Love That iPod? See What Happens Behind The Scenes...

bwohlgemuth · Post by **bwohlgemuth** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:47 am

iPod City: inside Apple's iPod factories

Inside Longhua, workers labor a 15-hour day building iPods, for which they usually earn about $50 per month. When they're not on the assembly lines, they live in secluded dormitories that each house 100 people and prohibit visitors from the outside world. The workers are allowed "a few possessions" and a "bucket to wash their clothes."

"We have to work too hard and I am always tired. It's like being in the army," Zang Lan, one of the workers at Longhua, told the Mail. "They make us stand still for hours. If we move we are punished by being made to stand still for longer. The boys are made to do pushups."

Unfortunately this is common for almost ALL product made in China. Seriously.

7WetCigarettes · Post by **7WetCigarettes** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:21 am

that makes me hate my iPod...

sharkmansix · Post by **sharkmansix** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:10 am

Well the sweatshops thing came back to bite Nike in the butt; hopefully this might spur some internal Apple changes.

I'm sure it's up to 'global standards' but Apple has always touted itself as a product designed for the people and this doesn't help their image much...

Massage...Bored · Post by **Massage...Bored** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:18 am

Is anyone forcing these people to work at this facility? They do have a choice of employment, don't they?

Don't get me wrong, if the above report is factual it really is a damned shame. But they don't have to work for them if they don't want to, right?

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:55 am

Zach, it's China... They are not given a choice. Well, sort of. "Do it or die!"

Mama Dragon · Post by **Mama Dragon** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:09 pm

It might be the best job some of them will ever have. If I recall, in Japan the workers, even the high-rung ones, don't actually make much money by American standards, but their cost of living is much different than ours, too.

Yeah, yeah, apples and oranges, I know.

Bjart Sod · Post by **Bjart Sod** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:13 pm

Massage...Bored wrote:Is anyone forcing these people to work at this facility? They do have a choice of employment, don't they?

Don't get me wrong, if the above report is factual it really is a damned shame. But they don't have to work for them if they don't want to, right?

...wow... I didn't think anything would top the Kurds to Turkey comment.

(no offense intended, meow)

Massage...Bored · Post by **Massage...Bored** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:18 pm

I doubt its that simple.

Apple, among many others, would be in such deep sh*t if they were using (actual) slave labor. There has to be some reason these folks chose to work for the Apple manufacturing plant, whether they were starving or desperate. There had to be reason. If they were forcing their citizens into slave labor, physically forcing them, don't you think the good 'ol US would want to jump in there and take care of the problem? Wait, thats right, they'd lick our ass in a fight, so we pick on countries no bigger than a state.

I'd be shoving my Ipod up Steve Jobs' ass if that were the case.

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:24 pm

DELETED

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:36 pm

It's a totalitarian regime. There is never a choice. We're studying globalization and the ethics surrounding globalization right now in my degree program. There are no simple solutions to very complex issues like this one. Apple probably has a local management firm running operations there, which they should do. That management firm is simply running things according to the customs in China. We find it offensive, but then again, they'd probably find the practice of 15 minute breaks every 2 hours and an hour long lunch offensive.

sharkmansix · Post by **sharkmansix** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:58 pm

Technically the firm that handles the assembly of iPods is in Tiawan.

The iPod is assembled by Invatec and Foxconn, two manufacturers headquartered in Taiwan that own factories in China and elsewhere. Foxconn is a trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, a $16 billion giant and one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world, which makes everything from Playstations for Sony to iPods for Apple.

It looks like the iPod isn't the only techy thing being built there.

From:

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,711 ... chnology_3

Massage...Bored · Post by **Massage...Bored** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 1:59 pm

Arkface wrote:
Massage...Bored wrote:Is anyone forcing these people to work at this facility? They do have a choice of employment, don't they?
this is marxist territory. what are the workers supposed to do if they dont have capital? where do they work? should they just photosynthesize for now on? and what exactly are you even trying to say? are you trying to make excuses for your affluence? what if it is their choice? does that make sharecropping and being an indentured servant cool? by focusing on ipods (and especially for being paid poop for it), they lose their own sustainability.

It might be the best job some of them will ever have. If I recall, in Japan the workers, even the high-rung ones, don't actually make much money by American standards, but their cost of living is much different than ours, too.
That's true. People in china live it up like f*#king kings when they make $50 a month. they can go do karaoke, eat poop, and pay rent!

I'm saying, that if they don't like the way the are treated or paid, they need to rise up and change that sh*t. Its been done. If I didn't like the way i was being treated at my job or by my country, I would do absolutely everything necessary to find a better life for myself and family.

I understand that its a double edged sword over there, work or starve, but its still a choice. I don't like it anymore than you do.

Make excuses for my affluence? Cast blind judgement all you want, but I ask you this....What are you doing to help these people? Boycotting some product? Boy that's really gettin' your hands bloody, isn't it?

WBOB · Post by **WBOB** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:10 pm

Going a little off thread here!

If Mainland China and the Republic Of China(Taiwan)
ever come to a point of war.

The reveberation throughout all the worlds
economies would be devastating.
Not sure of the percentage of goods distributed
in the U.S. are China/Taiwan made,... but I'm
sure it's extremely high.

Like oil, this very well might bring us to our knees.
How could, should, would, the U.S. react??

I know we officially side with Taiwan,.... but the
armies of China are much larger than ours...

I believe if Taiwan would officially declare independence,.
that would possibly be "Thee Catalyst".. for ???

What a balancing act this for the U.S.
Might declare this a lose/lose scenario.

Massage...Bored · Post by **Massage...Bored** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:15 pm

WBOB wrote:Going a little off thread here!

If Mainland China and the Republic Of China(Taiwan)
ever come to a point of war.

The reveberation throughout all the worlds
economies would be devastating.
Not sure of the percentage of goods distributed
in the U.S. are China/Taiwan made,... but I'm
sure it's extremely high.

Like oil, this very well might bring us to our knees.
How could, should, would, the U.S. react??

I know we officially side with Taiwan,.... but the
armies of China are much larger than ours...

I believe if Taiwan would officially declare independence,.
that would possibly be "Thee Catalyst".. for ???

What a balancing act this for the U.S.
Might declare this a lose/lose scenario.

It's almost nauseating to think about, isn't it? But I fear it will happen sometime.

bassjones · Post by **bassjones** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:24 pm

Do you not recall what happened at Tianamen (spelling???) Square????? Protest, even a little bit and you get run over by a tank. Rise up??? Against this regime? You can't possibly be serious.

That's the same argument people use about us taking out Hussein though. You have to wonder how he got 100% of the popular vote 6 years ago, huh? People don't rise up against Totalitarian regimes. If they do, they get crushed. The peasants have rocks and sticks, the government has tanks. It's no contest. This holds true for Iran, N. Korea, China, Cuba, Darfur, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, etc...

I don't know that the solution is as simple as our military ousting every P.O.S. tinhorn dictator like we did with Hussein, and even if it is, you peacenicks protest against that. What's the solution then? Leave them alone? Really?!?!?!?! Leave a government that is openly committing genocide (Sudan/Darfu) alone???? Leave a dictator like Hussein, Il, Castro, etc... alone???? Leave those poor people alone to be raped, tortured (real toture, not what happened at Abu Grahib), skinned alive, castrated by sword, starved to death or otherwise disposed of by ruthless dictators????

You may criticize my lack of compassion for the likes of that P.O.S. Al Zarqawi, but where is yours? "Let them rise up on their own"... Easy for you to say, when you can compare your President to Hitler on internet message boards without having to worry about the SS knocking down your door, dragging you to Auschwitz, starving you for 3 years, and then finally putting you out of your misery in a gas chamber while your wife and kids watch in horror. Enjoy your fairy tale "leave us the fxxx alone and we'll leave you the fxxx alone" world though. Some people just shouldn't be left the fxxx alone.