I used to really dislike Snap (the obtrusive preview bubbles popping up and covering just what you were about to read), but I changed my mind when they became “civilized” and introduced little preview icons, instead of popping up over any URL. Even so, the preview bubbles were clearly just a popular Trojan Horse to get users install their script and help them build their search capabilities.
Their current CO2 Saver campaign is a new low, though.
They want you to install their CO2 Saver Bar, which will:
- Save energy when your computer is idle – Reduce electricity usage;
- Reduce harmful CO2 and other emissions;
- Lower your electric and cooling bills;
- Show how much you’ve saved!
What it does is adjust some of your Windows Power settings. I have those set just right, thank you – why would I need to run another resident program ALL the time? Isn’t that .. get this! – a waste? Oh, and note to Snap: before you tinker with my system settings, the minimum I expect is that you tell me exactly what you’re about to change. Not some fuzzy BS about saving the Earth…
Oh, and by the way, while you’re so happy about “going green”, you also have installed Snap’s Search Box. That’s what it’s all about: Snap knows very well nobody would download just another search-bar, so they dress it up in “save-the-Earth” theme. A very, very dishonest effort.
I installed it. I don’t use the search function but even if I did it the search engine is Google on mine – just like the picture in your post. My anti-malware/adware scanned it clean. I find that it does adjust my settings and that my machine is in a different sleep pattern than before which seems like it is saving more energy.
So exactly what is your point? You don’t like the fact that they create products that they want you to use to get a shot at having you use their search engine? Isn’t that the strategy of all non-subscription based products? Last time I checked gmail and a whole slew of other search company products had search boxes or sponsored results inserted right in the product.
Where is the dishonesty?
Gideon,
The two points I made:
– Noone should tinker with system settings without first telling what they will do
– This product is *primarily* a search box, why dress it up in this enviromental BS? The “enviromental” function is over in the first second, it’s a one-time adjustment, after that it’s ONLY search.
Call it what it is, a search product.
Greetings Mr. Erdos, and thank you for explaining what you don’t like about CO2 Saver. We’d be more than happy to have a dialog with you regarding areas of CO2 Saver that could be improved, such as making it more clear that it adjusts your Windows power management settings (this is explained on our “How It Works” and “FAQ” pages but it could be made more clear). Although CO2 Saver does utilize the Windows power settings, its benefits are that a) it estimates the amount of power saved by using those settings, and b) it converts that power saved into carbon emissions prevented and also groups your savings with those of all of the user base. We think it’s a neat way to collectively work together to reduce CO2!
As for your remarks about the search function, well, Snap is first and foremost a Search Engine, and so we thought it a natural fit to allow the user to easily access a search box (note that it is not always shown; you can collapse CO2 Saver to never see the search box). And to provide even more utility and usefulness to CO2 Saver users, we even made Google the default search engine provider, because more people are familiar with Google. We think that’s a pretty fair trade-off that adds utility to this product.
We have some great improvements planned for the future, including more granular power management settings, and changes to the CO2 Saver web site to make it more informative and interactive. We’d always welcome your suggestions and feedback, whether positive or negative, via our online Contact form at http://co2saver.snap.com/contact.php .
Thank you again for voicing your comments!
-Brian Heffley
Snap.com – CO2 Saver Product Manager
I agree with the Gideon’s comments, above. Before I installed CO2 Saver, my Dell Dimension 4550 and my Dimension 4600 would sleep in some kind of high power mode that barely saved me 13 watts over normal idle but still used about 50 watts, and left all the fans running, which was pretty noisy. These are actual numbers that were measured with a Kill-A-Watt power meter.
That forced me to use Hibernate mode. Hibernate mode stopped working in Windows XP when I added more than 1 GB of RAM to the systems, and Microsoft has still not managed to fix that problem and it’s been more than two years! My only choices were leaving the systems on all the time, or using shutdown, which is slow to start up and doesn’t preserve my running applications.
I gave CO2 Saver a try and the machine started sleeping in the same really low power and dead silent sleep mode as my laptop, and the measured power usage is just one 1 watt. That’s the same wattage the machines use when they’re off!!! Plus they go to sleep and wake up in just a few seconds, which is way better than hibernate mode ever was back when I could still use it. I had spent hours trying to get the systems into this low power sleep mode, and weeks trying to get hibernate mode to work again, with no luck whatsoever despite the hotfixes.
The other thing I like is that it restores my original power settings when I exit, so even though it messes with my settings while it’s running, something that I would fully expect it to do to save power, they end up just the way they were originally. Nice. I can’t wait to see what improvements they make down the line, but for me, using it now is a no-brainer. When I think about all the power being wasted in machines like mine that aren’t using a tool like this, it makes me cringe. So many of my friends leave their systems on all the time because they don’t like the amount of time it takes them to boot. Hopefully, this will give them an alternative.
I installed CO2 Saver yesterday on the advice of a NY Times article. It seems to run all the time. But it also doesn’t work ! Then I tried to delete it, I’m told I can’t because the application is running. ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO GET OUT OF THIS LOOP AND GET RID CO2 Saver ?
Thanks.
IAC
CLOSE IT and then uninstall (not delete!)
Well, I prefer http://www.localcooling.com
It’s more fun and interactive, and converts your energy savings into real terms like trees and gallons of oil saved….
Nice one for exposing this!