Nickname: llamma

Review: What did everyone think when we started doing business with the Devil? We are civilized. It is the thinking that the Chicoms will come around to a western way of doing business. All of those companies have one thing in common. They all have the same partner. Big Brother with the govt.

Date reviewed: Aug 31, 2006 4:10 PM

Nickname: Daniel

Review: You'd expect Apple to have Foxconn drop charges against reporters, or assume they no longer are in the driver's seat. Mschuey: There was a time you'd wisely invest $6,000 into a MacII or PB170, assembled under totally different auspices, and weren't suffering from acute consumerist frustration then. Rather, you used the precious $ to reward a creative outfit with a vision. Losing substance would be having Paul and the likes, who treated us with the Finder and Newton, subcontract dev work on iPod as externalized R&D assets, then carrying it all to some lousy CM, supplying logo etching files. Same logics that would have you as a consumer someday discard a brand on the grounds Cupertino marketing and Wall Street dividends are just overhead to dispense with. Why not try passing on a $20 premium to do it properly and let it be known? The industry was able to pass on RoHS and WEEE costs for the sake of the environment. Does it lack that much confidence in consumers to attempt anything?

Date reviewed: Aug 31, 2006 2:36 PM

Nickname: Eric Li

Review: No forced overtime. Are Auditors from Apple idiots? Chinese workers are willing to work over 60 hours per week? The basic salary for an average Hong Hai worker is about US $13 per week. Even in China, with the living cost much lower than in the US,one cannot live only upon such a basic salary. To cope with emergency costs such as medical fees (the medical insurance for labour force in China is not sufficient to cover a serious illness), almost all workers have to work overtime . Do you still consider it "no enforced overtime?"

Date reviewed: Aug 30, 2006 1:50 PM

Nickname: update

Review: I heard news from China that Foxconn has sued two reporters for RMB 30 million and has the court frozen the reporter's personal assets.

Date reviewed: Aug 30, 2006 5:02 AM

Nickname: Daniel

Review: 1,200 hours spent on drowning the fish only tells Apple is in no mood for leading. Missing from their Expose is the essential backgrounder: labor representation, actual work compensation, visas and rights of stay, judicial arbitration. But seems Steve is not Henry and the manufacturing workforce will remain an abstract notion to safely probe from a distance. One can imagine the dispatched HR auditing party scouting millions of square feet of busy structures, trusting interviews of folks they'd bump into, when weeks of eating the food, working the jobs, playing the ping pong will only start earning some confidence. Then earning some respect would require being reasonably subversive, standing for principles rather than self-defined 'ethics'. Recall assumptions about democracy being imported along with capital and technology? Recall the Five Modernizations as justification for MFN treatment and WTC adhesion? Dismissing social responsibilities betrays hopes and expectations here and there.

Date reviewed: Aug 24, 2006 9:21 AM

Nickname: Michael Baun

Review: Based on statements at Apple, Apple is either professionally incompetent or is unconcerned about worker abuse. To express shock, by Apple, about the working conditions in China is not surprising since it is a standard PR tactic. To appear to do something about the problem, while not affecting the bottom line, is also standard procedure. The bottom line is that Apple Computer knows: 1) The human resources required to assemble an iPod. 2) The human resources supplied to meet Apple's labor demands. 3) The demand placed on these resources by orders. The idea that Apple was shocked by the conditions at these plants implies merely the idea that Apple computer executives, at a high level, either cannot perform simple multiplication and division (units requested to be assembled over a period of time x resources required for assembly)/total resources available, or engage in contract labor without concern. Take your choice, professionally incompetent or unconcerned.

Date reviewed: Aug 23, 2006 4:33 PM

Nickname: ColdEye

Review: Your article should have mentioned that Foxconn is a Taiwanese owned factory operating in China. It is commonly know that the Taiwanese owners have been exploiting local Chinese employees in order to meet the pricing pressure from their customers such as Apple. If you asked Chinese workers about their preferred workplace, they would usually put Taiwanese employers at the bottom of their list. Long working hours plus low wages are normal in Taiwanese factories.

Date reviewed: Aug 23, 2006 1:54 PM

Nickname: Jon B

Review: The U.S. is supposedly a civilized nation. Apple is a U.S. domiciled company. It's hard to imagine that Apple would profit from such an uncivilized and predatory act.

Date reviewed: Aug 23, 2006 4:59 AM

Nickname: mschuey

Review: Any criticism of Apple or Hon Hai is a joke. The situation is the result of consenting adults around the world exchanging money for goods voluntarily. To compare their standard of living to ours is meaningless. Why shouldn't we compare our standard of living to the Arab monarchies? It's just as lopsided. Also, keep in mind that the current situation is a building block - one of many phases of economic growth and prosperity, that ultimately leads to higher standards of living. It's already happening, as wages for educated, highly skilled workers are growing faster in China than they are here. It's hypocritical to criticise their living conditions when our consumer choices are responsible for 1/2 of it. Think about paying 10x for everything you buy, and the impact it would have on your lifestyle. Not ready to go that route? I didn't think so.

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 3:13 PM

Nickname: TomTom

Review: First: Ricky has to be very stupid to "kill" his iPod. Does this behaviour solve any problems in China? ... and the problems are there, not depending on which relationship in business Apple or any company all over the world has with any company in China. We all know that we live in a global village and there are not the identical working conditions in every country on this planet. Open your eyes and if you're consequent enough, then kill your car, burn your house and clothing and the little gift, you have bought some days ago in a small shop somewhere, because you will find parts of all that itmes manufactured in third-wold countries...

Date reviewed: Aug 22, 2006 12:09 PM