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While the working hours are ridiculous, a couple things to keep perspective: - It's sensational to focus on an absolute value of 70 cents while ignoring the bu

While the working hours are ridiculous, a couple things to keep perspective: - It's sensational to focus on an absolute value of 70 cents while ignoring the buying power of 70 cents in China. This still isn't a very good wage, but the cost of living differences are huge; 70 cents should probably be likened to the minimum wage in the U.S. (i.e. think "equivalent to a few dollars an hour" not "pennies" as the article might have you believe). You can Google several cost-of-living comparisons between China and the U.S. - A huge number of tech companies rely on Foxconn; this is not unique to iPhones nor is it new. So mention of the iPhone is, again, sensational; this manufacturing issue is pervasive.

chromatic 15y ago
Is Apple's profit margin sufficient different from other tech companies? If so, one might reasonably ask why Apple doesn't use its position to improve worker conditions further.
Natsu 15y ago
The safety conditions are the most ridiculous part. I'm especially leery of allowing kids in there. I'm sure they need the jobs, but factories are unsafe enough. US factories can see those kinds of hours at least some of the time. They're probably that high because they're running at capacity. You're right about Apple getting singled out. Probably because it generates the most pageviews. I will give Apple credit, though, for at least attempting to do something about the problem. That said, if they know when the inspections are, they can sweep an awful lot of things under the rug. Many of the problems are societal. In the US, nobody would cover up injuries. Doctors would instead complain that you had an unsafe workplace if the conditions got out of hand. And they could complain to OSHA if they were being exposed to toxic chemicals. Those aren't really Apple problems, those are China problems. That said, it's good that all this attention is being paid to this. It's probably the only way that anything will get done. Keeping quiet about the problems won't help anyone.

chromatic 15y ago

Is Apple's profit margin sufficient different from other tech companies? If so, one might reasonably ask why Apple doesn't use its position to improve worker conditions further.

Natsu 15y ago

The safety conditions are the most ridiculous part. I'm especially leery of allowing kids in there. I'm sure they need the jobs, but factories are unsafe enough. US factories can see those kinds of hours at least some of the time. They're probably that high because they're running at capacity. You're right about Apple getting singled out. Probably because it generates the most pageviews. I will give Apple credit, though, for at least attempting to do something about the problem. That said, if they know when the inspections are, they can sweep an awful lot of things under the rug. Many of the problems are societal. In the US, nobody would cover up injuries. Doctors would instead complain that you had an unsafe workplace if the conditions got out of hand. And they could complain to OSHA if they were being exposed to toxic chemicals. Those aren't really Apple problems, those are China problems. That said, it's good that all this attention is being paid to this. It's probably the only way that anything will get done. Keeping quiet about the problems won't help anyone.