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Interesting NYT Article
Robert Brown
Editor/VFX/Colorist – FCP, Smoke, Quantel Pablo, After Effects, 3DS MAX, Premiere Pro -
34 Replies
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Looks as if Apple now falls into a new realm of uncomfortable press – with the likes of Kim Kardashian, Nike, Kathie Lee Gifford, Disney, and other sweatshop operators.
I guess those shiny new IPads and IPhones aren’t quite as cool when you factor in the human misery which makes them possible – or does the coolness factor trump sweatshop misery?
So…the logic here would be…”Our products are in such demand, and we are making so many millions of dollars…safety and quality of life just can’t be factored in. If we made the workplaces safe, and gave the workers a living wage, we’d only make 10 Billion instead of 15 billion!”
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
[Joseph W. Bourke] “So…the logic here would be…”Our products are in such demand, and we are making so many millions of dollars…safety and quality of life just can’t be factored in. If we made the workplaces safe, and gave the workers a living wage, we’d only make 10 Billion instead of 15 billion!”
“Indeed. I think that would be the logic.
And Robert, thanks for posting.
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I think that focusing on Apple is unjust.
I bet that the guys that makes your NIKEs in Vietnam support worst conditions than those working for Apple in China.
I don’t know if most people know that all the wars and massacres going on in central Africa since years, are about the control of the mines of coltan; a little shit that everyone carry on his pocket inside the mobile phone.
Blaming Apple is easy, but lets think of the human cost of every single thing that we see or we touch or we eat every single day and lets get ashamed ourself.
rafael -
Well, that is the dilemma, isn’t it. Where do you start?
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Lets’ start with Apple.
We all use it – we could all influence a change.
Bill Gates is out there and trying to change the world why not Apple?
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Hopefully, it has already started.
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[Rafael Amador] “Blaming Apple is easy, but lets think of the human cost of every single thing that we see or we touch or we eat every single day and lets get ashamed ourself.”
The point of the article is not to blame Apple, although some people may use it to do so. It merely displays Apple as a functional poster child of a system that, in order to meet the demands of consumers, it has to rely on increasing human costs to keep going. It reinforces your own point, Rafael.
“In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world, in part by mastering global manufacturing. Apple and its high-technology peers — as well as dozens of other American industries — have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history.”“Apple is not the only electronics company doing business within a troubling supply system. Bleak working conditions have been documented at factories manufacturing products for Dell, Hewlett-Packard, I.B.M., Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Sony, Toshiba and others. ”
“Executives at other corporations report similar internal pressures. This system may not be pretty, they argue, but a radical overhaul would slow innovation. Customers want amazing new electronics delivered every year.”
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Ah – so we kill and maim the workers so that innovation can proceed at a blazing pace – of course that is pretty much negated by the fact that every new personal computer processor which comes out allows for only about a 15 percent increase in processor speed. If they gave away a 100 percent increase (which they could, by the way), we wouldn’t have to purchase new computers every few years to keep up with the software bloat.
And of course, many of the companies I mentioned earlier did get bagged, and got the fines and the slap on the wrist which is so common when profit trumps the human condition. Try boycotting Apple in large masses, and you’ll probably see the manufacturing being moved to the US. Of course, we’re becoming the third world country now, so they can probably get cheaper labor here in a year or so!
The trick is for everyone to start thinking about what impact each and every item that we use, or eat, every day, affects the people and environment of the world. As soon as anyone (anywhere) starts feeling that “we’re” better than the people in some other country, we open up the doors for the next Hitler, or Stalin, or Papa Doc Duvalier, or Pol Pot…or even the more benign dictators (corporate and otherwise) who are never brought to task.
What’s wrong with a boycott starting with Apple? The core is looking pretty rotten these days. So much for the friendly, hip, smiley-faced, everyone’s invited to the party image of their marketing machine.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
[Joseph W. Bourke] “What’s wrong with a boycott starting with Apple?”
Nothing, but where do you stop?
Steve Connor
“FCPX Agitator”
Adrenalin Television -
You don’t stop – every time we become complacent, or say, “there’s nothing one person can do about it…” is when the trouble starts.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com
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