A lot of people have tried to excuse Apple using a variety of methods (citing Krugman, pointing to Samsung's use of Foxconn etc), but they all ignore the fact t

A lot of people have tried to excuse Apple using a variety of methods (citing Krugman, pointing to Samsung's use of Foxconn etc), but they all ignore the fact that Apple is breaking a fairly important social convention. When a person pays premium for a product, they don't just expect quality, but they want to feel good about their purchase as well. When you buy Direct Trade coffee/chocolate, you know more of your dollars are going in the hands of locals, when you purchase food at a Farmer's market, you know you're supporting small-scale local farmers, when you buy Canada Goose, you know you're supporting decently-paid and treated workers in Ontario. OTOH, when you buy an Apple product, you're supporting the same kind of supply chain used by low-cost manufacturers. With them, you pay premium dollar, but don't get premium experience. The fact that this extra profit simply goes to Apple's coffers (not even dividends, or R&D or charity) is particularly galling. A few years ago they got pilloried by Greenpeace and that forced them to clean up their act, so I'm glad they're once again getting pilloried.