What is Digg?48 Comments
- axiomata, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19At first I thought they were chapsticks...
- aarona, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Direct link to video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFJc4xuFPcc&eurl= - StanleyKoolPrik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14The Earth is being pulverized by 970 trillion kilowatts each day. Our best scientists have pinpointed the origin of these destructive kilowatts as being an alien star 93,000,000 miles away. All nations of planet Earth must unite to destroy this evil menace before it is too late...
May God be with us. - CJz44, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13Took me ages to realise those were actually batteries...
- fowleryo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9shot gun shells or lipstick.
- dpk87, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I don't care if you agree with the message or not, but that commercial was definately entertaining.
- leftfishjet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9How does this commercial employ any scare tactic? They're not threatening that we'll be beaten down with batteries if we don't switch from oil. They're merely trying to illustrate the power of the option that we aren't using.
- rawsteak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6those people getting hit with batteries? those are the ones that get skin cancer.
that's EXACTLY what it feels like. getting hit with a battery. - K4P741NxKRUNCH, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5970 trillion stuntmen were harmed in the making of this video...
- djbelieve, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The computer I am typing this on is being powered by energy stored in batteries that received charge from the sun.
Any comments or questions? Email djbelieve@gmail.com.
This is not spam (no mention of my blog, website, etc.). If you don't want to comment on Digg feel free to email me. I believe strongly in finding alternative energy sources...now. - Otto, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Nothing wrong with the commercial itself, except that it makes a point that is, well, pointless. The problem with solar power is not a shortage of power, or inefficency, or even cloudy days or nighttime.
The problem is batteries.
They suck.
Really.
Current battery technology is woefully bad at actually storing power, and horrifically environmentally unfriendly. Start running a battery through charge/discharge cycles more or less all the time, and you rapidly destroy the battery. Those battery technologies that can handle the frequent cycling of power through them are usually big, heavy, hard to make (expensive), hard to recycle, or some combination of those.
No, the problem is not lack of power. Like the commercial points out, it's literally raining power from the sky.
The real problem is that we have not yet invented the correct sort of bucket to catch that rain of power in. - blitzkun, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Its message definitely got through.
- htmldeity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All we need is a Dyson Sphere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere - hipstershaun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2 anagoge
Did you read the part of his comment about the power being stored in batteries? - benbread, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2markr: All that radiation usually leaves the atmosphere, with all those emmisions stopping this from happening, no wonder there's global warming!
- Dash24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Not enough real estate?? Are you kidding.
There has been a study that proved if Nevada built a solar energy power plant, 100 miles by 100 miles (10,000 square miles in the desert) it would produce enough energy to power the entire United States!! The study included efficiency losses in transmission as well. This foot print is not that large if you can imagine the size of all the nations power plants combined.
think about it. . . - SlvrEagle23, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Okay, I could be like everyone else here and make some clever reference to the metaphor used in the commercial, but...well...that's just stupid.
Fantastically made commercial. Great cinematography, and a simple but powerful message. Only this kind of message tied to this kind of marketing has a chance to slowly pierce the thick layer of ignorance surrounding most of the viewing audience...maybe even enough to make ideas like solar power worth more than just a passing glance. Until just now, the idea of solar power wouldn't have even crossed my mind all day, but now it's there; it's the job of the people marketing progressive technologies to do that exact thing, and they've done it very well here. - markr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Where does all that energy go? No wonder we've got global warming!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_conservation_law
Don't forget that the sun doesn't shine on the whole earth 24 hours a day! - geakerson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Cool commercial, solar cells just need to get more effecient. But I agree with the concept we should do more to promote sustainable projects. http://www.envirobinz.com/
- schleppo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Best" solar power commercial ever? How many other solar commercials have you seen in order to make a comparison and conclude that this is the best? ;) How about "The Best Solar Power Commercial So Far?"
- ultraelite, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2maybe they were counting just land in the sun and considering there are clouds
- teddyrux, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Memorable, phenomenal, remarkable.
- vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2If you haven't been following solar power, most modern systems don't even use batteries but rather stay on grid.
What happens is that during the day if you have solar panels on your roof, it provides electrity through your house through a DC to AC converter through your normal outlets and devices in your house and anything extra goes to the grid.
If your power meter gets power from your system onto the grid, it rolls backwards saving you money.
During the night you just get your power from the grid and it rolls forward.
Now if you happened to have a montly cumalative roll back from your begining power meter reading at the begining of month (get this) the power company pays you 1 and 1/2 times more than you paid them due to government subsidies to solar power on grid systems.
Now this still requires you to be on the grid and if you true independence you still have to have a buttload of batteries, but at least the powercompany is paying you and not the other way around. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.hail-movie.com/files/index_e.html
CHECK OUT THE OFFICIAL SITE AND HIGHER RES VIDEO! - darkixion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Download a high quality version of it from the company itself: http://www.pioneers-of-power.de/files/index_e.html
- anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow, they've really gone all out with this marketing. So much so that the website looks like a movie website, they have casting information and even four movie posters!
If more 'boring' (from a consumer point of view) issues were presented in this way, I think things would change much quicker.
They even have a review from "Ebert Rogers" - Very funny. - vertinox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@"Gret conceptual commercial, but did you notice just how much real estate it took up for the solar field?"
Have you been to South Dakota? Or Nevada or Arizon for that matter?
Real estate is not a problem.
Although I'd hate to live out in South Dakota during the winter... The seas of grass and plain is kind of unique. - eightgr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Here http://www.itsartmag.com/news/archives/673-Solar-Power.html 10 days ago with a link to the hires version and a GoogleVideo :-)
- daddiogig, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Gret conceptual commercial, but did you notice just how much real estate it took up for the solar field? The same with windmills. It takes hundreds of acres to produce the equivalent of what a coal generated plant makes. We'd be using up all of the land the greenies have been "saving" just to fill it all up with solar panels and windmills.Maybe nuclear power would be better, but then we'd have to worry about accidents. I guess coal plants aren't as bad as they make them up to look. Sorry for the reality check.
- dicerandom, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2So where'd they get the 970 trillion number from? I assumed 1000 Watts of power incident per square meter of the Earth's surface on average (a number I recall from physics) times 4 pi radius of earth^2 times eight hours of sunlight times 1/3 efficiency for your typical solar cell and I wound up with 1.36 quadrillion kWh. I thought that I was being pretty conservative in my estimate, but I guess they're even more so.
Google calculator link:
http://www.google.com/search?q=4*pi*%28radius+of+earth%29%5E2+*+1000+Watts%2Fm%5E2+*+8+hours+*+1%2F3+in+kWh+&btnG=Search - sivatalla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Truly the best...
- hipstershaun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Yes it was. so much that it reminded me of one of the best music videos ever made. November Rain.
- neoni, on 06/30/2009, -0/+0This commercial is awesome! Today solar energy is affordable for almost everyone!
http://www.gelsenpv.de - SunAlex, on 09/04/2008, -0/+0Good effects. Very cool.
http://www.antdepo.org
http://www.devserve.co.za/PPNRM%20course.htm
http://sooslic.com/?id=674
http://www.fitnesszone.co.za/beginners.htm
http://www.trulyequal.com - xixor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@daddiogig:
I take it you have never seen a large production oil field, refinery, or perhaps the massive oil-sands projects in Canada? Sure it takes up space, but at least that space is re-usable. - 4dplane, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Why is it 4 pi radius? Just had trig and I thought it would be 2 pi radius.
4dplane - dicerandom, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@4dplane:
It's 4*pi*r^2 : the surface area of a sphere. 2*pi*r is the circumference :) - anagoge, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1No good for 90% of diggers who are up until 4am in the morning in the dark ;)
- rowlodge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0efficiency vs. cost, still cost a lot even efficient solar cells and batteries cost a lot. mass production would bring it down but havent yet.
- cowtan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I don't think anyone would claim that solar power (or wind power) is right now the complete answer... it's part of a portfolio of changes we need to make to how we produce and use energy that also includes energy saving measures and *might* also include nuclear. Given the amount of solar power that arrives with us each day we make disappointingly little use of it - even if it's just for heating domestic hot water.
- Rmillerick, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Very cool. Good special effects!
- xixor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I thought the same thing when I saw that. Why is this being modded down? What if they had shots of batteries hitting the world-trade center?
- bitemegates, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Needs Apple Plugin
No dig.
SPAM - trashbox999, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0best ever? no way!
- mos6507, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1It's a good ad but the sound effects are annoyingly cartoony.
- cowtan, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1The exploding London bus made me wince - given events in London last year that was a bit close to the bone.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2glad to see im the only comment dugg below threshold. you apparently all hate when the government is trying to scare you about terrorism, but turn around when independent companies try to scare you about energy.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -19/+2best solar power commercial? sure. but still not that great of a commercial. too preachy.
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