Bamboo Laptop?

So I came across this article in the Washington Post today about an eco-friendly laptop. I'm not sure if everyone can view it unless you are signed up to receive the online Washington Post but I'll give the link anyway:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101204990.html

Basically, the article describes this new laptop series, made by Asus, that apparently calls the series "U Series Bamboo Collection." The laptop is wood-paneled and made of 15% bamboo and it comes packaged in 100% recyclable and natural bamboo pulp cloth. I don't exactly know what this means for the safety of the laptop while in transit but there don't seem to be reports of broken computers...yet.

Anyway, most of the article describes the characteristics of the laptop and gives pretty in depth details about the memory capacity and safety features of the product. However, it does give quite a few references to how environmentally friendly the new laptop is, despite its $999 price tag. While the insides of the laptop are basically the same, the eco-conscious bamboo exterior is like "icing on the cake" according to the author of the article. From the description in the article, I have the impression that carrying this laptop around would look like you were carrying a wooden cutting board or something of similar size, shape, and material. It's hard for me to imagine a bamboo covered laptop but I guess companies will do just about anything to jump on the "green product" bandwagon.

So while this may not be entirely "uplifting" in an environmental sense, I found the article to be kind of funny and a little cheerful. Although a laptop is still using a whole bunch of energy, at least Asus is trying to make it more green...with a bamboo cover and all. I'm not sure how I would feel walking around with a wooden laptop but maybe they'll become trendy just like reusable shopping bags and spiral light bulbs. Overall, the author gave the laptop a great review so before we know it, everyone could be walking around typing on bits of bamboo. The whole thing was pretty humorous to me but since we've been talking about green technology, I thought this article was an ironic piece about actual bamboo laptops...that's about as green as you can get. Hope you all enjoy!