4 ms·

American Consumers have even more power, look at the human rights records of the countries you are buying products from rather than just looking at the lowest s

by boznz 6y ago

American Consumers have even more power, look at the human rights records of the countries you are buying products from rather than just looking at the lowest sticker price.

Tiktaalik 6y ago
Can you even buy a smartphone that's not assembled in China?
- axaxs 6y ago
  Sure. Nokia apparently is making some in India. Samsung does some in S Korea and some in Vietnam, unless that's changed recently.
  - jonny_eh 6y ago
    And how is a consumer supposed to know which models?
    - axaxs 6y ago
      Currently, it's not easy. I'm a bit of a phone/tiny computer geek, so I read a lot. When I was younger, where a product was made was something everyone wanted to know. China was seen as junk, and rightly so. Now, nobody cares, so it's rarely advertised. I'd love for us to hold companies to the standards they hold us to. Say something unpopular, and you'll get fired, or have advertising pulled away. By the same companies using sweatshops in countries that abuse people. Consider this example: Nike pulled it's Redskins gear, because it's possibly offensive to Native Americans. Yet Nike exploits the system to have that gear made by women and children, by force or necessity, in countries that are truly horrible to their people.
- dathinab 6y ago
  Fairphone 3 is pretty open about where parts come from, where it's assembled and which (moral) standards are applied for there selection of suppliers. It's also supper repairable (iFixit score 10 of 10). Problems: - It has not so good spec, for people which need a high-end (or higher middle-end) smartphone not a option. - For the spec it has it's expensive. - It's somewhat clunky. (But hey even a non tech person can repair it.) - The speakers are at a strange position. - The microphone is so-so. For usage in normal handy mode it's ok, but audio quality in speaker/video conference mode is bad (but then hey, for that you probably should use a headset anyway). Good thinks include repairability, close to stock android, large battery, dual sim, micro sd card (yes 2 sims + 1 sd card can be used), NFC, known to get updates for as long as they can afford it, I think it's unlocked. So if don't use your phone for things it bad at and you are not tight on money it's a totally reasonable option.
pmoriarty 6y ago
Unfortunately, people who can't afford to pay for any but the cheapest goods far outnumber those who can.
dathinab 6y ago
> human rights records of the countries you are buying products from Good, idea. I tried. I ended up with a Fairphone3. I like it, it's ok for me but unsuitable for probably many use cases. It's hard to do so and still get performant tech. It's hard to even know where the parts came from. Not just for tech but anything you buy. This is even worse in countries which have weak consumer protection laws and consumers can be duped into beliving it's e.g. from the US when only the last assembly step is done in the US but 90% of the work is done in e.g. China. Lastly wouldn't that also mean that US products can't be bought. I mean the US not only never signed the human right charter they also never recognized the rights in it independent of the charter. Partially because they where committing human right violations all the times back then.

by boznz 6y ago

American Consumers have even more power, look at the human rights records of the countries you are buying products from rather than just looking at the lowest sticker price.

Tiktaalik 6y ago

Can you even buy a smartphone that's not assembled in China?

axaxs 6y ago
Sure. Nokia apparently is making some in India. Samsung does some in S Korea and some in Vietnam, unless that's changed recently.
- jonny_eh 6y ago
  And how is a consumer supposed to know which models?
  - axaxs 6y ago
    Currently, it's not easy. I'm a bit of a phone/tiny computer geek, so I read a lot. When I was younger, where a product was made was something everyone wanted to know. China was seen as junk, and rightly so. Now, nobody cares, so it's rarely advertised. I'd love for us to hold companies to the standards they hold us to. Say something unpopular, and you'll get fired, or have advertising pulled away. By the same companies using sweatshops in countries that abuse people. Consider this example: Nike pulled it's Redskins gear, because it's possibly offensive to Native Americans. Yet Nike exploits the system to have that gear made by women and children, by force or necessity, in countries that are truly horrible to their people.
dathinab 6y ago
Fairphone 3 is pretty open about where parts come from, where it's assembled and which (moral) standards are applied for there selection of suppliers. It's also supper repairable (iFixit score 10 of 10). Problems: - It has not so good spec, for people which need a high-end (or higher middle-end) smartphone not a option. - For the spec it has it's expensive. - It's somewhat clunky. (But hey even a non tech person can repair it.) - The speakers are at a strange position. - The microphone is so-so. For usage in normal handy mode it's ok, but audio quality in speaker/video conference mode is bad (but then hey, for that you probably should use a headset anyway). Good thinks include repairability, close to stock android, large battery, dual sim, micro sd card (yes 2 sims + 1 sd card can be used), NFC, known to get updates for as long as they can afford it, I think it's unlocked. So if don't use your phone for things it bad at and you are not tight on money it's a totally reasonable option.

pmoriarty 6y ago

Unfortunately, people who can't afford to pay for any but the cheapest goods far outnumber those who can.

dathinab 6y ago

> human rights records of the countries you are buying products from Good, idea. I tried. I ended up with a Fairphone3. I like it, it's ok for me but unsuitable for probably many use cases. It's hard to do so and still get performant tech. It's hard to even know where the parts came from. Not just for tech but anything you buy. This is even worse in countries which have weak consumer protection laws and consumers can be duped into beliving it's e.g. from the US when only the last assembly step is done in the US but 90% of the work is done in e.g. China. Lastly wouldn't that also mean that US products can't be bought. I mean the US not only never signed the human right charter they also never recognized the rights in it independent of the charter. Partially because they where committing human right violations all the times back then.