What's wrong with this picture? It is our collective willingness to turn a blind eye to what arguably border on human rights abuses just so Steve can get on stage and, with a twinkle in his eye, announce the "one more thing" that we all knew about anyway.
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Report Profiles Secrecy at Apple's Asian Manufacturing Partners' Facilities
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What's wrong with this picture? It is our collective willingness to turn a blind eye to what arguably border on human rights abuses just so Steve can get on stage and, with a twinkle in his eye, announce the "one more thing" that we all knew about anyway.
wow
My first though was: Holy cow, Steve literally has his own slave city building his apple products.
Then I thought: It must be cool to work in Cupertino. All the security probably makes you feel like a spy.
Finally I thought: It would probably suck to work at Cupertino and go through security checks....every...day...And as far as the Chinese factories go, thats par for the course. Its just how mining towns used to be. And while I am sure it does suck to live in the walled city run by the corporation, whats the alternative? Its probably just about the same. I assume the walled city has a comparable quality of life to the outside world though.
My first though was: Holy cow, Steve literally has his own slave city building his apple products.
Then I thought: It must be cool to work in Cupertino. All the security probably makes you feel like a spy.
Finally I thought: It would probably suck to work at Cupertino and go through security checks....every...day...And as far as the Chinese factories go, thats par for the course. Its just how mining towns used to be. And while I am sure it does suck to live in the walled city run by the corporation, whats the alternative? Its probably just about the same. I assume the walled city has a comparable quality of life to the outside world though.
I don't see why people find this creepy, there are lots of industries where people have to keep their mouth shut or it can severely cost the loss of money, or worse.
Most people work in jobs daily where they can run their mouths, look at porn, slack off, and it doesn't really make much of a difference to anything at the end of that day. Confronted with the realities of an innovative industry and a company that aspires to be no.1 within it, it's no surprise that your average Joe finds it all a bit, restrictive.
Feel free to stop purchasing Apple products if it really 'creeps you out'. And lol at the guy yapping about human rights.
Wonka Jobs is great though
Most people work in jobs daily where they can run their mouths, look at porn, slack off, and it doesn't really make much of a difference to anything at the end of that day. Confronted with the realities of an innovative industry and a company that aspires to be no.1 within it, it's no surprise that your average Joe finds it all a bit, restrictive.
Feel free to stop purchasing Apple products if it really 'creeps you out'. And lol at the guy yapping about human rights.
Wonka Jobs is great though
The saying goes "the fish smells from the head." Foxconn behaves the way it does because it wants contracts. Who is creating the contracts? Essentially Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is the head of the fish.
If Jobs did not demand such insane secrecy, what motive would Foxconn have for treating it's employees that way? None. Every other tech company announces plans so that people know what it's doing. There are no keynote build ups. People know what to expect, and users generally like that. Sure, it doesn't feed CEO ego's but it's a better way to do business. It treats users with respect.
Apple and Jobs have completely lost it. I will still provide software for the iPhone, because it's a nice platform, but in terms of being a "dedicated" Apple user and recommending their products, I am totally done. Hardware quality has taken a nose dive, customer support is non-existent and frankly Windows 7 is far snappier (sorry Steve!) and capable. W7 screams. SL by contrast, is aptly called "Slow Leopard."
You wrap this up with the overpriced, behind-the-times-at-launch hardware, the stone walling on just about everything, Jobs refusal to use standards in both hardware and software, the actual poor quality and lacking features of the software, and what are you left with?
A company that facilitates indentured servitude apparently.
Sorry Apple, it's been nice.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-401234/The-stark-reality-iPods-Chinese-factories.html
Just thought I would draw people attention to this article written in the Daily Mail a few years back. I remember reading it and feeling quite shocked. The picture doesn't make it look that nice.
Just thought I would draw people attention to this article written in the Daily Mail a few years back. I remember reading it and feeling quite shocked. The picture doesn't make it look that nice.
Good God it sounds like a prisoner of war camp. Doesn't surprise me though. Makes me laugh when you think how America treats all these potential 'threats' yet large American companies are allowed to treat human beings from companies that just make their products like animals.
This is not the first time Apple have been in the news about he it treats it's staff.... and it won't be the last.
What you can do though is guess how much these people are payed, then add component costs and you'll soon understand just why Apple is so rich.
This is not the first time Apple have been in the news about he it treats it's staff.... and it won't be the last.
What you can do though is guess how much these people are payed, then add component costs and you'll soon understand just why Apple is so rich.
I was just in Shenzhen, staying at a hotel just a couple blocks away from the Foxconn facility discussed in the article. I saw tons of Foxconn employees out walking around the street getting food and socializing on the way to and from work. You can tell they are Foxconn employees because, when it rains, they all wear the same jacket with "Foxconn" written boldly on it. It certainly didn't appear that employees are prisoners to Foxconn, at least not based on my limited observation. I know it's not directly suggested in the article that the employees are completely controlled, but I don't want to let the sensationalism go too far.
As a side note, there was something strange about bringing my beloved iPhone right back to where it was probably built
As a side note, there was something strange about bringing my beloved iPhone right back to where it was probably built
Do these highcschools/airports/places of work employ security who will beat you for taking a picture of the school on a public walkway out of interest?
Lots of companies and industries rely on trade secrets. Apple’s not the first nor only. If Apple is paying these companies enough to demand secrecy, then they should get what they paid for.
And if, in turn, Apple’s manufacturing partners are breaking laws or mistreating people, then Apple needs to take responsibility for that and keep better tabs on what is happening. And then take their business elsewhere.
But the fact of secrecy itself isn’t a bad thing—it’s a normal thing. With Apple, it’s also news!
And if, in turn, Apple’s manufacturing partners are breaking laws or mistreating people, then Apple needs to take responsibility for that and keep better tabs on what is happening. And then take their business elsewhere.
But the fact of secrecy itself isn’t a bad thing—it’s a normal thing. With Apple, it’s also news!
I know of a few people who still work for Apple in Cupertino (higher up in the company) and I've heard stories of what goes on inside, it really is sad, and I love Apple products but I always feel guilty when I buy a new gadget, just knowing where it came from.
one of my neighbors who worked for Apple for 12 years in the same building as Steve Jobs (he quit in 2002) told me that all the employees have this on going joke "How many times did steve jobs fire you today"
Steve Jobs (and a pyramid of managers) would routinely walk down the halls checking on progress, and if he wasn't satisfied with what you present him, he would fire you on the spot, and as he walked away a department manager would signal to you "No Your Not", this happened several times a days and so people got accustomed to this, and at the end of every night all the employees would recount and say to each other "ha, I got fired 5 times today by Steve Jobs, and you" " 6"
My Neighbor had an office with a couch, and he told me that he slept more nights on that couch than he would on his own bed, and he would frequently wake up in the middle of the night vomiting from stress, but he lasted 12 years and deep down he said he liked working for Apple, he quit to start his own software company.
one of my neighbors who worked for Apple for 12 years in the same building as Steve Jobs (he quit in 2002) told me that all the employees have this on going joke "How many times did steve jobs fire you today"
Steve Jobs (and a pyramid of managers) would routinely walk down the halls checking on progress, and if he wasn't satisfied with what you present him, he would fire you on the spot, and as he walked away a department manager would signal to you "No Your Not", this happened several times a days and so people got accustomed to this, and at the end of every night all the employees would recount and say to each other "ha, I got fired 5 times today by Steve Jobs, and you" " 6"
My Neighbor had an office with a couch, and he told me that he slept more nights on that couch than he would on his own bed, and he would frequently wake up in the middle of the night vomiting from stress, but he lasted 12 years and deep down he said he liked working for Apple, he quit to start his own software company.
I guess we now know what happened to Willy Wonka after he left the chocolate factory to Charlie: He became a security consultant for Apple.
Not sure what the problem is?
I work for a large auto manufacturer here in munich, and we have very strict security measures in place, its a fast paced world and leaks spread fast. This is in some cases the only way companies can stop leaks.
I'm sure other companies have similar measures!
I work for a large auto manufacturer here in munich, and we have very strict security measures in place, its a fast paced world and leaks spread fast. This is in some cases the only way companies can stop leaks.
I'm sure other companies have similar measures!
Do you know what their alternative employment might be? Maybe subsistence farming in the backwoods of Western China? Would you prefer that for them?
How much of your personal income do you donate to help those who live in areas less economically advanced than your own? Or maybe you know how to start a company in China which is big and profitable enough to pay them better and hire them away from Foxconn?
As for the secrecy, it buys Apple 10's to 100's of millions of $$$ of free publicity when Jobs says "one more thing" that hasn't been strongly leaked. Look at how many iPad stories there are on TV that Apple did not have to pay for.
You know what? I've never thought of it that way. Many people criticised a lot of the stuff shown at CES this year because it was still in development with a long release schedule.
Reading your post it kind of makes sense that an early announcement may be a better thing in this situation.
First, it does not say the employees can't leave, just implies that most of their needs can be met inside. Staying in a dorm saves you money which you can use to support other members of your family, which is quite common. Makes perfect sense.
Second, was it better for them to be long-term unemployed or subsistence-level farmers and wonder where the next meal was coming from? Have you forgotten how recently China was a wall-to-wall disaster in every facet of life? Let's not be so arrogant so as to assume that western expectations of a comfortable life are the same as the rest of the world.
I think people are blaming Apple rather quickly here, when it is really any consumer electronics these days which are made this way. The media tends to target Apple here for the high profile.
Does not matter if you snub your nose at Apple and get a HTC handset, you can rest assured it is coming out of a similar facility somewhere...
Apple takes its secrecy seriously, but so would any company that values its IP..
If people do have an issue here, they should surrender any consumer electronics in general I think! I have heard of far worse conditions in other factories.
Does not matter if you snub your nose at Apple and get a HTC handset, you can rest assured it is coming out of a similar facility somewhere...
Apple takes its secrecy seriously, but so would any company that values its IP..
If people do have an issue here, they should surrender any consumer electronics in general I think! I have heard of far worse conditions in other factories.
Haha, so true, I tell you what is more interesting. I would like to know just how many companies that are NOT asian are included in this 'everyone else' and even then just how many are not American cough 'Nike' cough
This is possibly the most ******* up sentence describing the demoralizing of ones employees I've ever read.
Apple's got what, $50billion in the bank? They could spend one percent of that and build a decent production facility of their own. Hell, they'd have full control over their production environment, be able to ensure secrecy better as well, and not support awful sweatshop corporate-state hell.
For what we pay for Apple products, they could very well even be paying Americans to be making them. Americans are expensive, and a pain in the ass, but they could bite that bullet and they'd still be make more margin than anyone else in the biz. Dealing with Foxconn is getting uglier and uglier every year.
Because newspapers never sensationalise. And China's economy would be sustainable with Western wages per hour. And of course because China and Apple are evil. And Zzzz..