Did you read the articles? It is a lot more than just about how much the employees there make. Apple is Foxconn's biggest supplier by far so of course the focus was on them. Without Apple, Foxconn would not be the size and force it is today. And of all the companies, Apple is probably the only one of them able to force change in this situation.
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Apple Shuns The New York Times in OS X Mountain Lion Coverage Over Foxconn Reporting
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Did you read the articles? It is a lot more than just about how much the employees there make. Apple is Foxconn's biggest supplier by far so of course the focus was on them. Without Apple, Foxconn would not be the size and force it is today. And of all the companies, Apple is probably the only one of them able to force change in this situation.
Sure do and on top of that I pay for it. I know poor people have to find free stuff to make it in todays economy.
Oh Apple still finding ways to mess up and do Jobs tantrums. Grow up Apple your not a church or a real religion. Actually I am glad your not its not like they offer anything of value.
If Apple really had nothing to hide and truly "care[d] about every worker in its supply chain," then they wouldn't need to do crap like this. They could let the facts speak for themselves.
It's called sensationalism (in the media). In fact, go to google right now and type "sensationalism" and tell me what the first thing is that comes up as a suggestion.
Plus, if you truely believed and cared about what the NYT was reporting it doesn't seem to have stopped you from supporting Apple and the conditions at foxconn based on your list of devices in your signature.
Actually...
The problem with this is that the NYT mis-quoted heavily from Apple's own report, subtly changing the text to make it sound as negative as possible, so what people read in the NYT are _not_ the facts.
Right because reporting reality is sensationalism. Personally I have no issue with peasants working them selves to death. Life is not fair deal with it. But of course many here can't seem to deal with the reality that they also don't care about other people as long as we all get what I want. Its ok been greedy and heartless is really not all that bad.
If this is true it's a very petty move by Apple and not something someone who really is genuinly concerned about the reports would do.
But it wouldn't be the first time, Apple told Verizon to not invite Gizmodo to the Verizon iPhone reveal for something that was Apples screw-up.
Furthermore, the reason Apple is getting more criticism is that they have much higher margins on the products and they have always portrayed themselves as better than every one else
But it wouldn't be the first time, Apple told Verizon to not invite Gizmodo to the Verizon iPhone reveal for something that was Apples screw-up.
Furthermore, the reason Apple is getting more criticism is that they have much higher margins on the products and they have always portrayed themselves as better than every one else
Only one talking garbage comes from your post. NY Time is doing its job which I for one pay for it and am glad it does. Perfect no but better than anything you are doing.
What about the Sun Times?
Andy Ihnatko who is the tech columnist for the Chicago Sun Times seemed to be completely blindsided by the Mountain Lion announcement and he's one of the most pro-Apple tech writers around. Maybe Apple just picked people at random. Given that Pogue had a system for a week and Ihnatko didn't, it certainly doesn't seem like they're playing favorites based on past publications.
Andy Ihnatko who is the tech columnist for the Chicago Sun Times seemed to be completely blindsided by the Mountain Lion announcement and he's one of the most pro-Apple tech writers around. Maybe Apple just picked people at random. Given that Pogue had a system for a week and Ihnatko didn't, it certainly doesn't seem like they're playing favorites based on past publications.
Apple having a short list of media outlets to do personal pre-release presentations to is not particularly unusual, except the exact presentation method itself. It puts all the tens of thousands of media outlets that do not get pre-release access in the same boat.
Pre-access or not, all media outlets are free to report accurately, even with criticism and positive and negative analysis.
However Apple is also free to pick the outlets it feels puts the best foot forward. After the release it is a free-for-all anyway, so all the advance info does, is at least get Apple's intended message out first, so the follow-on reporting exists in something other than a vacuum.
As we saw with Snow Leopard and its problems, that didn't cover any warts. It simply gave a more balanced view of features vs. actual experience with those features.
One advantage to this approach is users giving feedback and bug reports in the early weeks of a release know what was expected to they know what to report as a bug and what is simply an unfulfilled wish of theirs.
Apple is far from perfect, and I certainly bring out my own concerns, but this is not one of them.
No company is more forward leaning on emerging market employment opportunities and conditions, and bless them, they get lower cost labor in exchange.
If we wanted that here in the USA, we would eliminate the minimum wage for first year employees at an employer, make unions have net tax and regulatory costs, and generally not tax employers for hiring people.
Till we catch up with China on these issues, rational people, who are just as patriotic as you and I, will seek marginally lower labor jurisdictions, when they need to BUILD THREE $2B FACTORIES and hire ONE MILLION PEOPLE to make toys (bicycles for the mind).
Rocketman
Pre-access or not, all media outlets are free to report accurately, even with criticism and positive and negative analysis.
However Apple is also free to pick the outlets it feels puts the best foot forward. After the release it is a free-for-all anyway, so all the advance info does, is at least get Apple's intended message out first, so the follow-on reporting exists in something other than a vacuum.
As we saw with Snow Leopard and its problems, that didn't cover any warts. It simply gave a more balanced view of features vs. actual experience with those features.
One advantage to this approach is users giving feedback and bug reports in the early weeks of a release know what was expected to they know what to report as a bug and what is simply an unfulfilled wish of theirs.
Apple is far from perfect, and I certainly bring out my own concerns, but this is not one of them.
No company is more forward leaning on emerging market employment opportunities and conditions, and bless them, they get lower cost labor in exchange.
If we wanted that here in the USA, we would eliminate the minimum wage for first year employees at an employer, make unions have net tax and regulatory costs, and generally not tax employers for hiring people.
Till we catch up with China on these issues, rational people, who are just as patriotic as you and I, will seek marginally lower labor jurisdictions, when they need to BUILD THREE $2B FACTORIES and hire ONE MILLION PEOPLE to make toys (bicycles for the mind).
Rocketman
Then why did Jobs regularly chat with Pogue?
And if the NYT is as biased as you say it is, why do they also publish David Brooks?
And why if there were/are no problems at Apple's suppliers did Apple launch an extensive program to deal with exactly those problems?
The world is a bit more gray than your black-and-white understanding of it.
The problem with positive stories is that almost nobody reads them, relatively-speaking.
If I wrote a story at my old newspaper about a kid achieving his dreams and becoming a rocket scientist, it would get a fraction of page views online as a story of a bank robbery or murder. It's not even comparable.
You're right about trying to find (I won't say invent, that's a bit strong) something though. I've always been adamant about not trying to make mountains out of mole hills to fill space in the paper (thank God I report online now and that's not quite as big a concern). Sometimes it seems like my last editor was convinced that our largely sleepy town was a hotbed of news and every friggin' day we had to uncover the story of the century, lest we be viewed as failures. I'd imagine some days at the NYT are pretty similar, just on steroids, if you will.
Good that the NYT is getting what it deserves. A healthy serving of "comeuppance". Nice of them to single out Apple for all of Foxconn's factory conditions and not mentioning a single other computer manufacturer. Now the NYT gets to feel how it is being the lone "black sheep".
Please change the title of the article. This is completely bogus, and a tempest in a teapot. Also, please call out the Washington Post for its terrible job on this story. Not even checking Pogue's twitter feed before posting the article is pretty much inexcusable. I bet if they called Pogue, he'd probably even answer them! But, just use unnamed "sources" in the NY Times which then give even sketchier "people inside Apple" as their sources? Come on...
So well said, but I would add we would also tax religion and open their books. that way everything is open. I like your take on bringing back jobs except I rather not have all that nasty chemical poison in my backyard so I will say let China keep doing what it does its good for my lungs.
Leaders have to lead
It's obvious this is not a problem limited to Apple, but they're the market leader now and great leaders have to set great examples. Apple has never backed down from operating from a moral high ground and I'd like to see them continue that work ethic into their manufacturing. Foxconn is one of the largest employers in China and it would impressive to see Apple force the hand of a foreign state into changing its Human Rights policies.
It's obvious this is not a problem limited to Apple, but they're the market leader now and great leaders have to set great examples. Apple has never backed down from operating from a moral high ground and I'd like to see them continue that work ethic into their manufacturing. Foxconn is one of the largest employers in China and it would impressive to see Apple force the hand of a foreign state into changing its Human Rights policies.
Demorcracy and journalism
Democracy is based on an active press. The meaning of press over the years has changed from Newspapers to radio to television to the web. The basic premise is that the more people there are examining and reporting on whatever goes on in a society, the better. Light is the best sterilizer. Studies have shown that the most democratic societies have the most varied and open press. So stop hating on the NYT or Fox and be happy that we have voices from all sides reporting on things as they see it. It is in all of our interests to find a way to pay journalists of all stripes to keep doing what they are doing. Once that stops, you have a very different society. This is why Ben Franklin created the postal system by the way. If you don't agree please take a trip to North Korea or Iran to see what happens when there is no active free press.
Democracy is based on an active press. The meaning of press over the years has changed from Newspapers to radio to television to the web. The basic premise is that the more people there are examining and reporting on whatever goes on in a society, the better. Light is the best sterilizer. Studies have shown that the most democratic societies have the most varied and open press. So stop hating on the NYT or Fox and be happy that we have voices from all sides reporting on things as they see it. It is in all of our interests to find a way to pay journalists of all stripes to keep doing what they are doing. Once that stops, you have a very different society. This is why Ben Franklin created the postal system by the way. If you don't agree please take a trip to North Korea or Iran to see what happens when there is no active free press.
Actually, news readership has gone through the roof in recent years. So, yes, tons of people read the Times, more than before.
maybe NYT doesn't want to be praising apple products one moment, then demonizing the company the next.
For the same reason that MSNBC has Joe Scarborough. They are the most palatable opposition that a biased media outlet can tolerate. Come on...David Brooks?
I never bother reading articles on Apple products because of the way that they control the content. That's why every tech blog and news site defaults to praise of any new software or hardware changes that Apple releases. The only truly credible reviews of Apple products are found on forums where people complain about issues they are having.
I'm saddened by the opinion of many posters here that seem to believe that any negative story about Apple should be censored.
I'm saddened by the opinion of many posters here that seem to believe that any negative story about Apple should be censored.