Mar. 23rd 2009
We all love our gadgets， but technophobia has a downside： Running those gadgets takes emery.
A lot of it.
As consumers have stocked their homes with big-screen TSs， computers， call phones and other consumer electronics and tech products in recent years， those products have been sucking up more and more power. Consumers not only have more gadgets but， in many cases， the now tech products use more power than comparable ones in the past.
"They use way more electricity than you think，" said Bernadette Del Chiaro， of Environment California， a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.
For individual consumers， that means higher electric bills. For society， it means in creased generation of greenhouse gases.
Fortunately you don't have to throw out your new LCD TV curb your energy consumption. There are some easier， less painful steps you can take. And new technology already available should help consumers cut their consumption even more.
The Consumer Electronics Association， an industry trade group， has created a website where consumers can search for energy-efficient tach products.
The amount of energy consumed by gadgets is rising rapidly-at a time when consumption by other appliances， such as refrigerators and air-conditioning units， has fallen markedly.
Part of the increase reflects the proliferation of devices. DVRs， MP3 players and wireless outers have gone from exotic to commonplace over the past to years. Cell phones are everywhere， And many consumers have gone from having one PC at home to having two or three.
Along the way， consumers have frequently replaced older tech products with ones that are bigger and faster-and which often consume more power. TVs with liquid crystal displays， for instance， are typically more efficient than older ones with cathode ray tubes. But consumers often replace their older TVs with much bigger ones， which reduce any efficiency gains.
Vocabulary Focus
Advocacy （n）擁護(hù)，提倡
Public support of an idea， development or way of doing something
Curb （v）抑制，約束
To control or limit something that is not desirable
Markedly （adj）顯著地
In a very obvious or noticeable way
Proliferation （n）激增，擴(kuò)散
A great， sudden increase in number
Specialized Terms
Technophilia （n）對(duì)科技的熱愛(ài)
The love of technology
LCD （liquid-crystal dispay） （n）液晶顯示器
A screen for showing text or pictures which uses a liquid that darkens when an electric current flows across it
Cathode ray tube （n phr）陰極射線(xiàn)管
A cacuuum tube usedto emit the negative part of an electrical cell toward a positively charged plate
We all love our gadgets， but technophobia has a downside： Running those gadgets takes emery.
A lot of it.
As consumers have stocked their homes with big-screen TSs， computers， call phones and other consumer electronics and tech products in recent years， those products have been sucking up more and more power. Consumers not only have more gadgets but， in many cases， the now tech products use more power than comparable ones in the past.
"They use way more electricity than you think，" said Bernadette Del Chiaro， of Environment California， a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.
For individual consumers， that means higher electric bills. For society， it means in creased generation of greenhouse gases.
Fortunately you don't have to throw out your new LCD TV curb your energy consumption. There are some easier， less painful steps you can take. And new technology already available should help consumers cut their consumption even more.
The Consumer Electronics Association， an industry trade group， has created a website where consumers can search for energy-efficient tach products.
The amount of energy consumed by gadgets is rising rapidly-at a time when consumption by other appliances， such as refrigerators and air-conditioning units， has fallen markedly.
Part of the increase reflects the proliferation of devices. DVRs， MP3 players and wireless outers have gone from exotic to commonplace over the past to years. Cell phones are everywhere， And many consumers have gone from having one PC at home to having two or three.
Along the way， consumers have frequently replaced older tech products with ones that are bigger and faster-and which often consume more power. TVs with liquid crystal displays， for instance， are typically more efficient than older ones with cathode ray tubes. But consumers often replace their older TVs with much bigger ones， which reduce any efficiency gains.
Vocabulary Focus
Advocacy （n）擁護(hù)，提倡
Public support of an idea， development or way of doing something
Curb （v）抑制，約束
To control or limit something that is not desirable
Markedly （adj）顯著地
In a very obvious or noticeable way
Proliferation （n）激增，擴(kuò)散
A great， sudden increase in number
Specialized Terms
Technophilia （n）對(duì)科技的熱愛(ài)
The love of technology
LCD （liquid-crystal dispay） （n）液晶顯示器
A screen for showing text or pictures which uses a liquid that darkens when an electric current flows across it
Cathode ray tube （n phr）陰極射線(xiàn)管
A cacuuum tube usedto emit the negative part of an electrical cell toward a positively charged plate