Thank you to everyone who wrote me about Blackle — basically turning Google pages black to save energy.
However, I won’t be Blackling. Neither will green LA girl get a goth-themed makeover.
Blackle was inspired by an ecoIron post, which argued that turning Google search pages black would save 750 megawatt-hours of energy a year. Thus, Blackle was born and written and emailed about all over the place.
But as Carl Bialik, “the numbers guy” at WSJ, has noted, the energy savings happen only on older CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors, not on LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. Carl contacted an EnergyStar dude for further tests; that guy reported “We found that the color on screen mattered very little to the energy color consumption of the LCD monitor.”
Is anyone reading green LA girl on a CRT? Then Blackle yourself, grandma. I’m on an LCD screen, and I’m guessing most of you are too.
Beyond lack of actual eco benefit, the main reason I’m not Blackling’s cuz my eyes, like most people’s, don’t like white text on black background. Text is for reading, not for squinting at. I mean, turning off the computer would save even more energy, but then I couldn’t read the text altogether….
However, if someone comes up with Graygle — which would actually match nicely with green LA girl’s color scheme, I might go for it.
Update, 1/14/09: Google sans eco-guilt, or how web research reduces carbon emissions
Actually, if you’re a mac user, you don’t need to do anything special to reverse video. Just hit ctrl-alt-apple 8 (is there a less intuitive key sequence?), and it reverses video on your monitor. Hit it again to switch back. Some of us actually prefer this (for everything but pictures, anyway) … I think white text on black background is actually easier on the eyes, but maybe it’s that my whole childhood was spent that way. :)
Comment by Craig Citro — July 31, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
Great tip, Craig. Except Apple keyboards don’t have an Alt key! I think you meant Ctrl-Option-Apple-8. ;)
Thanks for the pointer, Siel. I didn’t realize this had been debunked.
Comment by 5000! — July 31, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Actually, many of us are indeed still using CRT screens. The high resolution, the lower latency, and the lower initial cost are all reasons. And until my boss is willing to replace all our desktop monitors, I gets what he gives me at the office, which is, of course, a CRT.
Comment by db — July 31, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
Ask and you shall receive (though with the British spelling):
http://greygle.com/
Comment by joshua — July 31, 2007 @ 9:23 pm
you can always just turn the brightness down on a LCD screen
Comment by simon — August 1, 2007 @ 3:08 am
hahahahahahahaha…oh my god, thanks for the morning giggle! I actually found Black Google easier on my eyes. But I don’t go out of my way to use it. And I ain’t no grandma. But my husband is. Wait till I tell him.
Comment by Tammi — August 1, 2007 @ 11:56 am
I’m on a CRT. I just came upon this website for the first time. I’m in Mar Vista and rely on the BBB all the time.
Comment by EV — August 1, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
http://www.Darkoogle.com does the same thing. But the only difference is their use of text. Darkoogle.com uses green text which is more easy for our eyes and reduce more eye strain.
Comment by Bobby — August 2, 2007 @ 10:55 am
There is also the Carbon Neutral Search Engine it uses Google Custom Search but offsets a minimum of 100g of CO2 per search, saving the environment as you search
Comment by Energy Saver — December 18, 2007 @ 6:56 am
There are around 22 different versions of “black google” online. The best one I’ve found is http://www.cleanblack.com. Cleanblack is the only version that allows you to change the text colors of the google search results. Try it yourself by going to http://www.cleanblack.com/theme/
Comment by earth — August 16, 2008 @ 3:38 am