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Report Profiles Secrecy at Apple's Asian Manufacturing Partners' Facilities
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What human rights abuses are you seeing, employees are given jobs and necessities inside the compound, and if they choose to leave they are subject to search. If people don't want to work there then quit and find another job, this is part of working for a company, you don't share your secrets with others.
Corporate dormitories are actually fairly common in Asia. When you're young and not tied down, it's way cheaper than renting an apartment, especially with housing costs in some areas of China up to 11x average income.
You people are acting like Apple created all of this. You made all this happen decades ago the second you told Walmart you weren't going to pay more than $10 for a pair of shoes.
You people are acting like Apple created all of this. You made all this happen decades ago the second you told Walmart you weren't going to pay more than $10 for a pair of shoes.
Exactly what I was thinking. And it sure puts the spotlight on that fishy employee "suicide" doesn't it?
Happy thoughts...just think happy thoughts...
(or else)
I agree, corporations dont have to share secrets with everyone if they did there would be no competition, and competition is everything. It would be one thing if the workers were being forced to be there, or enslaved there but they are being payed for their work and their secrecy.
Well, yes, but the disturbing parts of the story are not the parts that you quoted.
Back in the day, sugar plantations were the primary industry in Hawaii. The islands were rural, sugar brought a good price, and the workers were provided with everything they needed. Most of these workers were immigrants from China, the PI, etc.
Then a lot of things happened- the sugar industry changed, unions came in pushing for changes, etc. Now, much of those lands are hotels and the people whose parents used to work the land are taking baggage to hotel rooms. Instead of plantation homes, many homes have several generations of family living in them to cut costs. Which generation was better off? Depends on who you ask. I can tell you there are many who long for the past.
So, I wouldn't be so quick to say that these people have a crappy life just based on the part of the story you quoted. It is all relative to those around a person.
A real life thought police? That is another story altogether, if that is what is happening. You can't say much about a person's life if they're not truly free to go and think as they please.
Erm, yeah I kinda knew they weren't Apple????? But then again what they are doing is more or less dictated by Apple!! Apple is rather utterly obsessed with secrecy and Steve Jobs is very well known for the way he treats people like dirt. Oh but it's fine he's won a personality of the year award .....
One here, and I'd expect that I could then get custom services for it too. Things like ruggedization instead of the fragile products that Apple mass-produces in China.
I've noticed lately that the oldest products I own are also the ones that have lasted the longest. The failure rate for Elbonian electronics is quite high. I just lost another mouse because the buttons failed again. I have a newish alarm clock that keeps going off at the wrong times twice a day, and the radio reception on that and another Elbonian radio is not good, in addition to both having a very cheap build quality. A radio that is almost 20 years old is still working fine, solidly-built with better reception and sound quality.
I had an Elbonian Apple Superdrive destroy an expensive DVD movie disc, and a second Elbonian DVD recorder sometimes stops recording abruptly or refuses to finalize DVDs after recording. My old optical drives are still working, more than ten years of hard use later, and the buttons still feel like new. Things keep getting cheaper and cheaper, and it's like nobody wants to see the long-term risk and potential problems of having a throwaway policy on electronics. If the product fails and costs me time and money, possibly resulting in loss of data, I don't care how cheap the purchase price was if the stupid thing doesn't work when I need it.
Are they not contracted by Apple? Can I contract a hitman to kill someone and get away with it as it wasn't me?
Hells yeah! (Hires hitman to kill evil bitch mother in law....). I'll cry in court: By the way your honour, Chaz is NOT the hitman!
You are missing the point...
Please, do not confuse a research labs (new products) with boring manufacturing facilities. There are nothing to hide as anybody could open device and see what/how it is made of. All of this paranoia for what? Steve is just loosing his mind... somebody change his pills!!!
Stop the nonsense. Live-in factories are quite common in China, Korea, not because of any need for secrecy but because most workers come from the countryside, and because they want it that way. It's not like it is Apple's idea, duh.
And secrecy is so commonplace in business, let alone tech business, we would have to go live in caves if we really wanted to boycott it.
Get real.
And secrecy is so commonplace in business, let alone tech business, we would have to go live in caves if we really wanted to boycott it.
Get real.
Apple is not the only one doing this. Other companies do this too. You just don't hear much about them. As long as those folks can walk away without anything against them (which I doubt due to higher wages), then I don't have a problem with this. Could happen in this country too if people keep reelecting morons like pelosi and her nazi squads who want to control our lives.
I am pretty sure that is always the case.
Not always. There are products that have broken partially, such as a motor making excessive noise or some minor thing about the product not working anymore, but I keep the product because it can still be useful. Try finding dual tape decks anymore. Now try finding them in specific housing sizes and color. I'm not going to throw the whole working box away because one thing about it doesn't work right anymore and it is too expensive to have repaired.
i don't understand all the "this is so disturbing" comments. this type of factory-worker relationship goes on all over asia with hundreds of multi-million dollar corporations. it doesn't merit any investigation unless a citizen from china files a complaint. most of them seem happy cashing their paychecks.
imagine a story printed in china about how terrible it is that the u.s. doesn't censor google for our children here and citizens have the right to bear arms and work for minimum wage, etc. it's two completely different cultures with different economies and that creates different opinions but that's where it ends. there's no crime here or even anything worth looking into.
foxconn taylors their security to apple's needs just like we cater to saudia arabia's needs for oil.
imagine a story printed in china about how terrible it is that the u.s. doesn't censor google for our children here and citizens have the right to bear arms and work for minimum wage, etc. it's two completely different cultures with different economies and that creates different opinions but that's where it ends. there's no crime here or even anything worth looking into.
foxconn taylors their security to apple's needs just like we cater to saudia arabia's needs for oil.
you're mixing here, the question was "who would pay 3000$ for an identical device". Not "who would pay 3000$ for a better device"
anybody shocked by this info is naive. seems you thought apple devices are manufactured in nice apple-store like factories, or healthy family run businesses in nice surroundings. most of the stuff in our studios, kitchens and bedrooms is manufactured under harsh conditions. visit factories in china, india, turkey and take a look where the sexy Nike sneakers, the woody ikea chairs and the cool macbookpros are put together.
and: no, apple did not create these conditions but they - and all the other western corps who manufacture there - moved their operations to these countries. for obvious reasons.
somebody on this thread mentioned a german car maker; i used to work for a european pharmaceutical company, to leave the factory we waited in line, took off jackets, jumpers, sometimes even shirts, emptied every pocket, our bags put through xray and searched by hand, this was 15 years ago, it was more thorough and took longer time than airport checks today. it is understandable that secrecy is everything for these companies, this has nothing to do with apple/jobs.
Foxconn does work for may, possibly most, US and European electronics companies, Apple does not provide most of their business. They are not owned by former PLA generals. They are a Taiwanese company and are required by Chinese law to pay better and treat workers better than companies with mainland ownership. They are scrutinized by independent NGOs on worker treatment issues. This article is quite sensationalized.
Also, private security guards mistreating photographers is an epidemic in the UK and the US, so there's nothing unique there.
Also, private security guards mistreating photographers is an epidemic in the UK and the US, so there's nothing unique there.
Well that's a nice thing to say, and honestly I could be wrong. That is simply my opinion of what's right, and I would welcome hearing other opinions.
I do however work in the software world and I will tell you one thing I've learned. It's EASY to treat customers like garbage, by withholding information and they know when it's happening.
People really do appreciate communcation, whether it's a personal or business relationship. Treating people with kindness and respect should never take a backseat to the bottom line.
My aunt used to work in one of these draconian factories. It was hard. But at least it meant that she didn't have to sell her body anymore.
A lot of people don't understand the risks involved with corporate espionage. Airbus, for example, would be nothing were it not for the French government stealing designs from Boeing. I don't blame any company for protecting its intellectual property from spies so long as they do so in a lawful manner.
A friend of mine did temp work once. One of his jobs was at a company that did scratch-off games. The security there was tighter than what is described here -- right here in the ol' USA.
So, What Foxconn and Apple are doing doesn't sound that bad to me. The dorms sound weird, but I gather that's pretty common in china and isn't really specific to Apple.
I'm not sure. Whenever I read something about Apple I always have to wonder: is Apple evil or is the reporter/publisher taking advantage of Apples high profile?
I'm not sure in this case. Of course, it could always be both. I need more perspective to tell.
So, What Foxconn and Apple are doing doesn't sound that bad to me. The dorms sound weird, but I gather that's pretty common in china and isn't really specific to Apple.
I'm not sure. Whenever I read something about Apple I always have to wonder: is Apple evil or is the reporter/publisher taking advantage of Apples high profile?
I'm not sure in this case. Of course, it could always be both. I need more perspective to tell.
that is very generous of you - thanks!
"lawful" being the interesting word. different countries = different laws, right?