Slashdot Mirror
Chinese Students Say They Are Being Forced To Build Your Next iPhone
pigrabbitbear writes "Now that Apple is putting the finishing touches on the most anticipated smartphone in history, Chinese students are again being pressed into service on the factory line inside the largest single internship program in the world. This according to two separate stories in the Chinese press. A report today in the Shanghai Daily says that hundreds of students in the city of Huai'an were forced to help fulfill iPhone 5 orders starting last Thursday. Classes in town had allegedly been interrupted as a result, since the two-month long internships would fulfill the students' need to 'experience working conditions.'"
...so it evens out in college.
//never actually worked in the food service industry
///maybe a small regret in my life
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
Almost all of us have done it. I'm certainly no fan of Apple but this appears to be making something out of a routine event.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
Based on which measurement?
More job creators right?? Well looks like Apple is creating a whole ton of jo... oops wait... that's not how that works. Nevermind...
stoops
This is the year zero. The previous education you received is cultural pollution. Steve Jobs is a deity. Begin learning the new revolutionary doctrine of iPhone 5.
Not long now until they starting calling it the wife beater phone...
The students are being Shanghaied?
What were the odds?
Tu quoque is never an excuse.
No independent confirmation; "someone posting under the name of Dalingzhuimengnan said" and "radio reports" and statements from Universities about internships ... all the links lead back to one Shanghai Daily article. This "journalism" needs fact checking and verification. It may be true or it may not. Time will tell. You may now resume backing Apple as if the other phones made in China wouldn't use similar tactics if they could get away with it.
Actually no other phone/tablet has so many preorders and so much rush to get it on the day it becomes available. So yeah there is no sudden spike for other companies, and they dont need to bring in temporary students to fill the rush.
Does that mean there's a labor shortage in China? If so, then things are about to get interesting.
They're not building my next iPhone!
Seriously here, when will the world wise up to the fact that "cheap cinese labor" has costs that don't tabulate out cleanly on expense sheets and quarterly reports?
Is getting your technology for fractions of a cent per transistor worth.... this?
Do the affluent of today not know that this kind of despotism breeds civil unrest, government oppression, and the degredation of what it means to be a human being?
Do they even care?
A worker's paradise indeed. Does anyone know of any electronics makers who don't abuse another country's willingness to throw its own people under the bus for money?
You are right about that. No need to have massive quantities made before hand when Apple is just going to get your product banned from import anyway. For example the HTC OneX that was available for a few days in May, then couldn't be imported for a bit and went out of stock. (We got ours the day they came out May 6th).
Different countries have different labor situations. Protest with your wallet, or lack thereof.
BlameBillCosby.com
So they agreed to an internship and had to work as a result? Welcome to reality.
Totally loving the -1, Disagree moderating as well. Middle school must be out for the day.
The slaves of Terra are being summoned again to fulfill the species needs.
why students for a job that does not need college and make it in to a internship that is no pay / way under min wage.
also 6 days a week a 12 hours a day is a full time job with overtime and not a part time internship.
This a intern abuse at it's extreme.
Now if the school is really looking out for the students they should makeing it so that the intern are learning about there field and are not just being used as full time extra hands.
Well, someone did address your point. And you most definitely are offtopic.
Don't know about anyone else, but there is absolutely nothing that I expect nor anticipate from the next iPhone.
And Slashdot's incredible hatred of all things Apple does not forgive the other manufacturers' workforce transgressions, but yet those are still conveniently overlooked as everyone feigns outrage and loudly declares that they will never buy another Apple product (while failing to mention that they never have and never intended to anyway).
Wikipedia: "At the time it was evident that Edina was still a farming town, since school vacations coincided with spring planting and fall harvesting so the children could help in the fields."
the 4th generation was called the 4
And the fifth generation was called 4s... um... hmmm... Looks like there is no precedent for any scheme at the moment.
All this hand wringing over the understood (by sane people) *placeholder* name of iPhone 5 is just geek OCD piffle.
Or... you could look at the iPhone 4 as Apple shifting the digit to a version number. The 4s was an update to the 4. So the next phone could very well be called the 5. Or not. They can do whatever the hell they want. There's no rules or laws for product names. Witness Windows changing from version to year to letters to names and now back to version.
I always thought Apple should use their OS X naming philosophy with their hardware. The phones could be birds of prey (agile and mobile). The pads could be dog breeds (faithful companions). The laptops could be, oh, I dunno... shark types or something.
19 USC 1307:
All goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in any foreign country by convict labor or/and forced labor or/and indentured labor under penal sanctions shall not be entitled to entry at any of the ports of the United States, and the importation thereof is hereby prohibited, and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to prescribe such regulations as may be necessary for the enforcement of this provision. ...
'Forced labor', as herein used, shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily. For purposes of this section, the term "forced labor or/and indentured labor" includes forced or indentured child labor.
Anyone now has the right to file a complaint that could result in all iPhone 5 units incoming to the US be impounded at U.S. customs. This includes competitors.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-26/news/ct-met-new-harper-college-jobs-program-20120627_1_manufacturing-summit-harper-college-production-workers
That is a community college offering a trades based learning plan with real PAID work as part of class plan.
this Chinese thing seems like we don't care what your field is go work in this factory doing a line job with no learning plan tied to the work.
So is an education. Unfortunately, classes are being cancelled so students can be illegally forced to work in an assembly plant.
But then again, if work experience is so valuable, maybe we should shut down Harvard and MIT for a week each semester so the students can get some highly valuable work experience at a world class establishment like McDonalds or Walmart. What do you think?
Well Mr. Coward, considering that my comments are addressing the situation referenced in TFA, I assure you that I am sufficiently "on-topic" enough to make such moderation unwarranted. Now, are you finished posting AC to protect your censorship-- er, I mean moderation?
Does someone really care no for many reason too long to list and I really don't care to list them, now hurry up
I want my Iphone 5
"Anyone who buys Apple products is a cunt. Don't be a cunt."
You're just jealous that you're not getting any. Pipe down and save up your pennies.
Unpaid internships are the new black (market labor).
One political party wants to repeal minimum wage laws, child labor laws, and the entire category "labor laws".
Take a good look at what happens when you have a government that wants to "unleash business". And polish that resume, or you might not get that unpaid internship (I wonder if they give them free pizza).
Who's calling the shots in China? Hu Jintao or Apple?
In related news, Mitt Romney sees cold fusion as the future of "basic science", so clearly things are looking up here in the 'States.
Good night, God bless you, and God bless America.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Too bad governments over here don't force students in useless arts, latin, and philosophy degrees to do the same.
Same AC. Nobody claimed that it was only Apple that is evil (you assumed that somebody claimed it, and began responding to it). So yeah, if I had to mod you I would mod you off-topic. I dont have mod points or an account though.
Students were pulled from their classes, forced to work 12-hour shifts, and punished if they protested or tried to leave. None of this was voluntary, and all of it highly illegal even by Chinese law. The students were paid a very nominal amount, but were billed for room and board which clawed that money right back to the factory, meaning this is a "Sixteen Tons" situation where the students didn't actually get paid.
As for the "work experience," it consisted of snapping parts together and filling boxes. The students were studying Law and English. The factory work had no educational value of any kind, not are any of the students getting the references or connections customarily associated with internships.
Are you getting this yet? The students were grabbed from school, shipped to the factory and made to work 12-hour shifts. No one had agreed to any of this. Anyone who talked back or tried to leave was punished.
The nicest label you can slap on this is "impressment," which is just a fancy way of saying slavery. So let me get this straight. A national healthcare plan is "enslaving doctors," but grabbing kids out of class and forcing them to work 12-hour shifts without pay is "valuable work experience?"
He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
It couldn't help but remind me of this Simpson title scene. http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/10/11/the-simpsons-banksy-opening-sequence/
I'm guessing it'll inspire the kids to work a lot harder at school after working in a sweat shop for a few months.
If there's any truth to the news, then surely one of those "disgruntled" students could be given an incentive to spill the beans on the specs or the look of the new iPhone? Even an actual photo would be possible. I'm sure there are tech "news" orgs out there willing to shell a few grand for even a low-res photo taken via a spy cam that can easily be tucked into the workers' underwear or body cavity. This can be foiled of course if Foxconn security does a strip/cavity search of each worker entering the factory or use some sort of Orwellian system that monitors suspcious/nervous behavior or even a walk-thru lie-detector test.
Because internship is compulsory in China. It encourages schools to pick the worst jobs which make most money for schools themselves.
That's what ought to happen when you combine Capitalism with the unchecked state power of Communism.
If no, then it wasn't force. It was personal choice. Never thought I'd say this about China, but:
First World Problems
China doesn't have an adversarial and independent press (though God knows it could be argued the US doesn't have one anymore either). When things like this happen, the best you're going to get are strangled, scattered reports in fitful sporadic bursts, as happened in our own (US) revolution.
Responsible journalism would involve a reporter going out to investigate the reports and interview the people on the scene. The government won't allow it. So now you're in a similar situation where the police get a call about a wife beater. They go to the accused man's house and find there's blood on his sleeveless t-shirt, they can hear sobbing inside, but he won't let them in the door. Suddenly you have to take those few scattered reports a lot more seriously.
Various students are reporting they've been pressed into service by a dictatorial government. The dictatorial government in question isn't allowing anyone to investigate their claims. The government's behavior in and of itself tends to corroborate the students' reports, especially given the previous history of the factory in question.
He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
Until there are some "proof" beyond some obscure websites and shanghaidaily.com (an exclusively English website...another words operated by foreign interests in all likelihood (Chinese media tend to have both Chinese and English versions, if English is offered); not that there is anything wrong with that, but western controlled media pretty much have proven to be mouthpieces of the screwed up western government agenda).
If the practical experience is part of the college program, then there is not much story here (I had to do some pretty mindless mundane duties as a student back in the day).
And if the story has some substance, it's a first mention of this protocol out of any country that I personally have ever heard of (another words: unlikely to be the whole story).
It's Apples new Motto - You just work!
I read about crap like this and it honestly makes me feel bad that I own and use Apple products.
Why?
Not because of how Foxconn runs their factories- personally, I could give a shit less about that. What irks me is that Apple is willingly using these guys to build their products (and Apple quality has fallen dramatically since the early 2000s), specifically so that they can turn around and charge people obscene prices for the whole hardware & software "experience".
I would almost say something like "I'd happily pay more for an iPod Touch if I knew it was being built by a reputable company". But then I realize that they could do that without changing the price- Apple would just make a wee bit less money then they already are. Jobs was so adamant that it wasn't about the money, and yet every goddam thing Apple does or is doing today is about exactly that.
So I guess I can't blame Foxconn for this. It's all the greedy shit-hole US companies having their crap produced by Foxconn in the name of profits that are to blame, because they're the ones perpetuating behaviour like this by looking in the other direction.
So what happens if the students refuse to do the internship?
1. They are not given diplomas. I suspect that any school requiring this sort of labor is not really a school worth attending. If hypothetically such a school really does offer a good path toward relative success, students simple need to weigh the true benefit vs. cost (higher w/ manual labor) when deciding which if any school to attend. This is not true coercion. This is simply the lack of good options. Unfortunately being a person in China does not imply good options as a birthright.
2. They are fined or jailed. This really is coercion. This doesn't seem like whats going on, but I think it is important to keep this possibility in mind to differentiate "forced" from *forced*.
In the worst case, I can see what these schools are doing as breech of contract if the students are mislead in regards to what is actually required to acquire a diploma (i.e. not mentioning the "forced" labor). I, however, suspect that this kind of thing is probably well known even if not explicitly stated by the universities. It's kind of hard to keep things of this sort a secret.
The most obvious motivation for universities to require students perform manual labor for a degree is kick backs from the factory owners for the cheap labor. It should theoretically be possible for students to pay this difference in the form of increased tuition or bribes, if all the universities want is more money.
It is a shame that the prestige given to education by the Chinese people is being exploited for profit. When something is in irrationally high demand, whether it's beanie babies or college educations, it means quality can go down and prices can go up. I think it is time for everyone (whether in China, America, etc) to re-evaluate whether a college education is really worth it.
probably comes from the same factory as the iphone, or if not, then the factory down the street, and since nobody is putting pressure on Samsung to 'clean up its supply chain' (since its in Korea after all) then Samsung does not hire inspectors to go harass factory managers to clean up their act.
Spoken like a true cunt.
... we, university students (personal experience), but also, I've heard more seniour people in "intellectual" line of employment were forced in the Fall to go help our collectivized farmers pick up potatoes and do some other harvest-related work. (Kartoshka! ;-) )...
I do not know if, given my current line work, I would enjoy assembling high-tech stuff more than that (and would definitely learn more from it), but, overall, I, personally, did not mind at all, it was an excuse to live outside the control of our parents (for those of us who did not go to school in another city/lived in dorm which was less common than in this country), get as drunk as our farmer hosts, shmooze with girls, etc. ;-) As to actual work -- my buddies and myself self-organized to proclaim that we are going to do actual "hard" work, loading bags of potato on trucks, while the rest do "easy" part, pick and load the bags... Of course it would take much more actual time to fill a bag than to throw it into the truck, the rest we spent hanging out and baking potatoes!
Somehow I think that efficiency necessary to assemble iPhones would preclude those Chinese kids to have any good times though, but do not think that it was/is not common in "Communist" countries.
(And, no, we did not get paid, unless you could a bag of potatos which you might or might not sneak back home at the end).
Paul B.
they'd have middle schoolers interning. *ba dum tsh*
But does Apple have to make the iphones so expensive when they're using slave labor for them? They could charge a lot less if they're not actually paying people to assemble and manufacture the phones.
People are free to submit articles about China compelling people to assemble HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Acer, et al devices. You are likely to see just as much outrage.
In all likelihood, you are seeing these fall on Apple each time because Apple's demand is large enough and spiky enough to trigger these kinds of things, while the business from other companies is more steady due to a more diversified product line. It does not excuse the other companies' involvement. It just makes Apple more visible.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
iPhone purchasers will be ok with it.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Regarding the original offtopic post: http://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
You misrepresented someone's argument to make it easier to attack.
By exaggerating, misrepresenting, or just completely fabricating someone's argument, it's much easier to present your own position as being reasonable or valid. This kind of dishonesty not only undermines rational discourse, it also harms one's own position because it brings your credibility into question.
I love that site.
Spoken like a true cunt.
A cunt that knows its value. Back off, boy, your basement is good enough.
While in high school and college I worked full time. It did me good. Too bad you don't value hard work. It would get you ahead.
Not mine, I don't use that shit.
Until there are some "proof" beyond some obscure websites and shanghaidaily.com (an exclusively English website...another words operated by foreign interests in all likelihood (Chinese media tend to have both Chinese and English versions, if English is offered); not that there is anything wrong with that, but western controlled media pretty much have proven to be mouthpieces of the screwed up western government agenda).
Sir, you are full of shit. Good morning. Well it's morning for me here in Shanghai... where I live. (Shout out to my neighbors near Qibao, save a seat for me on the 9!) I can say many things about Shanghai Daily (few of them complementary) but one thing I can't say is that it's operated by foreign interests. Foreign control of newspapers is tolerated about as much as foreign control of educational institutions, which is to say- aint gonna happen if the Central Party has any say in the matter.
SOME Chinese media has English versions. MOST do not. Which if you had ever set foot into mainland China instead of trying to play "expert from afar", is something you would know.
that almost anyone,no matter how indigent, has a place in the garden of pure ideology.Don't you?
--posted from my soon to be replaced iPhone 4s (tm)
So is an education. Unfortunately, classes are being cancelled so students can be legally forced to work in an assembly plant...
There. FTFY.
How is gluing the back panel on an iphone every 23.5 seconds for 12 hours straight for free learning 'valuable work skills' for the students?
How is being paid to get training in navigation, leadership, command and control, electronics, aeronautics, piloting, shooting, logistics, survival, physics, linguistics, chemistry, and hundreds of other disciplines based on your position in horribly well funded first world militaries WORSE than working for Foxconn in China?
I guess all quality control goes out the window with this type of labor. I'm surprised they don't have problems like too much thermal paste on a heat sink, stripped screws or something similar. Oh wait..
Here is Apples own "mission statement" relating to suppliers:
http://www.apple.com/procurement/
Suppliers at Apple
Apple requires each of its suppliers to meet the highest standards for all goods and services. Our requirements include a commitment to rigorous quality assurance. In addition, suppliers must be committed, as we are, to ensuring the highest standards of social responsibility.
The ideal suppliers are those who understand our culture and expectations. We value suppliers who take the time to learn about and understand our business and who look for ways to add value. These suppliers know the importance of making and meeting commitments and delivering the highest quality goods and services.
Our business environment is competitive and fast-paced. Our suppliers must understand this dynamic and be agile and flexible in responding to changing business conditions. Above all, Apple values innovation. We appreciate suppliers who truly understand and share in our challenges, and who help us find the best possible solutions.
The first paragraph talks about quality control and standards. The rest is about meeting commitments to get the job done and finding the best possible solutions while being agile and flexible. I guess importing college kids under an "internship" to meet demand is exactly what Apple wants and looks for with their suppliers. I guess the rigorous quality assurance part and socially responsible part are optional and does not always apply.
Don't worry Apple apologists, Apple is doing nothing wrong because I'm sure Wal-Mart probably does this too.
In the National Inquirer, the amount of gossip and chatter about any celebrity is directly proportional to the attractiveness of the celebrity.
As such, the National Inquirer Index of China is reaching Carrie Underwood status.
Even slashdot seems to be running China story every other posting.
And give me a fucken break. Reading some of the responses to this probably Sinophobic FUD, we got a bunch of nerds apparently having also paid for platinum lifetime subscription to the National Inquirer.
Like seriously, do some people actually believe everything they read on the internet?
Of course, if they also believe everything National Inquirer says about Carrie Underwood, these nerds really ought to just go and get a girlfriend (or boyfriend judging from some of the limp wristed postings).
Look, my shoes are made by real slaves in Malaysia, and my maille was linked by some poor family in India. I've got bigger fish to fry in my consumerism than some students getting college credit for making my iPhone.
Goes to show you what happens when you let a bunch of faggets run your country.
12 hours a day, 6 days a week?
I attend a public university, UNL. Between 10-15% of our student body is made up of people from overseas, and may of these people happen to be Chinese. As far as I have seen, single Chinese student on campus has an iPhone.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/6/3297995/forced-to-work-on-the-iphone-5-thats-what-these-chinese-students-claim
I thought the most interesting section was this:
"The factory is a component manufacturing location, which raises questions as to how workers would know they were working on the iPhone 5, as they are certainly not assembling them there"
I should applaud you then, for being such a staunch supporter of slave labour.
I should also commend you on your willingness to see other people's rights being violated, and your support for universities that are willing to disallow students from graduating if they try to protect their rights.
I value hard work, but at the same time, I don't value the violation of these students' rights.
Sure, but 'Internship' doesn't necessarily mean they get pay, they just get credit.
My wife is Chinese and during college all students do an internship where they work on a factory floor, or on a farm, or do a stint in the military. She worked in a car factory in Tianjin, installing door handles. She was paid the same as the factory workers, which was not much in those days, but enough to live on.
Unfortunately your very own reply divulged the fact that you are the one full of shit.
So if I lived in New York I would know the intimate details of the Wall Street Journal better than anybody who does not live in NYC?
What kind of fucked brain logic is that?
And I didn't assert that shanghaidaily.com is foreign entity within the PRC, it was merely a speculation.
But consider the following scenario: How likely is a Japanese guy in Tokyo to create a website about Tokyo/Japanese life EXCLUSIVELY in English and NOT having a Japanese version. So this guy is a yellow Oreo cookie, he rather celebrate Japanese culture with English speakers than with his fellow Japanese?
And your reading comprehension is as bad as your fucked up logic.
Try re-reading my original post.
You ended up reinforcing what I said. If a Chinese outlet decides to have a English language version of their website, they invariably have an original Chinese website that they started with; hence the rather glaring gap evident with shanghaidaily.com which is an ENGLISH ONLY website.
The more I rant about this, the more I'm convinced shanghaidaily.com is a western owned mouthpiece.
It's not about students applying to foxconn for a part time job. It's about the univeristy they work for ordering students who had no previous relations to foxconn to go work there and suspending classes as a result.
Its my understanding that this sort of stuff is not unprecedented, its how some colleges fund themselves to a degree. The following is decades old (80s) but I understand one prominent school was also a major aspirin manufacturer. Students were required to put in a shift at the aspirin plant. Its how the college kept the doors open. The funding from the government was insufficient, the students were no real potential source of revenue, ... the factory was their solution. It was no secret, students knew this before they went there.
I want to stress that in the preceding that (1) the aspirin work was to literally keep the college in operation and that (2) the students knew this ahead of time. We are discussing a very different society with very different methods of organization. What seems strange to a westerner may not be so strange to locals.
That said, the Foxconn story seems a little different. However for those who did not read the article it does mention that students are expected to "experience working conditions" as part of their education. So there seems to be some degree of mitigation. It sounds as if these college educated likely-to-be future leaders and managers were supposed to spend some time learning what it is like to be a regular worker. It *may* be that the work was abrupt and unplanned, not that it wasn't supposed to occur in some form with a bit more planning and prior notice to the student. I think a little more info is necessary regarding what sort of work students are expected to perform while at the university.
And the more you rant about this the more we are convinced that you don't know what you are talking about.
This is even showing up in newspapers in China and on China National Radio, which is state-controlled. The state-controlled media point out that Foxconn is run from Taiwan. The city government of Huai has stepped in and send some of the students back to school.
Somebody should raise enough hell to have IPhone 5 shipments seized at US Customs while this issue is resolved. Customs can hold them up to 3 months for investigation.
... they should petition their government about that.
Walter Miller Jr. already looked at this problem, though from a different angle. In the story "The Darfsteller", robots replaced all the singers, then the actors. We're seeing the first edges of that already. So the story looks at a broken down aging man who became a janitor "just to be near the theater still".
Forget the "1%", I'd garner there might be less than 100 companies tops that owned all the robots.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Apple uses slave labor and patent protections and is STILL OVERPRICED!?!
cunt
GM is the crapware of car makers. Even after the bailout they are still producing garbage.
They better do a good job of making my new phone!
I get it's either that or nothing and working there is all they can somehow make money from but still, it's a job. It could be worse, they could be FORCED to work these jobs that they hate so much.
This is what you get when you go overkill on business friendliness, since this is something that the South would like to be able to do to workers in the US.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
It's a shame that we have to look at this and wonder what it doe's to economy's around the world.
Why doe's Apple do this?
I'm here for the experience, not the Hyperbole.
It's they (they're crap government) that runs the country like Rome, and screws over most of the populace with crap living standards, work requirements to get the foreign companies in there in the first place, just so they can get some tax money yuan for the 1 % and build missiles and 5th generation planes to threaten the West about Taiwan and Japan.
If American companies are doing that to these human resource units (that's all they are in the end) and all the rest of us will be if China gets more powerful, just imagine what Chinese companies do to the 99% - that's right they screw them even harder.
Build the good factories first and the country can develop even faster.
Pliancy and apologies to despotic regimes have no place in the development of any country, no matter what history says for you.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
I do not know if, given my current line work, I would enjoy assembling high-tech stuff more than that (and would definitely learn more from it), but, overall, I, personally, did not mind at all, it was an excuse to live outside the control of our parents (for those of us who did not go to school in another city/lived in dorm which was less common than in this country), get as drunk as our farmer hosts, shmooze with girls, etc. ;-) As to actual work -- my buddies and myself self-organized to proclaim that we are going to do actual "hard" work, loading bags of potato on trucks, while the rest do "easy" part, pick and load the bags... Of course it would take much more actual time to fill a bag than to throw it into the truck, the rest we spent hanging out and baking potatoes!
http://www.bollywudfunda.com/2012/08/athletics-mens-decathlon-1500m-full.html
Evacuating our industry to third world hell holes is a crucial part of contemporary culture. We, the affluent, are left to indulge our labor laws, environmental regulations, confiscatory tax policies and every other anti-industry, anti-energy, anti-business policy we can dream up, all while browsing our online retailers and big box stores filled with low cost goodies. But for Asia we would have to pay the cost of our high minded selves. We would have to weight the value of our environmental hysteria against our material desires.
Except for the part where harm is caused much faster than any supposed benefit is realized. See about every industry since the 1970's where harm has been caused faster and has yet to provide any direct benefit to the majority (and no, cheapness does not count).
As for the tax policies, the US stands quite well for being able to go anywhere without regard to jurisdiction. This effectively infinite jurisdiction is a nice side effect of being the superpower with a well-maintained military-industrial complex. The only missing piece is the willingness to use it to enforce tax code, especially when citizens call for such an action to be performed.
In addition, removing the ability for businesses to act with divine power is a good thing - despite your complaint to the contrary.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Looks to me like it is indeed Chinese controlled.
The chain I get is:
Shanghai Daily
Wenhui-Xinmin United Press Group
Shanghai SASAC which is a "PRC Governmental Body as defined under Rule 19A.04" (I think of Hong Kong stock listing rules.)
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
GM cars are made of a lot of parts that are assembled in the USA, just like Toyota's or whatever other brand you can buy there. Nobody mass produces entire cars in the west anymore, it's all assembly of cheap eastern made parts these days.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Spoken like an anonymous coward.
Damn, if global warming would just hurry up I could see living there. I'm willing to put up with the brutal heat and humidity of the southeast US summers so I can wear shorts in Februrary, and there is nothing like a rousing chorus of Sandy the Sandman while making sand angels round Christmas time.
I could always vacation in Arizona Bay (Thanks Maynard).
I work >12 hrs/day and 7 days/wk 365 days a year. I've been doing it since I was a child. You probably consider me boring since I don't party like people like you. I've got better things to do.
Surely no country would every have the idea that they could make themselves look good to the world by publishing media in a foreign country, right?
No. You're putting words in other people's mouths. Both they and I get paid for our labor. That's not slave labour. If doing the work is part of education then getting the education is part of the pay. I had many things like that. I apprenticed at meat cutting for 18 months. I didn't get 'paid' I got an education, I learned how to cut meat for commercial cuts. Learning through work is a great way to learn something.
The fact that you call it slave labor suggests to me you haven't ever done hard work. I have a clue for you: Good for you that you don't have to work but those of use without silver spoons are grateful to have work.
I am apalled that all of the /. ers here have not said a simple "Thanks!"
"Now that Apple is putting the finishing touches on the most anticipated smartphone in history"
Someone needs to tell Apple that the Samsung Galaxy S3 is already out.
I sure hope nobody forces me to get an iPhone.
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2012/04/cadillac-to-build-ats-cts-xts-in-china-for-china/
I agree with you, demachina.
But there's another facet to all of this, IMO. With the U.S. economy in such a huge amount of debt (and growing every day), we've taken out massive loans from China (among other nations). When you look at the numbers showing the US's total debt (including all the unfunded mandates, etc.), we're so far in the hole, it's literally impossible to ever get back out.
Go to usdebtclock.org and scroll down till you see m2 money supply.That's the broadest measure of the money supply that the government tracks. Right now it's about 10 trillion dollars. Now look down further and notice unfunded liabilities at about 120 trillion. So we can't even pay 15% of the bills we've got coming, using *every dollar in existence*!
So ultimately, that means our economic system is going to eventually fail. We're going to file a national form of bankruptcy, essentially, at some point in time, when they've strung people along as far as they can go..... So knowing that, and knowing countries like China will be left on the hook for all that borrowed money that's not getting fully repaid -- what's the smartest way to do "damage control"? Make sure the people lending you the money have gotten a lot out of the whole "business relationship", so they're not going to retaliate when you tell them you're not paying them back anymore! We've pretty much done that by giving China so much education on how to build all of our technological goods for us, and by serving as one of their best customers for everything they're assembling.....
Exactly my my point douchebag.
Just because it has a post office box in Shanghai doesn't mean that it's operated by Chinese.
Seems like shanghaidaily.com/209.177.92.21 has servers located in Los Angeles California.
Rather interesting.
We got some real yellow Oreo cookies here folks.
It seems like the more YOU rant the more we realize shanghaidaily.com is trying to do damage control....hmmmmm?
OUCH!....BUSTED!!!
Psh... they better hurry! How else will I post my Instagram photos on Facebook!
I suppose I could use my iPad on the Yerba Mate shop's wifi, but that is sooo mainstream.
As a parent of two highschool students I read this and can only think how great it would be if my kids could go work in a tech factory for two months. Its only two months. I would hope they would find that factory life is not for them and they would try harder to reach higher goals. I worked in a competitors factory to put myself through college, it was all the motivation I needed.
That said if these students are not getting paid at all then I agree there is a problem there. But the experience is worth something. If I was hiring an engineer to work in a tech factory and had two chinese grads applying, one with zero experience and one with two months in an Apple factory snapping together iPhones and all other qualifications were even; I would choose the applicant wtih the experience, at least he/she knows what they are getting into, or some clue anyway.
i am agree with jhoegl (638955) APPLE suck!!! Now the best of the best mobile operating system will be TIZEN, on ARM !!! 0 android, 0 iphone !!!
Apple clearly has no morals whatsoever. Screw them and the corporate ways. I'll never buy anything of theirs and never have.
work faster BITCHES!
That largely intelligent, well pursed adults (about the only ones who can afford apple products) continue to buy overpriced products built by slave labor overseas, while throwing off inexplicable benefits such as "its elegant" (although they can't explain why), its "easier to use", but again, they can't give an example of what it does thats easier, that its "virus proof", which is completely idiotic, since nothing is virus proof, that its "made with better parts", when its made from the same parts, on the same assembly line as products marked half the price.
Fun stuff. And most of these folks are liberal leaning too. You'd think they'd have better sensibilities than to spend extra to show they're as cool as Steve, or to show off how much money they make.
The minute "people" are willing to spend $1500 on a phone that currently costs $550, you'll see iPhones built right here in the good ol' USA.
It's a big misconception that manufacturing in the US is more expensive. The US is extremely competitive for many products. The only things that it is difficult to do cheaply in the US is items with high labor content and long lead times. If the object in question has sufficient volume to automate or if the lead times are short it usually makes a lot of sense to build domestically. There also are some items for which the supply base is located predominately outside the US (a lot of electronics fits this description) which can sometimes complicate matters.
I run a company that does contract assembly work - largely cable assemblies and electronics. For the kind of volumes involved with the iPhone it would actually be pretty cost effective to automate much of the assembly. There would be some be up front costs but when you are talking about billions of dollars of product, that becomes a manageable problem. We are able to compete on lots of assembly work - it just depends on the specific requirements of the product.
The main obstaclea actually are flexibility and supply chain proximity. It's pretty easy to update work instructions for people and change assembly processes. Doing it for automation is harder given the current state of the art. Doable but it requires some pretty serious smarts. Nevertheless it is often cheaper and easier to throw bodies at the problem IF you can get them at a low enough price. The bigger problem is that the production of most of the components is done in eastern Asia these days. Would be expensive to ship all the parts over and then assemble them. Much cheaper to assemble the product then ship a finished good.
Would it cost $1500 to build an iPhone here in the US? Absolutely not. It would be a bit more expensive but not horribly. If manufacture of some key components could be done in the US it could be built for very competitive rates.
But making them in the US means you don't have to pay as much on shipping.
You are forgetting that it also costs money to ship the components, which happen to mostly be made in eastern Asia. It's considerably cheaper to ship one finished phone than to ship 20+ components.
" and were being paid 1,550 yuan (US$243.97) a month for working six days a week, she said. "
"But they had to pay hundreds of yuan for food and accommodation, "
so, if it's at least 200 a week, or 800 a month, that's more than half the pay minimum
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Good for you, so did I. The difference here, since you seem to be too dense to grasp it without help, is that you and I had a choice about where to work (well in my case, as much of a choice as growing up in a tourist town offered, anyway). These students have been told, "Go work for Foxconn or you don't graduate. You'll be paid but Foxconn will take all of your wages so it won't matter."
I personally think that anyone going into management or engineering at any company should be required to work {on the assembly line/in the field/on the sales floor/etc.} for a period of time first, but this goes well beyond that.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Take a moment to look around your house and tally the percentage of goods made in China. Whatever human rights epidemic China has going on is hardly limited to the tech industry. My estimation is 90% of dry goods come out of SE Asia, 2/3 of that from China alone. Christ, even your house was made in China, and merely "assembled" locally.
They don't make cars here for shipping reasons, they make cars here to dodge import tariffs on completely assembled cars. They make parts in Japan, ship the parts here, and do final assembly. VW does it in Mexico, because of NAFTA and cheaper labor.
There are plenty of manufacturers that still assemble overseas and ship that way, and the unionized Stevedores at the American ports are happy for the roll-on / roll-off cargo that keeps workers coming down to the union hall to work a ship.
It's all a matter of which worker you want to fuck. But I guess you knew that.