Depending on your point of view, breaking the one billion actively-used PCs barrier is either representative of the power of technology, or the waste of man. More than a billion PCs have now been installed worldwide, according to Gartner.

The analyst defines the installed base as the estimated number of PCs in use, as opposed to the number shipped over time. That is an important distinction. After all, how many of us have old desktops stored away in the loft?

Gartner says the answer runs into many thousands, with a little more than 180 million of the one billion installed PCs to be replaced this year.

Most stored PCs are stuffed with legacy files ­ or more importantly, personal data. The proliferation of unprinted holiday snaps and credit card details is likely to mean people are loath to dispose of their legacy equipment.

Additional pressure comes from legal and environmental concerns. The WEEE directive, for example, has increased pressure on providers and users to dispose of technology in an environmentally-sensitive manner. And organisations such as Computer Aid International have helped make best use of unwanted resources.

But regulation and charity can only soak up so much toxic waste. While some retired PCs are re-used and recycled, many millions are simply dumped into landfill. Estimates suggest as many as three million PCs are landfilled in the UK every year.

And the continual churn of computers means the problem is likely to exacerbate. Gartner reports the worldwide installed base of PCs is growing at a little less than 12 per cent annually. At that pace, it will surpass two billion units by early 2014.

Suitable solutions are not easy to find. Some users choose to dump old equipment on unsuspecting family, such as the 486 I lumbered my parents with ­- before my mum realised it was too slow to process a game of patience, never mind access the internet.

And while the billion PCs installed around the globe have helped spread information access, whether such access remains centralised in the hands of the West remains a moot point.

Pushing a green information revolution to the rest of the world is likely to rely on users finding environmentally-sensitive homes for the next billion PCs.

Further reading: Reuse and recycling Top 10

1. Recycle? WEEE don't undertsand the rules, stupid
2. Computer Aid shows how to beat the green wash
3. Cure for green computing overkill is the real deal
4. Green computing hype needs smarter approach
5. Green computing is not crucial for CIOs
6. The green IT rules from Forrester and Gartner
7. JP Rangaswami says green computing drives BT
8. SMEs lead the way on green computing
9. Green computing is a pipe dream for IT managers
10. CIOs could learn from the green actions of SMEs

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Want to contact the writer? Email Mark Samuels