To echo what others have been saying...
It was released last week as *an automatic update*. I've had it a week now but there's no way i'd actually go and manually download it.
What does "many" mean? Is it even a dozen? Out of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people living on the streets across the US & Europe? Many of these people have barely 2 cents to rub together for food, they ain't blogging, they ain't emailing and they ain't staying connected via cellphone... Some of them have alcohol problems, some of them drug problems, some suffer from depression or other such problems, and their first concern is living to tomorrow.
As someone mentioned it's a hype story, stuff like this shouldn't be published. Fair dues to anybody who can get off the streets, but any story focussing on homeless should be looking at the majourity (99.9%) who are STILL on the streets and need help.
Rant over.
In my experience these assembly areas are quite mixed sex.
Plus I don't think anyone has the chance to walk off with one, security is extremely tight in these sort of places (metal detectors etc), very hard to get past security with anything (I know the company who makes iPod).
I've been to some of those factories in Shenzhen, been down around the manufacturing lines too. So here's a few general observations based on my own experiences
- First thing that struck me is that this guy managed to get photos! The places I visited even our mobile phones were taken from us before we entered the manufacturing area, we'd be in deep shit with security if we pulled out a camera to take pictures. You'll also notice pictures of products there... majour security breech in my opinion!
- Secondly look what they're making, look at the cleanliness of the place. It's the reason many western countries are in trouble... because in China they have the skills to make high-end products and they can do it cheaper and faster than the rest of us. Plus they are very highly motivated and their entire philospoy seems to be to get as much work from everywhere as they can, even if it means making a loss... anything to take the work from us. That's why everything from the Playstation to mobile phones to the iPod is produced in China.
- About working conditions... China is one place you do NOT want to work. Workers do seem to be treated fairly well however they are not paid much, if they are not on specific shifts then they will work VERY long hours, even through holidays and very often through the whole weekend. Many of the places they live are really shit by western standards.
Also, the working environment itself is often cramped. Much of the work is manual and there is little or no variation to it, so it's likely to make you brain dead after a while.
Another thing that stinks is that you'll often find employees from Taiwan working there.. they will always be on a higher salary than the local Chinese, even if they are doing the very same job.
Nice people though, they put up with a lot of shit.
He's spot on. I downloaded a truck load of music recently (just felt the urge), probably less that 20% of it was from this century with many of the songs going back as far as the 60's (long(ish) before I was born). With online downloads available I can get all the great tunes that make up my tape collection (remember tapes[cassettes]? No?).
And it ain't just old stuff, a lot of what I buy online I just can't get at my local stores because it's not popular enough.
It makes sense I think. For many people the internet & it's social communities offer a release. There's just so many more people you can meet online and communicate with. Freindships are formed quickly as it's easy, through various online social groups, to find others with very similar interests to yourself... which may not always be possible depending on where you live. I think this is the key, personally.
On the other hand, it's not a black and white thing and it really depends on the type of person you are. I've met tons of ppl online and i've met many of those personally and we've become strong friends. But I still have my real life friends, those same people who've been these for me for 15-20 years.
(me again under proper nick)
I get 1Mb connection for less than 30. It's affordable and it's fast enough for surfing, no it ain't cutting edge but it's good. And i'm comparing this to Ireland where a heck of a lot of people have simply zero access to broadband.
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To echo what others have been saying... It was released last week as *an automatic update*. I've had it a week now but there's no way i'd actually go and manually download it.
What does "many" mean? Is it even a dozen? Out of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people living on the streets across the US & Europe? Many of these people have barely 2 cents to rub together for food, they ain't blogging, they ain't emailing and they ain't staying connected via cellphone ... Some of them have alcohol problems, some of them drug problems, some suffer from depression or other such problems, and their first concern is living to tomorrow.
As someone mentioned it's a hype story, stuff like this shouldn't be published. Fair dues to anybody who can get off the streets, but any story focussing on homeless should be looking at the majourity (99.9%) who are STILL on the streets and need help.
Rant over.
I know for a fact that some (many) PS3 parts are made in China. But like all of these products, parts are supplied from many many countries.
In my experience these assembly areas are quite mixed sex. Plus I don't think anyone has the chance to walk off with one, security is extremely tight in these sort of places (metal detectors etc), very hard to get past security with anything (I know the company who makes iPod).
I've been to some of those factories in Shenzhen, been down around the manufacturing lines too. So here's a few general observations based on my own experiences - First thing that struck me is that this guy managed to get photos! The places I visited even our mobile phones were taken from us before we entered the manufacturing area, we'd be in deep shit with security if we pulled out a camera to take pictures. You'll also notice pictures of products there ... majour security breech in my opinion!
- Secondly look what they're making, look at the cleanliness of the place. It's the reason many western countries are in trouble ... because in China they have the skills to make high-end products and they can do it cheaper and faster than the rest of us. Plus they are very highly motivated and their entire philospoy seems to be to get as much work from everywhere as they can, even if it means making a loss ... anything to take the work from us. That's why everything from the Playstation to mobile phones to the iPod is produced in China.
- About working conditions ... China is one place you do NOT want to work. Workers do seem to be treated fairly well however they are not paid much, if they are not on specific shifts then they will work VERY long hours, even through holidays and very often through the whole weekend. Many of the places they live are really shit by western standards.
Also, the working environment itself is often cramped. Much of the work is manual and there is little or no variation to it, so it's likely to make you brain dead after a while.
Another thing that stinks is that you'll often find employees from Taiwan working there .. they will always be on a higher salary than the local Chinese, even if they are doing the very same job.
Nice people though, they put up with a lot of shit.
And here's the relevant Google blog post: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/adobe-and-g oogle-team-up-for-toolbar.html
Related, from ITWire:
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/4721/53/
(troll my hole.)
...but was this not in the news already last week?
He's spot on. I downloaded a truck load of music recently (just felt the urge), probably less that 20% of it was from this century with many of the songs going back as far as the 60's (long(ish) before I was born). With online downloads available I can get all the great tunes that make up my tape collection (remember tapes[cassettes]? No?). And it ain't just old stuff, a lot of what I buy online I just can't get at my local stores because it's not popular enough.
It makes sense I think. For many people the internet & it's social communities offer a release. There's just so many more people you can meet online and communicate with. Freindships are formed quickly as it's easy, through various online social groups, to find others with very similar interests to yourself ... which may not always be possible depending on where you live. I think this is the key, personally.
On the other hand, it's not a black and white thing and it really depends on the type of person you are. I've met tons of ppl online and i've met many of those personally and we've become strong friends. But I still have my real life friends, those same people who've been these for me for 15-20 years.
(me again under proper nick) I get 1Mb connection for less than 30. It's affordable and it's fast enough for surfing, no it ain't cutting edge but it's good. And i'm comparing this to Ireland where a heck of a lot of people have simply zero access to broadband.
It still sucks! I'm forced to use it and it pains me!