Joseph W. bourke
Forum Replies Created
-
Yes, but when you combine good business sense and ethics, it becomes clear that it costs more to do business in a humanitarian way. If those glass polishers were hired in the US and told to polish the glass by hand with hazardous chemicals, the Apple plant would be shut down in a heartbeat. The only reason Apple can get their glass polished on the cheap is that they CHOOSE to have it done where it’s cheap, AND it kills people.
You don’t think Apple hasn’t done a cost-benefit analysis of this and said, “Sure we can do it in the US with expensive machines for x dollars per unit. But we can do it offshore where there’s no OSHA, and sure, a few people a year will die, but we can do it for x dollars less – let’s do it.”
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
I decided to do a little homework and search around for Apple workplace violations (off shore, of course) – everyone at Apple USA is a happy camper, I’m sure. What I’m finding is astounding:
https://peoplesworld.org/rotten-apple-ipod-sweatshops-hidden-in-china/
Now we’re beginning to find out why Apple doesn’t want anyone knowing who their suppliers are – they’re busy killing off their workers.
https://news.change.org/stories/apple-admits-child-labor-sweatshops-used-to-build-iphones
https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_162-43442599/high-tech-sweat-shops-is-apple-the-next-nike/
Here’s Apple’s smiley-faced spin on the news in their 2011 Progress Report:
https://images.apple.com/supplierresponsibility/pdf/Apple_SR_2011_Progress_Report.pdfJoe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
I’m with you on this, Tony. If enough people send a “for shame” email to Apple, and it gets publicized (the tough part), then maybe they’ll be forced to think about it.
I, for one, have never owned an Apple product, although I’ve worked on their computers in other jobs (no pun intended). I think the strongest message would be a day of boycotting the Apple stores and online sales. The only message they seem to understand is the green one with George Washington’s picture on it.
Here’s an interesting piece on organizing an effective boycott:
https://www.democracyeducation.net/HowToBoycott.pdf
Here’s an even more interesting site which claims to do it for you via the web (I’ll be reading up on this tonight):
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
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 -
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 -
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 -
Shawn –
I’ll only address the stuff I have experience with:
1. I would not suggest tile flooring. What do you currently have? If it’s cement/smooth concrete, you’re in good shape. It’s easy to paint over, there is no pattern in it (with tile, you’re stuck with the tile pattern no matter what you paint), and it holds the paint well. A tile pattern under chroma green would be a nightmare to pull a key from.
4. Sonex is the real way to go, but there are way cheaper ways to soundproof – any music supply house has a generic acoustic foam – try a Google search on Sonex, then on Acoustic Foam, and see the price differences. Also bear in mind that if you have a curtain in the studio, you may not need the acoustic treatment, since a curtain absorbs a lot of bounce.
5. You may want to just use a combination of light blocking venetian blinds and light blocking curtains, just in case you run into a situation where you actually want some natural light.
That’s my two cents. It would be a good idea to discuss budget, as Mark mentioned. You don’t want to cut corners on quality if you have a real budget – but then again, there are some places where you can get the same results for a lot cheaper than the high-end options.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Hi Jeremy –
I’ve been to rural China, and one of their smaller cities – Nanning, in Guangxi Province, about 50 miles from the Viet Nam border (about 5 million people – not many of them caucasian). It was a good lesson to me to see that a lot more of the world doesn’t look like me. I was in a minute minority of about 7 people in a city of 5 million.
It’s funny, but when I got back from China people suddenly considered me an expert on China – they’d ask these broad, general questions, and expect me to know it all. I’d say, “I’ve only seen about one ten thousandth of China.”, but they still expected me to know something they didn’t. The rural people were friendly, as were the city people, and I did find out that the further from Beijing you are, the less the one child rule applies. There’s also a great bit of confusion on the part of a people who were used to having the government take care of everything (job, housing, food), and suddenly capitalism is creeping in, and people can own their own businesses, homes, and to a certain extent, control their own destinies. The Chinese people (the one’s I met) don’t quite know how to deal with this, although many are getting rich off the shift to CommuCapitalism.
But you can bet that most of those succeeding hugely in business in China are those with close ties to the Communist Party, or have family members who were, or are, high ranking in the military. If you want an interesting (albeit controlled) look at what’s going on in China, take a look at the English edition of the People’s Daily Online, the official newspaper of the PRC:
https://english.peopledaily.com.cn/
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
I’d never seen any of Bill Hillsman’s work – great messages – I probably didn’t see them because there wasn’t enough PAC money to air them properly. I like his approach.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
Wow, Craig – you’ve got me on the wrong side of the fence. I came up in the sixties – I’ll be one of the guys behind the barricades, helping to bring the system down. I hope you’ll join me.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com