How do you feel about this?

[Sutters Mill]

I've been reading more and more about the poor working conditions of some of Apple's outsourced manufacturing plants. My question is, what are your thoughts?

I'm writing this from an iPad please bear in mind, so I'm not taking any high ground.

Is it enough for you to think about changing your device in future?

See this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092277/Apple-Poor-working-conditions-inside-Chinese-factories-making-iPads.html

(Yes, it's the daily mail)

[gerbill]

Well, nobody forces them to work for Apple. Its their choice. In fact chinese people wish to work there

[guybrushthreepwood]

Well, nobody forces them to work for Apple. Its their choice. In fact chinese people wish to work there

Spoken like a true IFascist Applefanboy lol.

[Cryptopher]

I've been reading more and more about the poor working conditions of some of Apple's outsourced manufacturing plants. My question is, what are your thoughts?

I'm writing this from an iPad please bear in mind, so I'm not taking any high ground.

Is it enough for you to think about changing your device in future?

See this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092277/Apple-Poor-working-conditions-inside-Chinese-factories-making-iPads.html

(Yes, it's the daily mail)

Hmm, there are many companies like this, the list goes on really.

Perhaps we should move to another country on the grounds that our tax is being used to fund illegitimate wars and pay a bunch of corrupt officials.

[gerbill]

Well, nobody forces them to work for Apple. Its their choice. In fact chinese people wish to work there

Spoken like a true IFascist Applefanboy lol.

Erm, I speak the truth. Nobody forces them to work for apple. I'd say to them "Go mine DOGE man, wth are you doing at this dump" but they woldnt listen

And I don't like apple stuff. More fond of windows/android.

[hilariousandco]

Well, nobody forces them to work for Apple. Its their choice. In fact chinese people wish to work there

Spoken like a true IFascist Applefanboy lol.

Haha.

Most women aren't forced into prostitution but for some it's unfortunately the only choice they have. Apple should take a stand and refuse to work or buy from any producers who have unfair practises. If your boss started treating you like shit, would you think oh, well, it's my choice to work here or would you quit? If that job was the only one you knew you could get then you'd probably just tolerate it, but otherwise you'd most likely just walk out, but these people probably don't have that luxury.

[guybrushthreepwood]

Well, nobody forces them to work for Apple. Its their choice. In fact chinese people wish to work there

Spoken like a true IFascist Applefanboy lol.

Erm, I speak the truth. Nobody forces them to work for apple.

Would you rather work in a sweatshop or starve to death? Doesn't seem like you have much of a choice in that situation.

[Kluge]

Crippling (often literally), mind-numbing work for 70h/wk at $1/hr isn't acceptable. $5/hr for their kind of work is unacceptable. At the same time, most people can't afford to be fair, and fairness by a corporation (at least in the US) is just a notch away from being criminal unless you can justify the PR effects.

It sucks, but there's not really a solution outside foreign buyers stipulating minimum wages in purchase agreements, Chinese workers collectively demanding higher wages and better working conditions, or Chinese manufacturers not accepting offers where they're unable to pay their employees a reasonable wage. Frankly, the easiest solution would be for the Chinese government to simply kick out foreign companies, nationalizing their buildings and building up Chinese conglomerates which don't need foreign support.

I think Apple's public opinion is starting to near that of Monsanto or Disney with all the news of their factories and the well-documented dragon-like greed of Jobs, so they really do have justification to start changing things outside of just to be nice, but it's not happened, yet. Of course, singling out Apple is stupid. Practically everyone with electronics has something from Foxconn or similar. It's like singling out McDonalds for having unhealthy food and "low" wages. If you have any kind of digital computer, you've probably supported these kinds of practices. It's a systemic, global problem, not something caused exclusively by Apple and the factories it purchases from.

[Sutters Mill]

Good to see a mix of opinions. It's not just Apple, you're right but it's certainly involving Apple. The reason for all of this is in in one word; profit. The less a company can pay for their manufacturing, the more profit they can make on the end sale. Unfortunately, paying less often means going to countries for services where pay is low, or there is little choice but to be paid low. This, of course, means that there's poverty. Where there is profit, not always but often, there's poverty at the other end of the scale. This is at it's most true in manufacturing. Look up Primark.

You cannot say something stupid like 'it's their own choice' when they've put nets up to stop people from jumping out the fucking windows. Get a grip.

[hilariousandco]

You cannot say something stupid like 'it's their own choice' when they've put nets up to stop people from jumping out the fucking windows. Get a grip.

I wonder if the nets are there to save lives or save on the cleaning bill?

[Sutters Mill]

You cannot say something stupid like 'it's their own choice' when they've put nets up to stop people from jumping out the fucking windows. Get a grip.

I wonder if the nets are there to save lives or save on the cleaning bill?

Definitely the latter I'm sure.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I've been reading more and more about the poor working conditions of some of Apple's outsourced manufacturing plants. My question is, what are your thoughts?

I'm writing this from an iPad please bear in mind, so I'm not taking any high ground.

Is it enough for you to think about changing your device in future?

See this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092277/Apple-Poor-working-conditions-inside-Chinese-factories-making-iPads.html

(Yes, it's the daily mail)

Not even close to what I'm witnessed first-hand: Lead paint flakes and dust, no gloves to protect from the splinters and cold, sharp nails protruding all over the place, dull saw blades constantly in use, no goggles on site, chafed electrical cords with exposed wires arcing, one door to exit and enter the place, heavy lifting for 8-10 hours, people smoking in other people's faces, cussing and racial slurs, no paid vacations, working on holidays, no insurance, years old animal shit mixed with the microdust abound, no fresh drinking water on site, no first aid kits on site, and the list continues. Daily, I have to convince my grandmother not to quit.

[EvilPanda]

I never used Apple products just because I think they treat people like idiots. "Why would you wanna upgrade your hardware, we know what's best for you, why would you wanna mess with the system - use our system with our products, you wanna check what's inside your computer? Noo why would you do that? Oh and by the way, we charge extra for the logo!"

[Sutters Mill]

I've been reading more and more about the poor working conditions of some of Apple's outsourced manufacturing plants. My question is, what are your thoughts?

I'm writing this from an iPad please bear in mind, so I'm not taking any high ground.

Is it enough for you to think about changing your device in future?

See this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2092277/Apple-Poor-working-conditions-inside-Chinese-factories-making-iPads.html

(Yes, it's the daily mail)

Not even close to what I'm witnessed first-hand: Lead paint flakes and dust, no gloves to protect from the splinters and cold, sharp nails protruding all over the place, dull saw blades constantly in use, no goggles on site, chafed electrical cords with exposed wires arcing, one door to exit and enter the place, heavy lifting for 8-10 hours, people smoking in other people's faces, cussing and racial slurs, no paid vacations, working on holidays, no insurance, years old animal shit mixed with the microdust abound, no fresh drinking water on site, no first aid kits on site, and the list continues. Daily, I have to convince my grandmother not to quit.

Wow. Sorry to hear that man. Puts things in perspective. Sounds like it's worse than has been reported, which is rare for the daily mail.

[Haidang1796]

Before I'm a big fan of Apple. Love it. Not anymore, since more and more smartphones provide us better apps and all the unique things.
I really like the 5C and 5S to but I feel something isnt right

[Lethn]

As far as I'm concerned it's a classic case of the problem being with the people who buy these goods because of their price and don't wonder where they've come from, ever since I learned about how to build stuff I actually get pissed about people going for the cheap stuff who then suddenly act shocked when they find out it's made by workers who are treated like crap and paid tiny wages. Same thing happened with the whole horsemeat problem where lots of meat providers were selling cheap and crappy meat then everybody is shocked that they got screwed over by these companies.

Even with just my Jewellery making, I bought a cheap pair of shears for cutting solder with and the edges were blunt, returned it for a refund and bought a pair that was slightly pricier but the quality difference was dramatic, the only people responsible for crappy treatment of employees and crappy products are the customers themselves even if they don't like to admit it. If you pressure people to provide things for prices that low then you'll either force them out of business or make them lower the quality or even drop peoples wages massively to stay in business.

p.s. I'm not going to get an Iphone when I can afford it because I want to use something that I can install the Bitcoin wallet app on

[sakkosekk]

Well, nobody forces them to work for Apple. Its their choice. In fact chinese people wish to work there

Spoken like a true IFascist Applefanboy lol.

Erm, I speak the truth. Nobody forces them to work for apple. I'd say to them "Go mine DOGE man, wth are you doing at this dump" but they woldnt listen

And I don't like apple stuff. More fond of windows/android.

And child soldiers chose their preferred profession, it's not like they had to do it to survive.

[huadylmate]

Its not about Apple, its about working conditions in China. Unfortunately most goods are made in China because of cheap workforce and not worrying about environment...

[gerbill]

Its not about Apple, its about working conditions in China. Unfortunately most goods are made in China because of cheap workforce and not worrying about environment...

this
most people in China are very poor especially in rural areas so the only choise they realy have is to cultivate rice and sell it for pennies or go work for apple/nike/dell/etc.
The only thing I don't really get about China is why China has the largest gold and cash reserves out of all countries yet its own people has to work in such poor labour conditions

[hilariousandco]

p.s. I'm not going to get an Iphone when I can afford it because I want to use something that I can install the Bitcoin wallet app on

You can install the Blockchain.info app on there  .