Kinda ironic that this China-shot video is put on youtube, when youtube is blocked here (and therefore I can't see it hehe). Gotta say though that KIRFs are everywhere and a fact of life here. There is no-one hiding them, they are everywhere. Hua Qiang Bei is the largest electronics marketplace in southern china, and once you get by all the guys selling fake copies of windows and office on the street, plus the people selling fake receipts or stolen laptops, there are literally miles upon miles of booths all selling the same KIRF gear. And don't think the rent is cheap, a booth here is actually expensive, even by western standards. Its just that people here will work for peanuts, and there are so many consumers...
The city where he worked and the city where his family lives are 2 completely different places. His hometown is likely in another province, and guaranteed to be a much cheaper place to live than Shenzhen. Keep in mind that the average yearly income in China is only $6000 USD. As for the housing prices in the city where he works, you are comparing Beverly Hills to Compton here (maybe not the best example as I've never been to LA). Shenzhen is a city of 12 million people. Foxconn has 600,000 employees and the factory is far, far away from Luohu (downtown Shenzhen) where those prices you speak of come from. Prices are much, much lower out there.
His position was actually fairly high up in the company. He was definitely a university graduate. Foxconn is huge, it's really it's own city. Can you believe 600,000 people work for this company??
It is common in China for compensation to be paid to the family when someone is injured or killed. If a bus kills a pedestrian, compensation is paid to the victim's family by the bus company... regardless of who is at fault. A worker dies from getting sucked into a mud hole on the worksite in a rainstorm? Company compensates the family even though in the west it would be considered an act of god. In this case, an employee died from something job related, so the company is expected to compensate the family. No blame is given nor assumed in these transactions. It is simply to replace the income that the family will no longer receive from the lost son or daughter.
Plus it likely received a lot of pressure from Apple to give a decent compensation package...
Samsung has already announced a 500GB 2.5" drive earlier in the year that, although a triple platter design, still adheres to the standard 9.5mm height.
Where are Universal's shareholders? If I owned Universal stock I would be outraged that a huge market such as iTunes was being ignored because the CEO basically has a personal issue with Jobs. That man should be fired!
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I'm heading to university next year, and I've purchased a MacBook. I'm also taking my four year old desktop, just in case I'm left with no computers when the MacBook is being repaired or whatnot. With only two USB ports on a MacBook, I want a Bluetooth mouse. Budget is about $100, and of course, it needs OS X support. Thanks for the help!"
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