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High Tech Misery In China
theodp writes "Think you've got a bad job? Think again. You could be making keyboards for IBM, Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo and HP at Meitai Plastic and Electronics, a Chinese hardware factory. Prompted by the release of High Tech Misery in China by a human-rights group, a self-regulating body set up by tech companies will conduct an audit of working conditions at the factory. In return for take-home pay of 41 cents per hour, workers reportedly sit on hard wooden stools for 12-hour shifts, seven days a week. Overtime is mandatory, with workers being given on average two days off per month. While on the production line, workers are not allowed to raise their hands or heads, are given 1.1 seconds to snap each key into place, and are encouraged to 'actively monitor each other' to see if any company rules are being transgressed. They are also monitored by guards. Workers are fined if they break the rules, locked in the factory for four days per week, and sleep in crowded dormitories. Okay, it's not all bad news — they're hiring."
we have to pay for coffee!
It's one of the jobs offered to you if you're one of the many people laid off in the US by IBM...
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
I think I'm safe, the IBM keyboard I'm typing this on was made in Thailand.
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
Yeah, but the USA had the 1st amendment from the start...
Well, we did start out by overthrowing our king.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
1. Workers who have found favor with their superiors (often attractive young women) are notoriously assigned the plum task of fitting the heavy-duty "Control", "Alt", and "Delete" keys, at premium pay of 43 rather than 41 cts/hr.
2. 1.1 seconds per key may seem long enough, but occasionally the "Caps Lock" key gets stuck and workers have to scramble to redo their last dozen or so key sets.
3. That guy in Silicon Valley who keeps ordering Dvorak keyboards.
4. Each keyboard must be manually inspected for fitting errors, such as mis-slotted keys. When a mistake is found, the entire assembly line stops and the factory PA system drones "Abort? Retry? Ignore? Fail?" over and over until the problem has been corrected.
Would you care to repeat that in German?
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
...taking away as it did the only vestige of civilisation in the US.
You misspelled "civilization".
Sorry, It's hard to post intelligently under these conditions.
I bought 4 IBM model M keyboards on Ebay 10 years ago, and fully intend to keep using them until I can get a neural implant.
Buy quality, and buy it once.
Buy crap, buy it new every year.
Now, now, let's be fair. You bought quality, and you bought it four times.
Hmm, so after the apocalypse you and your descendants will be sure to have Model M keyboards. Hell in the short term you have two spare ones to use as melee weapons against looters that break into the compound.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
I bought 4 IBM model M keyboards on Ebay 10 years ago, and fully intend to keep using them until I can get a neural implant.
Neural implants don't click. I went right back to the model M.
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Welches im Allgemeinen als eine schlechte Sache angesehen wird da sie die einzige Spur der Zivilisation in den USA weggenommen hat.