Chinese Employee Loses iPhone Prototype, Kills Self

tlhIngan writes "Physical intimidation of a Foxconn employee, 25 year-old Sun Danyong, and a possibly-illegal search of his house may have led to suicide after an iPhone prototype in his possession was lost. Foxconn is Apple's long-time manufacturing partner for the iPhone. Entrusted with 16 iPhone prototypes, Danyong discovered that one was missing and searched the factory for it. When it didn't turn up, he reported the incident to his boss, who ordered his apartment searched. There are reports of physical intimidation by Foxconn security personnel. This ended tragically on Thursday at 3 AM, when Danyong jumped from his apartment building to his death." VentureBeat notes that "Apple exerts immense pressure on its business partners [to] help it maintain secrecy." An Apple spokesperson said this to CNet: "We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death. We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect."

Comments

Suicide?

[Anonymous Coward]

There's an app for that...

Re:Suicide?

[crazyvas]

It's called iDie.
I hear that it's the next big killer app.

Okay, okay. iUnderstand iStopNow else iDie.

Re:Suicide?

[escay]

boy that's a killer app.

Re:Suicide?

[Sinbios]

s/surveillance/security

Dammit, paranoia is contagious.

Re:Suicide?

[mjwx]

It's called iDie.
I hear that it's the next big killer app.

Okay, okay. iUnderstand iStopNow else iDie.

Ha, iKillMe. /Alf

On the upside....

[Jailbrekr]

There is now another liver available for transplant.

Insert Your Morbid Tag Line Here

[eric02138]

"The iPhone 4 - it's to die for!"

Re:Insert Your Morbid Tag Line Here

[AlexBirch]

I would have gone, with the iPhone 4, the kill switch is in you.

Re:Insert Your Morbid Tag Line Here

[Hamoohead]

Or even, "In Communist China, iPhone bricks YOU!"

iWhat?

[Anonymous Coward]

iDied

hmm i know that this will esplode all over..but

[MrShaggy]

Imagine after his death they discover the phone was in his jacket pocket?

Greed is GOOD!!

[ObsessiveMathsFreak]

Jesus Christ Kid! Wake up and smell the Coffee! It's the Noughties! I'm not paying you to think about flower power and peace among the animals.

1. Consider the value of a human life, starting with your own, and compare it to the value of the secrecy of some cellphone prototype

Consider this mac: Supply and Demand!! If there's one thing that human history has taught us, it's that people are cheap, but profits are forever. You know how many guys like this guy there are? You know how many iPhone prototypes there are? You don't need to do a lot 'a math to see how this is gonna work out. Man, I could tell you stories about coffee beans and Nicaraguans in the 80's. Fucking great times!

2. Consider your other options. Your bosses were mean to you: sue them, find another job, learn to live with it. Are any of these better than jumping out of the fucking window?

Holy shit! The only time you need to you to jump out a window is when the stock is at 5c and your pretty sure the guy is like, your spitting image. The lesson here is that if the pressure is this fucking high, you need a safety valve, otherwise known as a fall guy. In fact, I'm betting this guy was that guy! Sweet play.

3. Consider the safety and mental wellbeing of the people who might be minding their own business and walking their children to school as your dumb skull slams into the pavement in front of them. If you've got to kill yourself, please don't get other people involved.

You know, you should be thinking about other people. You should be thinking about how to make money off of 'em, or else get them outta your way. You see a bus load of traumatised kids. I see a several lifetimes worth of prescription medication sales. You see tragedy, I see opportunity.

Shit happens, deal with it. It's all part of the game. Wen just bought a new sports car. Hu just sealed the Intel deal. Yao just jumped out of ten story window. Who cares! It's all just gossip material to spend over Espresso lattes. The second you stop to moralise over rights, wrongs, lifes, deaths; is the second you stop making money. You gotta straighten those suspenders, up the sperm count on the deal, and keep kickin' ass, so people know your the hardest asshole around.

Prime example, Steve fucking Jobs. Guy's such a ball buster that he's got subcontractors breakin' down apartment doors and throwing suckers outta windows just to keep the latest indigo and cyan iDink case covers an international fucking secret. And people still think he's Michael Jackson! You will never have those stones.

So, Put it all on AAPL, Bernanke's got the kettle on. And get yourself a dog!

Re:Poor guy...

[xednieht]

Looks to me like the female segment of the population is not pulling their weight

Re:this wasn't a suicide

[Stele]

I bet the RIDES in those malls are freakin' AWESOME!!

Re:Poor guy...

[HieronymusBosch]

Not enough...

It is rather disappointing that Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, Timothy Geithner, and Bernie Madoff haven't sought to atone.

-jcr

This sounds rather like an anti-Semitic remark to me, Sir!