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Where The Workers Who Made Your iPhone Sleep At Night

17 points by rooshdi 16y ago

InclinedPlane 16y ago
It's so sad to see people earning a living and digging themselves out of poverty by building things and selling them to others. It'd be far better if they kept to their more authentic heritage of powerlessness and impoverishment until such time as they are magically transformed by the charity of the west. Silly folks. If these Chinese laborers continue on in this fashion they could end up like Japan or South Korea or Taiwan or Singapore or Chile. And who wants that?
- nsfmc 16y ago
  i'm inclined to assume that your comment is in reply to the gizmodo article's comments that are all "oh the humanity" and "boycott now!" Still, i think the visceral reaction from commenters is due to the disparity between social demographics and engendered best in this quote: "I joked with the Foxconn executive who was with me that of all the places in the world that could probably manage to get bigger television screens installed, it was probably here at Foxconn, who make televisions for the world's largest brands."
ddlatham 16y ago
If people are living in this situation, then either it is better than their alternatives (in which case it's good that they have at least this) or something is preventing them from choosing those alternatives (which is not good). Do they have any better alternatives? Is there anything preventing them from choosing them?
rysmit 16y ago
The comments on the bottom of this article are worse than the pictures.
daniel-cussen 16y ago
This...it really doesn't look that bad.
noelchurchill 16y ago
Next time I want to complain about work I'm going to think about this. I wonder if they're happy to have their jobs? I wonder where they envision themselves five years from now? Is there a "corporate ladder" for factory worker jobs too? Are they working to give their "one child" a better life? How long is China going to continue their "one child" policy? I wonder what it's like to have your life managed like cattle? This is where you work, this is where you eat, this is where you make love, this is how many kids you can have. What does this mean for me? Will China be the next super power? Am I unknowingly funding the next superpower with each new iphone and tv that I buy? I don't know, but either way I am going to buy another iPhone when my 2 year contract is up for renewal. Shiny new toys are so irresistible.

17 points by rooshdi 16y ago

It's so sad to see people earning a living and digging themselves out of poverty by building things and selling them to others. It'd be far better if they kept to their more authentic heritage of powerlessness and impoverishment until such time as they are magically transformed by the charity of the west. Silly folks. If these Chinese laborers continue on in this fashion they could end up like Japan or South Korea or Taiwan or Singapore or Chile. And who wants that?

nsfmc 16y ago
i'm inclined to assume that your comment is in reply to the gizmodo article's comments that are all "oh the humanity" and "boycott now!" Still, i think the visceral reaction from commenters is due to the disparity between social demographics and engendered best in this quote: "I joked with the Foxconn executive who was with me that of all the places in the world that could probably manage to get bigger television screens installed, it was probably here at Foxconn, who make televisions for the world's largest brands."

ddlatham 16y ago

If people are living in this situation, then either it is better than their alternatives (in which case it's good that they have at least this) or something is preventing them from choosing those alternatives (which is not good). Do they have any better alternatives? Is there anything preventing them from choosing them?

rysmit 16y ago

The comments on the bottom of this article are worse than the pictures.

daniel-cussen 16y ago

This...it really doesn't look that bad.

noelchurchill 16y ago

Next time I want to complain about work I'm going to think about this. I wonder if they're happy to have their jobs? I wonder where they envision themselves five years from now? Is there a "corporate ladder" for factory worker jobs too? Are they working to give their "one child" a better life? How long is China going to continue their "one child" policy? I wonder what it's like to have your life managed like cattle? This is where you work, this is where you eat, this is where you make love, this is how many kids you can have. What does this mean for me? Will China be the next super power? Am I unknowingly funding the next superpower with each new iphone and tv that I buy? I don't know, but either way I am going to buy another iPhone when my 2 year contract is up for renewal. Shiny new toys are so irresistible.