This is Why You Should Feel Guilty for Buying Your iPhone
94 replies, posted
Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/31/tech/gaming-gadgets/apple-boycott-commentary/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6[/url]
[quote]
Last week, The New York Times gave us an inside look at what it's like to work at Foxconn, the manufacturing company that owns several China-based factories that crank out Apple's iPads, iPhones and iPods by the millions.
The story is full of examples of horrifying working conditions in Foxconn's factories that would never fly here in the United States. Here are some of the more troubling ones from the Times story:
Foxconn is a 24-hour operation. Employees work six days a week, sometimes in 12-hour shifts. They're on their feet for so long that their legs begin to swell. There are underage workers. They live in crowded dorms on the factory's campus. In recent years, there have been reports of workers leaping from buildings in apparent suicides.
And so on.
The story even describes the gruesome death of one Foxconn worker after an explosion in a facility that made iPads in Chengdu, China. The worker's "skin was almost completely burned away" by the blast, the Times reports. He died a few days later with his family by his side.
Foxconn denies the reports that working conditions are like what the Times describes. Apple refuses to comment on the record, but a leaked e-mail from CEO Tim Cook to all Apple employees says the company is committed to worker safety and that it takes all those claims very seriously.
So knowing all that, should we be concerned about where our iPhones and other gadgets come from and how they're made? Or is the human cost so far removed from us here in the United States that we're willing to look over it in favor of whatever fancy new touchscreen gadget Apple releases next?
The issue even has some people throwing around the idea of a boycott. One effort, hosted on the website Change.org, has collected more than 145,000 signatures from people calling on Apple to better protect its workers.
While those efforts sound noble, there's no way boycotting Apple gadgets will actually work.
Let's start with why people keep snapping up Apple's iPhones and iPads by the millions each week in the first place.
When it comes to smartphones and tablets, Apple still makes the best there are. With the iPhone and the iPad, the company set a new standard that other tech giants such as Google and Microsoft are still struggling to imitate. Apple can't make them fast enough. On launch days, people queue up in massive lines so they can be one of the first to get a new iPhone or iPad.
Even if consumers do know about what it took to make their new gadget, as many likely do thanks to the widespread reports on working conditions overseas, it's obviously not enough to keep them from getting caught up in the fervor of an Apple product launch.
I can't see that ending just because of a new story in The New York Times or a proposed boycott.
But it's not just about the massive popularity of Apple's gadgets that keep people buying. It's the price.
The latest and greatest iPhone model, the 4S, costs $199. iPads start at $499. One of the biggest reasons Apple can sell its stuff at such low prices is because they're produced on the cheap in China, sometimes by sacrificing good working conditions to make it happen. (If you believe the reports.)
Those cheap production costs are why a lot of the anger comes from the fact that Apple is a massively profitable company. Right now it has almost $100 billion sitting in the bank. It could use some of that cash to put more pressure on Foxconn and others to improve working conditions overseas.
A successful boycott could force Apple to make those changes, but consumers will have to sacrifice something, too.
In a poll from the Times that ran with its Foxconn story last week, most consumers thought companies such as Apple should make products in the U.S. but still absorb the added manufacturing costs.
In other words, consumers don't want to pay more for iPhones and iPads than they already do just to ensure factory workers get better working conditions. It's all about money.
So even if Apple moved production to the U.S. or managed to heavily invest in China and improve working conditions there, it would likely result in higher prices for consumers. For a profit-driven company such as Apple, there's almost no chance it would want to absorb those costs itself.
Yes, a lot of the heat on this issue has been put on Apple. But keep in mind it's not alone. Foxconn and similar manufacturers in Asia make gadgets for several other major consumer brands. It's not like suddenly switching from the iPhone to another smartphone will improve the lives of those who make it.
You may feel guilty buying an Apple product, but the problem won't be fixed until all electronics makers change, too.
In the end, consumers would be the ones who have to pay to make working conditions better for the people who make your iPhone. And it seems unlikely there are enough of you out there willing to do that.
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Another reason I will never buy anything from this shit company.
Stop these fucking Foxconn threads.
Did you even read the article you posted?
[QUOTE]Yes, a lot of the heat on this issue has been put on Apple. But keep in mind it's not alone. Foxconn and similar manufacturers in Asia make gadgets for several other major consumer brands. It's not like suddenly switching from the iPhone to another smartphone will improve the lives of those who make it.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=faze;34513023]Another reason I will never buy anything from this shit company.[/QUOTE]
Yes, it's horrible, but EVERY OTHER MAJOR COMPANY DOES IT TOO.
Ok?
I hate Apple as much as, if not more than the next guy, and own an ASUS Transformer and SSGS, but you know what? Both of them were made by Foxconn, much as I hate to admit it.
For once, this isn't Apple being jerks, it's the whole industry.
[QUOTE=faze;34513023]Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/31/tech/gaming-gadgets/apple-boycott-commentary/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6[/url]
Another reason I will never buy anything from this shit company.[/QUOTE]
Apple isn't the only one using Foxconn. Good luck finding anything that isn't manufactured there.
its not only apple doing this
[QUOTE=AGMadsAG;34513067]Stop these fucking Foxconn threads.
Did you even read the article you posted?[/QUOTE]
Yes, I did. So Apple should find another manufacturer then.
[QUOTE=faze;34513023]Source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/31/tech/gaming-gadgets/apple-boycott-commentary/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6[/url]
Another reason I will never buy anything from this shit company.[/QUOTE]
It's not just Apple, you know. Most major Chinese manufacturing companies are like this, and Foxconn provides large amounts of good for:
[quote]Acer Inc. (Taiwan)[27]
Amazon.com (United States)[28]
Apple Inc. (United States)[29]
ASRock (Taiwan)[citation needed]
Asus (Taiwan)[citation needed]
Barnes & Noble (United States)[citation needed]
Cisco (United States)[30]
Dell (United States)[31]
EVGA Corporation (United States)
Hewlett-Packard (United States)[32]
Intel (United States)[33]
IBM (United States)[citation needed]
Lenovo (China)[citation needed]
Microsoft (United States)[34]
MSI (Taiwan)[citation needed]
Motorola (United States)[31]
Netgear (United States)[citation needed]
Nintendo (Japan)[35]
Nokia (Finland)[29]
Panasonic (Japan)[citation needed]
Samsung (South Korea)[36]
Sharp (Japan)[citation needed]
Sony (Japan)[37]
Sony Ericsson (Japan/Sweden)[38]
Vizio (United States)[39][/quote]
The conditions in China as a whole need to overhauled. It's race to the bottom over there, and the only reason any gains are made is when the public here forces the companies selling them products to do something about it.
[QUOTE=faze;34513084]Yes, I did. So Apple should find another manufacturer then.[/QUOTE]
Oh god you're so stupid, I'm sorry. Go on and buy your Android phones, surely that'll save the world.
I'm pretty certain by living in a first world country everything you do from eating to watching television is fucking people up somewhere
Foxconn makes just about every major electronic component for anything. They made my ASUS motherboard and my Samsung phone.
[QUOTE=AGMadsAG;34513108]Oh god you're so stupid, I'm sorry. Go on and buy your Android phones, surely that'll save the world.[/QUOTE]
I didn't say it would. I like Android based phones because I won't support a company that approves of this kind of work condition, nor will I support a company that sues anything that moves.
Its funny seeing people rushing to defend Apple by going "They aren't the only ones doing this!" as if that somehow makes it alright.
My desktop has a Foxconn motherboard, and it's a HP.
Oh God, I should abolish ever buying from HP ever again because they use parts manufactured in a sweat shop!!1
[editline]2nd February 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;34513131]Its funny seeing people rushing to defend Apple by going "They aren't the only ones doing this!" as if that somehow makes it alright.[/QUOTE]
It doesn't make it right, but nor is it right to shove all the blame on Apple as if they WERE the only ones doing it.
I hate Apple as much as the next guy but sometimes there is a line that can be crossed.
[QUOTE=faze;34513126]I didn't say it would. I like Android based phones because I won't support a company that approves of this kind of work condition, nor will I support a company that sues anything that moves.[/QUOTE]
Hint, most of the major Android manufacturers are on the list, too.
So you have supported it by buying a device.
I love my transformer and phone to bits, but I won't lie to myself and pretend that they're manufactured in clinical conditions by workers in an utopian society where everyone shits rainbows and happiness.
I thought the reason Apple gets the most pressure is because they needs shit tons of devices made before a launch of their new yearly product? Like imagine all the stress and angst in the factories when the iPhone 5 is coming out soon?
[editline]2nd February 2012[/editline]
Other products don't have the same demand and preorders as Apple products.
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;34513131]Its funny seeing people rushing to defend Apple by going "They aren't the only ones doing this!" as if that somehow makes it alright.[/QUOTE]
uhm its kind of weird to only blame apple on it because apple is probably the most hated on fp, android manufacturers do it too
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;34513131]Its funny seeing people rushing to defend Apple by going "They aren't the only ones doing this!" as if that somehow makes it alright.[/QUOTE]
I didn't mean that "it's all alright", I meant that it's a fucking disgrace, but you can't just blame one company and leave the others out of it.
Why are companies only focusing on the iPhone? The majority of popular tech is manufactured at Foxconn..
[QUOTE=Terminutter;34513271]I didn't mean that "it's all alright", I meant that it's a fucking disgrace, but you can't just blame one company and leave the others out of it.[/QUOTE]You can however single out the by far largest company though.
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;34513131]Its funny seeing people rushing to defend Apple by going "They aren't the only ones doing this!" as if that somehow makes it alright.[/QUOTE]
Yet it's strange how this thread is meant to bash Apple when there's other companies doing the same and not a thread to bash all these companies.
[QUOTE=deggie;34513303]Yet it's strange how this thread is meant to bash Apple when there's other companies doing the same and not a thread to bash all these companies.[/QUOTE]As I said, Apple is by far the largest company, as well as the most responsible individually.
Of course. It is a well known fact that iPhones are made from the blood of asian babies while Android phones are made from the cure for cancer.
[QUOTE='[Seed Eater];34513090']It's not just Apple, you know. Most major Chinese manufacturing companies are like this, and Foxconn provides large amounts of good for:
The conditions in China as a whole need to overhauled. It's race to the bottom over there, and the only reason any gains are made is when the public here forces the companies selling them products to do something about it.[/QUOTE]
Woot, go Logitech! (And HANNS.G!)
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;34513131]Its funny seeing people rushing to defend Apple by going "They aren't the only ones doing this!" as if that somehow makes it alright.[/QUOTE]
I really don't think that's the case here, and in fact would call you silly for implying there is some kind of hivemind defense force for Apple on Facepunch, of all forums.
[QUOTE=Doctor Zedacon;34513131]Its funny seeing people rushing to defend Apple by going "They aren't the only ones doing this!" as if that somehow makes it alright.[/QUOTE]
Hardly. It's just the article made it seem that way.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;34513424]I really don't think that's the case here, and in fact would call you silly for implying there is some kind of hivemind defense force for Apple on Facepunch, of all forums.[/QUOTE]Well, considering the percentage of comments defending Apple, and how quickly, they were posted after this article, I'd say "rushing to defend Apple" is a pretty applicable remark.
herp DERP FUCK APPLE ANDROID MASTER RACE, ALL APPLE USERS SHOULD BE SENT TO DEATH CAMPS AND MURDERED ALONG WITH THEIR FAMILIES. DON'T BE LIKE THE MASSES - GO ANDROID.
[QUOTE=Paravin;34513491]herp DERP FUCK APPLE ANDROID MASTER RACE, ALL APPLE USERS SHOULD BE SENT TO DEATH CAMPS AND MURDERED ALONG WITH THEIR FAMILIES. DON'T BE LIKE THE MASSES - GO ANDROID.[/QUOTE]Super hyperbolic straw man power activate!
Us needs to tax imported goods from companies like this so it brings back manufacturing jobs to the states. Shit like this would be less likely to occur.
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