com/> -----------------
*I don't know if this is really created by Google or just an effort to get you to use a different search engine (assuming you use google). Google.com is registered to Google, Inc. Blackle.com is registered to Mokibo.
I (what else?) Googled Blackle which led me to Wikipedia's Blackle page, which is being "considered for deletion." There I found this description:
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Blackle is a custom version of the Google search engine <1> developed by Heap Media Australia.<2>, who claim that certain types of computer monitors save substantial energy when displaying black as a background color.
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Blackle's "about us" page states:
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Blackle was created by Heap Media to remind us all of the need to take small steps in our everyday lives to save energy. Blackle searches are powered by Google Custom Search.
Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "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." Roberson et al, 2002
In January 2007 a blog post titled Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year proposed the theory that a black version of the Google search engine would save a fair bit of energy due to the popularity of the search engine. Since then there has been skepticism about the significance of the energy savings that can be achieved and the cost in terms of readability of black web pages.
We believe that there is value in the concept because even if the energy savings are small, they all add up. Secondly we feel that seeing Blackle every time we load our web browser reminds us that we need to keep taking small steps to save energy.
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If there is any proof to the claim, should we all not only use Blackle, but also set our display settings to display all web pages in black as well?