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Copied from the nytimes article. "Apple’s executives had estimated that about 8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-

by dgregd 15y ago

Copied from the nytimes article. "Apple’s executives had estimated that about 8,700 industrial engineers were needed to oversee and guide the 200,000 assembly-line workers" "Mr. Saragoza, an engineer, quickly moved up the plant’s ranks and joined an elite diagnostic team. His salary climbed to $50,000. He and his wife had three children. They bought a home with a pool." "The worker, Lina Lin, is a project manager in Shenzhen, China" "Mrs. Lin earns a bit less than what Mr. Saragoza was paid by Apple ... She and her husband put a quarter of their salaries in the bank every month."

ralfd 15y ago
The crucial bit in the NYTimes article: > The company’s analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine months to find that many qualified engineers in the United States. In China, it took 15 days. Nine months vs 15 days. Also many didn't get the point from the article, that the benefit in producing in China isn't any longer low cost labor, but because it is so big and the whole world produces there it developed enormous long-term advantages in flexibility and infrastructure. Like the silicon valley attracted and fueled programming jobs/companies, just because other computer firms are nearby. The hundreds of factories/suppliers in China, the short distance to high-tech firms in Taiwan, South korea, Japan etc, make it a hub to which manufacturing gravitates.
- georgieporgie 15y ago
  the benefit in producing in China isn't any longer low cost labor, but because it is so big and the whole world produces there it developed enormous long-term advantages in flexibility and infrastructure. From the same article: People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched,” he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. “I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.” (later) In mid-2007, after a month of experimentation, Apple’s engineers finally perfected a method for cutting strengthened glass so it could be used in the iPhone’s screen. The first truckloads of cut glass arrived at Foxconn City in the dead of night, according to the former Apple executive. That’s when managers woke thousands of workers, who crawled into their uniforms — white and black shirts for men, red for women — and quickly lined up to assemble, by hand, the phones. Within three months, Apple had sold one million iPhones. Since then, Foxconn has assembled over 200 million more. So, because Apple engineers did a shoddy job designing their screen (which scratched in Jobs' pocket), a relentless pace was set over six weeks to put in new glass. How does HN feel when their boss says, "oh, hey, you know that six month project we've been working on? Yeah, we're going to have to change this, this, this, and this, oh, and we still have to meet next week's deadline. See you over the weekend." Why is it acceptable that Apple's shortsightedness "required" these insane working conditions?

by dgregd 15y ago

ralfd 15y ago

The crucial bit in the NYTimes article: > The company’s analysts had forecast it would take as long as nine months to find that many qualified engineers in the United States. In China, it took 15 days. Nine months vs 15 days. Also many didn't get the point from the article, that the benefit in producing in China isn't any longer low cost labor, but because it is so big and the whole world produces there it developed enormous long-term advantages in flexibility and infrastructure. Like the silicon valley attracted and fueled programming jobs/companies, just because other computer firms are nearby. The hundreds of factories/suppliers in China, the short distance to high-tech firms in Taiwan, South korea, Japan etc, make it a hub to which manufacturing gravitates.

georgieporgie 15y ago
the benefit in producing in China isn't any longer low cost labor, but because it is so big and the whole world produces there it developed enormous long-term advantages in flexibility and infrastructure. From the same article: People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched,” he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. “I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.” (later) In mid-2007, after a month of experimentation, Apple’s engineers finally perfected a method for cutting strengthened glass so it could be used in the iPhone’s screen. The first truckloads of cut glass arrived at Foxconn City in the dead of night, according to the former Apple executive. That’s when managers woke thousands of workers, who crawled into their uniforms — white and black shirts for men, red for women — and quickly lined up to assemble, by hand, the phones. Within three months, Apple had sold one million iPhones. Since then, Foxconn has assembled over 200 million more. So, because Apple engineers did a shoddy job designing their screen (which scratched in Jobs' pocket), a relentless pace was set over six weeks to put in new glass. How does HN feel when their boss says, "oh, hey, you know that six month project we've been working on? Yeah, we're going to have to change this, this, this, and this, oh, and we still have to meet next week's deadline. See you over the weekend." Why is it acceptable that Apple's shortsightedness "required" these insane working conditions?