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Atlantic writer shares Foxconn snapshots
James Fallows, a writer for The Atlantic, recently spent some time poking around the Foxconn plants and dormitories in the Longhua area of Shenzhen, China. These plants are where iPads and iPhones come to life, and have been the subject of scrutiny from many Western writers who believe that the company mistreats employees. Fallows felt the need to point out the "infamous suicide nets" that were installed after a few Foxconn employees jumped from the plant rooftops in past years, and expressed surprise that the employees actually spend time doing such mundane things reading newspapers and relaxing. Apparently his image of the factories and dormitories at Foxconn was that he'd find staffers being beaten and working in dark, damp factories. Instead, he found clean, modern offices; cramped, but well-designed dormitory rooms where a quarter of the 220,000 workers at Longhua receive free housing; and two beautiful swimming pools by the dorms. That's not all; he shows photos of employees looking at a big-screen HDTV offered at a discount, and shopping at "Flying Tiger," a company store where employees can buy phones and cameras. Fallows admits in the third installment of his photo essay that, "I've seen enough other Chinese factories, rural schools, villages and so on to recognize that these are on the higher end of the spectrum." Sure, the factories and facilities aren't up to Western standards, but they're not the hellholes that so many journalists seem to expect. You can check out the first, second, third and fourth installments of the Fallows photo essay by following the links.
Leaked memo says Pottermore is an online game
We've been on mystical pins and needles for the past week as the countdown continues to tomorrow's full reveal of Pottermore, a mysterious website bearing J.K. Rowling's name. The Atlantic reports that a leaked memo making the rounds spells out the truth: Pottermore will be an online game of sorts. The memo "suggests that [Pottermore.com] is a sophisticated online game that contains clues to prizes that are hidden in the real world. These are an unstated number of magic wands secreted in Britain and America, and possibly other countries." This sounds more like an ARG -- alternate reality game -- than an MMO, although we're not prepared to rule out the possibility until all is said and revealed. The article mentions that this could be a marketing tool tied into Pottermore instead of Pottermore proper. Fans who'd love to see a Harry Potter MMO still have hope that this could be the real deal, but we won't know for sure until tomorrow's announcement.
