Editorial: Thoughts on Foxconn
By Laura June 
posted May 21st 2010 10:54AM
posted May 21st 2010 10:54AM
Laura June has been an Editor at Engadget since October of 2008. The views expressed in this editorial are her own, cobbled together by hand, with love, in the United States of America, for a fair wage.
I'm not an economist, and in fact, I've never been very good with money or math. I'm not a manufacturer either -- the only things I make with my own hands are quilts and cakes. I know, however, from these experiences, that the best products take time, and are made with care from the best available materials.
It's obvious, by now -- or it should be -- that something's going on at Foxconn (headquarter in Tucheng, Taiwan), the owners of massive factories in China which most famously assembles Apple products (though it's also responsible for many, many others). There have been several suicide attempts this year -- at least eight (up from two last year) of them successful (though it's been pointed out that the number is pretty much on par with the rest of China) -- and over the past few days we've seen what can only be called a shocking expose by a worker who went undercover there. It's clear, from this report and others (such as last month's National Labor Committee report on the KYE factory in Dongguan City) that most of the people who assemble our gadgets do so under conditions we, in America would never tolerate, and for a wage that is paltry, to say the least. I'm hesitant to pass judgment en masse on how an entire country or a specific factory does business, and I don't have the knowledge or expertise to do so. So I'm not going to.
As I sit here, typing on my MacBook Pro, my iPad sits charging in the bedroom. It's obvious to me that these products have been designed by the best minds working in gadgetry today -- they are beautiful, simple, and reliable. Best of all -- they really work. Now, I don't know how they were made -- but I know that they were assembled in China, most likely at Foxconn. And today, that knowledge doesn't sit very well with me.
It's a complicated issue which brings up complicated feelings. I come from extremely humble beginnings -- immigrants who worked in factories and coal mines for long hours and little money, child laborers and people who died of lung cancer at 50 despite never having smoked. And of course, this is the life they dreamed of. In many ways it was better than dying of starvation in Ireland or Poland. Most Americans have the same stories to tell, and look where we are today: I don't know a single farm hand or factory worker. As the United States became more successful its factories got better, and workers formed unions. In Pittsburgh, where I was born, steel mills and glass factories came to pay great wages, amazing overtime, and had great benefits and pension plans which my grandparents benefit from to this day. The demise of the American factory is yet another complicated issue I am not qualified to tackle.
Apple (and companies like it) now assembles its products in China for complicated reasons -- because that's where the factories are, because it's cheaper, because everybody does it -- but mostly, because it can. Despite ever increasingly obvious signs that our gadgets are made in less than stellar conditions, the American addiction to the new and shiny must be fed. I say this with the guilt of an addict, and admit that I am no better -- after all, I can't think of a single gadget off the top of my head that I could buy that would be 100% American made, which, as an American, is the only way I could have first hand knowledge and security of a product's origins and a factory's working conditions.
I'm not proposing we start up a Facebook group to boycott Apple or Microsoft or any other company. Going on a Twitter rampage about human rights won't cut it in this case either, and whatever media attention these stories get -- while educational -- won't necessarily change anything. I'm not naive. What I am asking is for something different -- something that sound bites on the internet won't have any effect on.
We, the people who buy and love gadgets, who write about them, who obsess over their design and minutiae, must think about what this means. We should go into our purchases knowingly -- the way most of us think with more knowledge than our ancestors about what we put in our mouths and how we clothe ourselves. Would I prefer that Apple assembled my iPhone in the US of A? Yes: there's greater oversight and better working conditions here (and there are many places in the world less opaque than China). Would that mean I would have to pay more? Yes, exponentially. Companies like Apple know that their images matter. It's why they're scrambling to "green themselves up" and prove their products don't end up contributing to the toxic garbage dump that we call Earth. We shouldn't accept companies' meaningless "we're looking into it" press releases when issues like this come up, because at the end of the day, we must come to terms with the fact that they don't actually care about the workers at Foxconn, not really -- as long as the factories keep churning out the goods.
There is, of course, the argument that our companies manufacturing in places like China is a largely good thing for China (never mind the fact that it fulfills our need for cheap products), and its people (think once again of my forebearers starving in Ireland before deciding to head down into the mines of Pennsylvania). One look at the country's economy will tell you that somebody is sure benefiting -- and I'm not going to argue that this train of thought is incorrect. Yes, even a terrible job is better than no job at all, and Foxconn's wages are arguably better than many in China -- but we can't really get around the fact that the reasons our companies choose to manufacture goods outside of places like the United States are stark, sad, and undeniable: because it's cheaper, and because the labor standards are much lower. We shouldn't avoid knowing that, merely because there are other arguments that can make us feel better about it, and I'm not sure the thought that we're benefiting directly from a country's growing pains should be reassuring.
We're not going to stop buying gadgets. But knowing where they come from, and seeing that with open eyes makes all the difference. At a time where most people on the internet give more attention to oil spills, where their food is coming from, how animals are treated, what the earth will look like in 50 years, nuclear weapons -- the list is endless -- we can't really afford to have blinders on about our where our laptops and cellphones come from, who made them, and what they leave behind when we've thrown them in the garbage -- no matter how beautiful their industrial design is.
It's obvious, by now -- or it should be -- that something's going on at Foxconn (headquarter in Tucheng, Taiwan), the owners of massive factories in China which most famously assembles Apple products (though it's also responsible for many, many others). There have been several suicide attempts this year -- at least eight (up from two last year) of them successful (though it's been pointed out that the number is pretty much on par with the rest of China) -- and over the past few days we've seen what can only be called a shocking expose by a worker who went undercover there. It's clear, from this report and others (such as last month's National Labor Committee report on the KYE factory in Dongguan City) that most of the people who assemble our gadgets do so under conditions we, in America would never tolerate, and for a wage that is paltry, to say the least. I'm hesitant to pass judgment en masse on how an entire country or a specific factory does business, and I don't have the knowledge or expertise to do so. So I'm not going to.
It's a complicated issue which brings up complicated feelings. I come from extremely humble beginnings -- immigrants who worked in factories and coal mines for long hours and little money, child laborers and people who died of lung cancer at 50 despite never having smoked. And of course, this is the life they dreamed of. In many ways it was better than dying of starvation in Ireland or Poland. Most Americans have the same stories to tell, and look where we are today: I don't know a single farm hand or factory worker. As the United States became more successful its factories got better, and workers formed unions. In Pittsburgh, where I was born, steel mills and glass factories came to pay great wages, amazing overtime, and had great benefits and pension plans which my grandparents benefit from to this day. The demise of the American factory is yet another complicated issue I am not qualified to tackle.
Apple (and companies like it) now assembles its products in China for complicated reasons -- because that's where the factories are, because it's cheaper, because everybody does it -- but mostly, because it can. Despite ever increasingly obvious signs that our gadgets are made in less than stellar conditions, the American addiction to the new and shiny must be fed. I say this with the guilt of an addict, and admit that I am no better -- after all, I can't think of a single gadget off the top of my head that I could buy that would be 100% American made, which, as an American, is the only way I could have first hand knowledge and security of a product's origins and a factory's working conditions.
I'm not proposing we start up a Facebook group to boycott Apple or Microsoft or any other company. Going on a Twitter rampage about human rights won't cut it in this case either, and whatever media attention these stories get -- while educational -- won't necessarily change anything. I'm not naive. What I am asking is for something different -- something that sound bites on the internet won't have any effect on.
There is, of course, the argument that our companies manufacturing in places like China is a largely good thing for China (never mind the fact that it fulfills our need for cheap products), and its people (think once again of my forebearers starving in Ireland before deciding to head down into the mines of Pennsylvania). One look at the country's economy will tell you that somebody is sure benefiting -- and I'm not going to argue that this train of thought is incorrect. Yes, even a terrible job is better than no job at all, and Foxconn's wages are arguably better than many in China -- but we can't really get around the fact that the reasons our companies choose to manufacture goods outside of places like the United States are stark, sad, and undeniable: because it's cheaper, and because the labor standards are much lower. We shouldn't avoid knowing that, merely because there are other arguments that can make us feel better about it, and I'm not sure the thought that we're benefiting directly from a country's growing pains should be reassuring.
We're not going to stop buying gadgets. But knowing where they come from, and seeing that with open eyes makes all the difference. At a time where most people on the internet give more attention to oil spills, where their food is coming from, how animals are treated, what the earth will look like in 50 years, nuclear weapons -- the list is endless -- we can't really afford to have blinders on about our where our laptops and cellphones come from, who made them, and what they leave behind when we've thrown them in the garbage -- no matter how beautiful their industrial design is.
it's cliche to say that goods are made in China because it is cheap. I'd say they are made in China because of the overall value, value as in the best combination of cost-benefits. Years of experience making top-notch products for the world certainly has done a lot to the factories' expertise there, arguable unmatched by most countries nowadays. Cost is, of course, still relatively cheap, but if you want cheap, you will go to Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, what have you. But none of these places are as internally competitive as China that American companies can get the productivity out of. None of these countries provide the reliable infrastructure to crank out goods 24-7. Simply put, to compete, many companies need China, for better or worse.
In the meantime, the US State Department is actually "apologizing" to China about a law in Arizona. Seriously, we are apologizing to them?
Someone must have drugged the water in Washington DC. They've gone crazy over there.
Why do we Americans always lament what troublesome things are happening in other countries, when we've got a lot of our own problems here?
Seems that this editorial is another attempt at someone trying to have a "I feel your pain" moment while not really having to do anything about it, absolving the author of some of her guilt.
I wish most of us would just be honest and say we're glad we're not in their situation, that we love our gadgets, and that we'll forget about this issue in about 30 seconds when the next iPhone prototype is found in Vietnam.
So WTF is the author asking us to do about any of this? Remember where these things are made when we buy them? Remember to have some guilty feelings about buying something that promotes poor working conditions? I don' understand the authors point. It's as if she thinks these working conditions are horrible but she just wants us to think about it and not do anything to change it; in which case what was the point of writing the article?
"We're not going to stop buying gadgets. But knowing where they come from, and seeing that with open eyes makes all the difference"
But are we seeing things with open eyes? We tend to evaluate things through rose-colored glasses and compare things in one country agains the how things are in our own country. You rightly suggest that people at FoxConn work for wages that no one in the US would even consider, but does that mean they are working for "low" wages? After all, it is a communist country so perhaps they have benefits we don't? Who pays for the dormitories, the food, medical and other necessities of life? I suspect that much of that is government provided or heavily subsidized so it's not necessarily a fair comparison.
It's clear that something is not right at Foxconn city but would these people be better off if we just stopped buying products? I suspect some of them may be worse off. If Foxconn goes out of business where will they live, how will they eat and get medical attention?
It's so easy to sit back in a comfy chair and rationalize all the ways we can fix the problems at Foxconn and yet, somehow, I suspect it's not that simple.
If a company like Apple were to step up to the plate and offer these people even like a dollar more per hour and some better benefits that would go a long way to improving their lives. Yes, a job is better than no job-however many people are getting fat on Apple stock and this paltry sum would improve peoples lives- BUT NO we have to bottom feed them as usual. Jobs has a worth of a billion plus-how about giving those Chinese workers a bonus at the end of the year that astounds all of us Steve?
The issue with people saying Apple should build their devices her in the US vs China need to take a look at the Auto industry, it's pretty clear what happens when you let unions control the work force. Companies end up selling pick up trucks at nearly $45,000 bucks because some high school drop out is getting paid $65 an hour to put a bolt in an engine block while 2 of his buddies watch him do it getting paid the same wage. The unions had a purpose when they were about safety and have become just as greedy. While GM needs the tax payees to bail it out because no one will pay for it's poor quality, over priced vehicles, it's a prime example of why companies outsource labor overseas.
Not saying Apple is right or wrong but condemning SJ and Apple is missing a much bigger picture as to why the decision to outsource labor is made by many American companies. Shareholders are as greedy as anyone, demanding more profits year After year, it all starts with us, the consumer and shareholders wanting to purchase bigger, faster, better and CHEAPER goods year after year.
If you want to condemn someone for making these decisions take a good long look in the mirror. It all starts with the consumers demands and desires. I guess we can't have our cake and eat it to.
So the point of the article is for us to just "think about" where our delicious bagels, I mean gadgets, come from? The author of the article even says that she isn't going to stop buying the gadgets, so if that is the case, what is the point of just thinking about it?
@slikdealor Well, thinking about it is a first step. We're here talking about it now, right? So I don't think that's a bad place to start. I could suggest actions -- but that wasn't really the point here. The point was to expose my thought process, and encourage others to talk or think about it. I'm not ashamed to say I don't know everything, or that I don't have answers here.
@slikdealor
And I'm not trying to be rude to the author. I just really don't know what just thinking about the problem will do.
@slikdealor
oops disregard my last reply, i didnt see that you already replied
@Laura June
Here's the problem with the editorial; you make suggestion of action. You make no suggestion of how we could compete if things were different somehow. I get that you don't have all the answers thats fine. I would argue that many of use are already thinking about it. I know everytime I buy starbucks (multiple times a day) that I am buying something from a corporation that is keeping some central or southern american child poor living in a dirt floored shack. I knew when I bought my iphone that it was developed in factories that had poor working conditions and that there are people committing suicide potentially over it. I know when I buy groceries that they come from other countries with poor conditions or that they are farmed in the US by illegal immigrants making less than minimum wage. I have been to other countries and understand that in the US the standard of living even for people on public assistance is enormously better that most people in third world countries. I would even argue that society as a whole has been aware of this for a long time and is constantly thinking about it. I was at a Fred Meyer the other day and overheard a teenage boy say to his mother "look mom some kid in china put the label on backwards can I get another pair." I myself have been thinking about this stuff since the 1980's! I myself when I can and can afford to will buy all american made items. I buy microbrews made in my city from items farmed in my state. I buy craft distillery liquors from distilleries in my state made from materials farmed in my state. I buy all american made firearms and all american made ammunition for target practice. I could go on incessantly but those are the few things that flew off the top of my head.
I ASK WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO CHANGE ANY OF THIS OTHER THAN WRITE AND MAKE A LIVING OFF OF IT?
Finally I don't see where voting with my wallett will change anything. If I didn't buy an iphone another million people will. Hell do you think apple even cares if I buy an iphone. For Apple and to be fair all other large multinational corporations it's about bottom line economics. P.S. I find it appalling for you to write about this subject and not offer any solution or action. Look here I am writing about your struggle and making a living off of it. Granted it opens a window to those that don't know about the problem but it's exploitive without a solution otherwise. You could just as easily start an online letter to Apple asking them to end labor in China and get readers to sign it and send it to Apple but you choose to do nothing.
As far as I'm concerned 1 suicide is 1 too many. However its iportant that we go beyond "OMG THERE ARE SUICIDES" and ask the important questions such as:
How do these suicide rates compare to the China as a whole?
How do the working conditions, wages, etc. compare to the China as a whole?
Is the problem this particular factory or buying goods from China or what? THere is far more to this story than has been reported.
@krizoitz Read the earlier posts. You qestions are already answered.
Sucide rate in China is lower than the US. Suicide rate is lower than average at Foxconn compared to the rest of the country. Wage at Foxconn is above average for a factory worker and so are the benefits (i.e., they actually pay for overtime, living quarters are clean and well maintained). Wage is also much higher than the average Chinese non electronics factory job. The problems are not unique to this factory or industry.
With what is stated above, you'd think Foxconn is a great place to work, but we all know that's far from the truth.
@Narutogrey "We all know"....for who do you speak? NO, you do not know, You think you know.
It is not perfect, such is life. Try thinking on how to have enough employment for a 1.3Billion population.
In past 20 year, developed nations have gotten used to a service-oriented industry. Western-Europe absorbed a shift to Eastern-EU. Wages in developed Western countries have stagnated and are now reversing, while China, India, Brazil are slowly increasing, soon fired-up by their domestic demand.
A new equilibrium or 'Shift' is in the make and play itself in the next decade, after which jobs will return to US/EU, unless they are absorbed by Africa.
(In China since '94 for US companies)
So when a company earns almost double of the cost of building a device because "they can", and if they were to build their thing in USA the "price would grow exponentially"...? WTF are you saying?
Greed fuels the economy, benfits, stocks, pure crap!
Our "beloved" gadgets, have two ways of moving forward, or they get cheaper, or those poor souls get paid more.
Don't buy HW made in China from any company that is making more than 30% OIBDA, and by the way, do the same for your frackin' vegetables. Distribution does not deserve such a high premium/reward.
Innovation?, design?, you are killing me, look at Apple's bottom line, all that "investment" does not kill the flow of their cash.
FAIR TRADE! (we are all suckers)
@notung Agreed.
I'm sorry but this is a bit short-sighted and naive. The clothes you are wearing have just as much of a toll on humans in terrible conditions, most of the food you eat does too. We, you and I and every American, exploit humans in almost everything we do during a day.
Instead of allowing companies to make mountains of ewaste by making closed systems that have no upgrade path beyond the fake concept of "it's recyclable" which is bogus, we, YOU especially since you write about it, should be calling for the computers and gadgets to be modular and upgradable in every way. Less quantity would be needed and things would change. WE have the power, we don't exercise it however because the status quo is easy and cheap and we don't see the impact except every once in a while in an article like this.
I worked in very high end lighting for 10 years. I had contacts in S. Korea, China and India. I asked a chinese production planner a question once, about one of his company's policies. He very politely told me that he could explain it to me, but I would never fully understand it, without the context of having worked in China. Damn. It was kinda like discussing Physics with S. Hawking.
I seriously doubt anybody reading this post cares enough to take the steps necessary to fix this kind of inequality. While some among us would rather get theirs by whatever means available no matter the consequences to the society in which they live or the society in which their "product" is made. This make it cheap somewhere else mentality is reducing wages everywhere, including here. So getting what we want cheaply only makes things worse and more expensive for everyone. Wages have stagnated in America since this off shore manufacturing boom has taken hold. A word of advice for the whole of manufacturing China. Unionize. Like Walmart China did and do it fast for all our sakes.
This was an interesting editorial, and I highly suggest that the author picks up "Cheap: the high cost of discount goods" by Ellen Ruppel Shell. Inexpensive goods in volume is a science perfected by us, Americans over the 20th century. The global outsource of labor that leads to factories like Foxconn is our creation.
That said, whats ironic about our quest for profits, and our need to discount goods is that by over-utilizing cheap labor countries at the expense of domestic production is that we actually depress the value of labor everywhere.
In other words, what we ship overseas to do makes it impossible for us to keep paying our own labor a competitive wage.
So we make and sell more goods in the short term, but at the expense of the buying population. If the lower classes can't make American-competitive salaries, then they can't buy the electronics, cars, furniture made cheaper elsewhere and sold here. If this trend doesn't get a corrective shift, then we will create a massive gulf between those who can afford products, and those who manufacturer them both here and abroad.
The rift between rich and poor.
The best way to deal with these issues is to enforce and protect the value of labor in all corners of the globe. The cost of doing business simply has to be expanded to enforcing good labor practices, as well as reducing pollution, minimizing waste etc. Nevertheless this problem is centuries old. To paraphrase BSG: All this has happened before, and will happen again.
Is it possible that these employees (slaves) get to see the latest and greatest of the technological world being produced at their fingertips but know that they will never be able to own such a piece of hardware?
From what I was understanding, they get paid about $132 per month.
$200 for an iPhone and $100 per month is $1400 per year (plus takes, FTC crap......
These PEOPLE make $1584 per year.
If my only option in life was to work at a Ferrari plant and the incredible design, performance and luxury that was being produced could never be enjoyed because my income is never going to be enough to kick a tire, I would think that a leap from the top floor would send a pretty strong message.
Then again, maybe they have seen the new Palm product and know they will all be out of work soon. (;
I believe all humans are drawn to competition just like animals are. It isn't natural to cooperate, that comes from a higher ethic. Given that, the best system is decentralized with competition. Pendulums always swing. Unions are good to improve working conditions, but they can just as easily become syndicated and want too much for too little. Competing interests are what ensure fairness. If you allow power to become centralized, versus seperated and balanced... you will ALWAYS end up with tyranny. Whether by Government, Business, Labor, Religion, a parent, a boyfriend or girlfriend.... etc.
It is said that free markets allow abuse. Actually, I think we haven't had a lot of truly free market capitalism in the United States. We started to, then the big industrialists consolidated their power in the DC-Boston corridor. The ensuing regulations could only be shouldered if you were a huge corporation already. A free market is only as good as the hearts inside the people that are in that market.
A Government in the interest of preserving Liberty should only concern itself with stopping fraud, not defining the nature of a commerce. I see that the Statist wants power and the levers of power. A Libertarian / Constitutionalist wants to chop power down and spread it equally through the individual States. We are a Republic of States, not one State with provinces... we need to have a government that reflects that.
As for the Industrial Revolution, there are good and bad parts to it. Our Human Nature vs. our Spiritual Faculties create a conflict that we have seen ensue through the centuries. We are influenced by forces, both external and internal, and we are pitted against each other because so much of us don't trust in the system that truly works. A system of grace and generosity and forgiveness. So much of the antithesis is shown in the way we handle money and charge interest...
If the goverment got out of subsidizing construction, I believe we'd be putting less wealth into the built environment (buildings that sit idle 8-16 hours / day whether residential or commercial) and into our machines (cars are only used about 2 hours / day). If we didn't have identity politics and a underclass created and exploited by the Statist Party we could start having real racial reconciliation and move back into pedestrian oriented city blocks. Won't need to burn so much gas or need to wear out your depreciating asset (car) as fast... won't need to build big poorly-built houses, but just fix up well-built old houses.
As for living conditions. It is natural and good to keep what you earn. It is natural and good to want to improve your living conditions. The people with a mud hut want to get a wooden hut. I trust the well-intentioned entreprenuer that can create a wealth block to then grow a crop of activities that give people something productive and creative to do that improves communities (micro-economies) and to a larger and larger scale, states and nations.
I think it's our hearts that lead us off the good path to non-value added activities that drain us rather than feed us. It's our hearts that cause us to seize power when presented to us. It's our hearts that cause us to enrich ourselves into unproductive and uncreative isolation.
Is money evil? No, it is morally neutral. It's just like a knife... can be used to coerce, or used to carve and create something useful. Money is nothing more than a medium to represent the fruits of creative thought, physical labor or intellectual and physical resources.
Ronald Reagan’s Department of Justice chopped down AT&T’s Big Business monopoly in 1982, about 1 year into his first term. Because of that MCI was able to grow… then came Sprint… now we enjoy a wide palate of choices that have given us cheap and amazing cel phones. I’m 34 years old and I remember mom and dad saying we had to keep long distance calls to our relatives short. The end result is an interconnectivity between people at a level surpassing the big three media and big newspapers. They are losing money because people are tuning out and thinking for themselves. They have lost their monopoly as well.
I wish the fire of our Founders could catch on the Chinese mainland. Can you imagine the liberation and removal of threat that would happen if they didn’t have state-controlled media? Is there any wonder why our first amendment is the first one on the list of the ten (Bill of Rights) ??? Thought Control leads to enslavement and despair. An individual with Liberated Thought has full access to understanding the results of Wisdom or Folly and can be led to develop discernment between the two and make beneficial choices for themselves.
“Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write.” -
John Adams
For similar sentiment and ideas, check out americanthinker, townhall, heritage foundation, rasmussenreports, drudgereport
@gruffnagle
Careful. You're thinking. You can only do so much of that on a blog. :-) More intelligent commentary than most multi-paragraph blather though.
@gruffnagle
Well said.
This discussion can be summarized very easily. Like the terrible work conditions in the factories for women and children in the 1880's in the US, China today is a terrible place to live and work and no sane person should deny that. However, the alternative for them is far worse, starvation, death or worse. For the first time they have the ability to work *EXTREMELY HARD* but SURVIVE. All this hard work will pay off, as it did in the US and in short order, the country (excluding any communist funny business will sling shot their country into a US like standard of living.
The standard wage of a manufacturing worker in China has gone from $.41/hour to $.57 in less than 3 years. That is 10% per year. How much did the US gain? -5% in that same time period.
Anyone on here that feels bad for them is allowed to sell their $70/month iPhone plan, $60/month internet and send that money as charity. That being said, of course anyone who thinks the conditions they are in are terrible would never do that. Engaget and Apple iApps are far more important that Foxcon employees.
Unfortunately, there are just too many people to blame when it comes to this kind of labour issue. For example if iPads were made in the USA or Canada or Europe for that matter, a 16 gb wifi version would probably cost $1,500. That's probably a conservative estimate. Of course I pulled that price out of a hat but many of you probably get the picture. If companies like apple don't outsource to China their products would be so expensive no one could afford them. I've seen a lot of documentaries on "gadget factories" and probably the majority of the western population would be too lazy to do that kind of work for that kind of pay.
Are governments to blame for taking all our money? Are company shareholders and executives to blame for their greed? Are consumers to blame for continuing to purchase products without caring about how they are made? Or finally is it human nature? Probably a good combination of all the above I would say.
I don't think I will stop consuming gadgets anytime soon despite the working conditions people must face for me to have my gadget.Unfortunately it is human nature, to be greedy and to make other humans suffer for your own benefit.
I still cannot fathom this 'editorial' at all. What is it? A cautionary tale? A FoxConn PR message? Let it go, it'll be fine if we don't think too hard?
Seriously wtf?
I'm sorry Laura, but you must try a great deal harder if you want to be 'real' jounalism.
@Bomberman
If you read the article and can't comprehend it, I think it might be due to what they call 'OT' in the tech support industry- operator trouble.
There's no hunman being but robot&machine in Foxconn(Hon Hai)
Foxconn (富士康) is a Taiwanese corporation, exploiting mainland Chinese labor.
A huge number of things about China are screwed up, but in this case it's our "democratic" ally Taiwan that's the bad guy. Consider that before you get all us-versus-them about China.
Apple earns 80 $ for every Ipod and the chinese manufacturer earns abt 5 .....
Oh god....
Laura - you don't get it do you. As with every other person that thinks things are off shored because they are cheaper. They are cheaper and not because of the wages. They are cheaper because of the lazy attitudes of most westerners. Excessive breaks, short hours, low productivity... a constant sense of "Entitlement" that their parents maybe and certainly their grandparents as you explained never had.
Want to know why the guard is changing and the world will be different? It is because of lazy consuming pigs who value their own output higher than what the world labour market does and go to extreme lengths to stick their heads in the sand about it.
Production "on shore" like many other things doesn't have to be more expensive. Lazy westerners just need to start working harder and become better educated. That is how Eastern Europe and China is doing it now - just like our grand parents did before.
From 10 years in China and knowing what the hell I talk about. Good bye.
@SinoPeach
Yes, of course. I'm sure you're much better educated. You're so educated that you paint all Westerners with the same stroke of ignorance, which you plainly share.
Though I recognise that SOME people in the West live lives of laziness and with feelings of entitlement I will never fail to account for the fact that the actual working class hardly feels entitled or gets these "excessive breaks" you speak of.
I challenge you to do more than blurt your bigoted opinions against someone who is merely trying to help others to empathise with the situation.
From somebody who dislikes meanness in other people... You're not a very nice person.
If there were alternatives for Chinese-made gadgets... If... But almost everything from electronics in made there. Look at http://www.productfrom.com - over 50% of listed products are "Made in China" (only 1 Apple products, but many other brands). American? Some home appliances and... metal detectors:)
I don't know why those factory workers are upset- 12-19 hour days for $90 USD is big money! The have the privilege of working in a factory forever until they're too weak- to go starve to death somewhere with no way of supporting themselves in their old age. It sounds like a great life to me. Suicides? Wimps!
Go Foxconn! Go Apple! Go Steve Jobs with his stupid black shirt!
Is the undercover journalist going to cover other big electronics manufacturers in China? I want to see some compare and contrast action here.
You can't change capitalism and free markets to fit your opinions.