Crazy UK Rule may destroy Wii Connect 24 - No Standby For Appliances

[Zeus]

According to Cskill, there is a rule trying to be passed in British government which makes it so that no appliances such as computers, televisions and so on can not have a stand-by mode as this utilizes alot of 'wasted' electricity. The implications for this in the UK are pretty big across all areas, but there is a specific example of Wii Connect 24 whereby this rule could hit such a service hard as it relies on a standby mode in order to send information to the Wii 'at all times'.


The British Government is enforcing a new law which requires standby features of appliances to be slashed from product designs. Some mentioned products by the Government include set-top boxes, chargers, televisions, lighting, freezers, fridges, washing machines, and computers. These must be created in a more energy-efficent manner, and standby features will no longer be tolerated.

According to the Government, standby features consume at least 8% of the UK's energy each year.

WiiConnect 24 takes advantage of a standby feature to allow the Wii system to be 'always-on'. Whilst it remains on, Nintendo and your friends may be able to send messages or 'phone' your system, visit and interact with your town in Animal Crossing, and send downloads to your system, amongst other features.


News Source: <A href="http://www.clubskill.com/?view=article&article=3892" target="_blank">ClubSkill.com</a>

[swisstony123]

According to Cskill, there is a rule trying to be passed in British government which makes it so that no appliances such as computers, televisions and so on can not have a stand-by mode as this utilizes alot of 'wasted' electricity. The implications for this in the UK are pretty big across all areas, but there is a specific example of Wii Connect 24 whereby this rule could hit such a service hard as it relies on a standby mode in order to send information to the Wii 'at all times'.



News Source: <A href="http://www.clubskill.com/?view=article&article=3892" target="_blank">ClubSkill.com</a>

This law has'nt been passed, think about it logically it would mean every imported product (as we make nothing here anymore:rolleyes: ) would have to be specially adapted for the UK market which would cost millions!!! It will never happen! It's our current governments way of appearing to be doing something constructive about global warming...........even if it were passed they would have to make exceptions for certain products that use standby as a primary function such as wii connect! Plus the wii has surely gone to production anyway so it would be to late to change it........................
hang on is it april
1st!?!??!?

[woo]

Would it really be any harder for them to change the standby button to power off an appliance than it is for them to put on/manufacture UK plugs in the first place? Yes, it would cost millions - and hopefully it would be government subsidised, but seriously, what the hell is so "crazy" about wanting to do something that will have minimal impact on our day to day lives - but will make a huge difference when it comes down to energy conservation?

Uncle Sam's energy requirements just keep on growing and growing, maybe he too could be a little kinder on our planet in the future too!

[Kenban]

At least with computers (which I bet are the products that waste the most power) I don't think that there will be much of an overall effect. The point of standby is the whole "instant" on function. But people who want that ability will instead just start leaving the computer on instead of turning it off. I suspect a law like this which makes sense on paper will in the end waste more power then it saves.

Take Windows MCE (media center edition) or Vista which both record TV shows. To be able to do that the computer must be able to turn itself on or stay on 24/7. If you remove standby the computer will no longer be able to turn it self on so the only choice will be to leave the computer on. (This is how it currently works you would think it could turn itself on from being off and not just standby but that is not an option and I am not sure but I don't think that a standard BIOS supports this)

There are a LOT of ways to save power and if they want something that will have a real effect and would take very little work put a high tax on all incandescent light bulbs. Force the switch to power efficient florescent and LED bulbs.

[Reset]

since the standby mode in the wii is actually providing a service (downloading content) wouldnt it be null from the law anyway, as its not just waisting power.

[daps83777]

the PS2 also has a standby button, so PS3 might also have a standy mode. even though ps2 isn't always in standby mode. but it sounds like they want to get rid of all standby modes on all products. this would effect alot of stuff because alot of consumer products go into standby and don't actually turn completely off, even though we never realize that is how they work. i think alot of dvd players do this. so this would be very widespread with consumer electronics i think.

[Havok154]

Nearly every electronics device in the last ~5 years are using standby. Whethe it's a TV, computer, game system, stereo, monitor, etc. They can't outlaw all these devices, it's pointless. Plus, what happens when you turn your computer off but not your monitor, it goes into standby. Now it'll just stay on all the time, along with all DVR's, etc. You'll just end up wasting more power since these devices use standby to use less power idleing, instead of being full on like they would be otherwise.

[Azariel Z]

Is this for real? looks very funny indeed, why not increase an education campaign on how to use energy more efficient instead? this is like to cut alcohol to avoid people become alcoholic :D

[RottenFox]

they have proposed this 3 years ago,but to no avail,it seems.
its a stupid idea anyway,and will come to nothing.

[{{909}}]

the main energy wasting devices are kettles, washers, irons etc, anything with a large motor and a water heater, they need to put better timers etc on devices like that. Having standby in some items is actually better than turning them off becasue to start something from a "cold start" takes a huge burst of power. this not only wastes energy, but also puts alot of strain on the electronics, thats why most things fail when you come to turn em on.

[Cloudkill]

According to Cskill, there is a rule trying to be passed in British government which makes it so that no appliances such as computers, televisions and so on can not have a stand-by mode as this utilizes alot of 'wasted' electricity. The implications for this in the UK are pretty big across all areas, but there is a specific example of Wii Connect 24 whereby this rule could hit such a service hard as it relies on a standby mode in order to send information to the Wii 'at all times'.



News Source: <A href="http://www.clubskill.com/?view=article&article=3892" target="_blank">ClubSkill.com</a>


It's mad and won't happen that means I would have get get rid of my HD Samsung because it only gose into stand-by, The devices don't use that much electric when in stand-by anyway.

[pubjoe]

The devices don't use that much electric when in stand-by anyway.
That's what I thought, but you would be VERY surprised.

Some appliances use practically as much energy in standby as they do fully-on.

Perhaps a more reasonable law would be to limit/cap the amount of consumption when in stand-by, as most companies do not give a second thought to this.