Environmental concerns, a lack of women in senior roles, and Microsoft’s Longhorn were the hot topics at Apple’s annual shareholders meeting on Thursday. At the meeting, which was picketed by protestors, Apple CEO Steve Jobs defended the company’s recycling efforts, noting it is leading the industry on environmental issues and that it took back 1,500 tons of products in 2004 through its recycling program. Jobs said the environmental activists want product recycling to be free to consumers, but that Apple’s fee is in line with others in the industry. “We think $30 is a reasonable price to charge,” he said, pointing out that Dell charges about $20 to recycle a PC while HP charges about $40. He also expressed frustration at Apple being singled out by activists over other companies, calling it “bullshit.”
