Nicholas Carr: Kill the screensaver

Nicholas Carr writes that corporate HR departments should kill companywide screensavers in effort to both protect the environment and free up compute cycles for things like curing cancer. Carr was talking to a pharmeceutical CIO about using grid computing technology to harness the PCs in the office for work on drug analysis. But:

The corporate communications department created an elaborate screensaver, complete with video clips featuring the CEO, to promulgate a “corporate values” program. Installed on all the company’s PCs, the screensaver sucks up the processing cycles that might otherwise be put to a productive use – like finding a cure for cancer.

Carr goes on to point out how much waste is generated by useless screen savers sucking up processing and electrical power. Hopefully our HR department doesn’t read this and get any “smart” ideas.