Treehugger reports that Google now offers its search engine web page in fashionable black. It’s called Blackle.com and the goal is to consume less energy by using a black background instead of the ubiquitous white background. EcoIron claims that Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year although his commenters helpfully point out that this is only really true for CRTs. As the world switches to energy saving monitors (well, at least in the usage of the monitors and not necessarily in other stages of the lifecycle), Google will need to find other ways to help the world save energy.
Update: oddly enough, when I try to log on to Blackle, I get the following response,
Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access / on this server.
Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
Don’t know if there’s a problem down the road at Googleplex or with SJSU where I’m currently staying.
UPDATE: It works now.
Some people may find it uncomfortable reading light text on a black background. They might find Greygle to be a better choice for them. It uses a grey background with dark text which they might find easier to read. This still allows for some energy savings while providing an easier reading experience.
I prefer using http://www.Darkoogle.com as their text are green which reduce eye strain. So instead of saving energy from our monitor, it also save our user’s eye energy.