6 replies to this topic

[Cman21]

hello everyone, i was listing to NPR/PRI and i was listening to this american life show

http://www.thisameri...e-apple-factory

click on the play button right below the image on that page or click the link below to start it.

http://www.thisameri...?play=454&act=1


if you have an hour free i would love for you to listen to it. i was actually on my way home when it aired and i literally sat in my car after i parked it for over half an hour to finish the show.

long story short it is about this guys trip to china to see how the iphone was made after seeing pictures from an iphone that did not have its data erased before leaving the factory floor. but it turns out he learned a lot more than he thought he would and left a changed man.

[13ack.Stab]

I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more attention.

I've listened to this twice now - it's extremely interesting.

I definitely recommend it to you guys.

[Cman21]

it really changed the way i view things and i now wish i lived in Pennsylvania cuz hes next performance is there next weekend. but being 9.5 hours away i just cannot get to it and back in time

[eccon]

I took the time and listened to it. This guy is a great narrator.
But what he found out isn't exactly new and has been going on for years.
Half a million workers under humiliating and slave-like conditions at Foxconn's plants, but nobody at the western industry cares.
Thinking of it, I'm feeling happy right now that I'm not using Apple products, but parts of my PS3 are also made by Foxconn though


Oh well. In the not-too-distant future we will be the slaves and have to produce for China...

[Cman21]

ya he started this back 2 years ago, but i still think you should listen to it cuz it is still important to bring about awareness on this topic. and it is important to note that those conditions are not restricted to apple products. apple products are only mentioned due to Mike's passion for apple products and is pushing specifically for apple to do something. in reality ANYTHING with a "Made in CHINA" sticker on it was made in conditions similar or worse than described.

it is also important to note the second part where the announcer goes over the facts listed as those checks where made recently as this only aired yesterday.

[eccon]

I just read the following on Digital Trends:

"Foxcon chairman equates iPhone-creating workforce to animals" (January 19, 2012)

While Americans continue to purchase new iPhones and iPads in droves, Apple continues to face questions about working conditions in China due to comments from senior management of the Foxconn facility.

First reported by Want China Times earlier today, chairman Terry Gou was meeting with senior managers and stated “”Hon Hai has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache.” Hon Hai is the parent company of Foxconn, the company responsible for creating the majority of iPhones and iPads for Apple. Gou also stated that he would like to learn from the director of the Taipei Zoo, Chin Shih-chien, as to how animals should be managed. While it was also reported that these comments were possibly made in jest which was lost in the translation, the working conditions of Foxconn employees are certainly no joking matter.

In a recent taping on This American Life, author Mike Daisey recorded an interview regarding a visit to Shenzhen, China where the Foxconn manufacturing plant is located. While Foxconn also manufacturers electronics for Dell, HP, Lenovo, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung and Sony, Daisey specifically toured the plant where employees create Apple’s MacBook Pros, iPhones and iPads. Foxconn employees have recently been in the news after a threat of mass suicide was issued over a pay dispute, but resolved the issue a few days later.

[Read more...]

[Stsin]

Very touching.

I've read something similar earlier and was appalled. But that speech was more insightful and dramatic.

http://americawhatwe...rs-left-behind/
http://kozmedia.com/...the-u-s/227901/

Though knowing that most all electronics is made there now, it does bother me that Apple once claiming to be all American, switched over so quickly closing their plants here. When we once uproared about shoes being made in such shops, this is going pretty much ignored.

This is another reason why the Chinese won't cash in on our debt. Raising the value of the yuan would make these factories less appealing, stumping growth. Well, atleast for the near future until they dominate the market much more than now. But looking at it in another way. It is impressive that they've done so much in those years. Not just the factories but setting up the whole technology infrastructure there. Well, with great help from the corporations....now I think about it. It's the corporations greed in search of cheap labor that really started it there. Build it and they will come.