Comments on: Apple Stores face protests over iPhone labor ethics

By: warex3D

warex3D — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Teachme master :ironic mode of:

By: warex3D

warex3D — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:01:00 +0000

Teachme master :ironic mode of:

By: firmsoil

firmsoil — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:49:00 +0000

In practice (Cr)Apple Inc

Employs >90% of labor outside the US (via tightly controlled secretive contractors like Foxconn)

Keeps nearly two thirds of its cash pile outside the US tax system

By: companyemails

companyemails — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:40:00 +0000

While I get What people are complaining about, this is an industry-wide issue not just an apple one. Unless the folks complaining are willing to pay more for their gadgets and companies are willing to accept even narrower margins, I see no end to these practices.

One thing worth noting is that while the NYC apple store in grand central is an obvious target for these protests, it is located entirely inside grand central station, which is private property. The protesters have no legal right to protest inside grand central, and because that station is a major possible terrorist target and a key transportation center, it is very heavily guarded and policed. There is no way these guys could hold a protest inside the station and not find themselves dispersed immediately. They would have much better luck protesting at any of NYC’s 5 other apple stores which are on street fronts and protesters can legally protest on the sidewalk.

By: tastygroove

tastygroove — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:09:00 +0000

Nice uninformed rant. A shining example of the how wrong Apple haters are. I’ll leave it for another to take you down point for point, but let’s just say, watching pirates of silicon.valley doesn’t make you a tech historian.

By: tastygroove

tastygroove — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:06:00 +0000

I plan on protesting at Walmart for their entire electronics and toy sections. But specifically, the xbox section.

By: CynicalSidney2

CynicalSidney2 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:52:00 +0000

apple i love you but i have to set the record straight:
apple first started its business as a ripoff of xerox’s prototype parc computer, apple made a version of xerox parc oriented toward the business consumers and in doing so they violated more of xerox’s copyrights than bill gates ever got out of appleapple transfers all of its intellectual properties out of the US, where educated talents created them in the first place, and into offshore tax havens in order to dodge corporate tax.now they are engaging in copyright warfares against other MNCs, it’s quite an irony, apple has betrayed its founding principles, set forth in the original hammer throwing ad which won the hearts of millions of apple fans world wide. concerning the battle of mobile operating systems, both android and ios are essentially based on different distributions of *nix (unix/linux), the current battle playing out in the courts is completely dubious, it’s a best example of patent rights abuse. moreover apple is increasely divesting from open platforms, instead apple is now monopolizying and controlling the end user experience, which limits freedom of choice and economic freedom. software such as itunes are programmed in a way to restrict functionalities and extensions to the end users, and infringe on their right to privacy, other personal liberties, and their right to pursuit of happiness.even worse, apple’s iphones are being specifically tied to contracted carriers when they are fully capable of supporting most other carriers; the lack of availablility of open iphones strongly suggests apple has become a monopoly that will try to undermine consumer freedom at every turn in pursuit of highest level of profit in the history of mankind.
thanks to evil corporations to the likes of apple, our capitalism had been replaced by the kleptocracy. farewell economic freedom, brace for generational war, social injustice and economic enslavement.

repost #1

By: Aaron Baker

Aaron Baker — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:24:00 +0000

The CEO makes 380 million while the workers in China are packed 14 to a small room, working 12 to 16 hour days 6 days a week can’t talk while they are working, etc..
China allows abuse of capitalism and encourages these types of companies to abuse the workforce because its communism has declared trade war on us.
This is just China’s complete lack of reasonable checks and balances on capitalism versus a more sane blend of democratic republic with some socialism and a lot of capitalism.

By: techgeek01

techgeek01 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:28:00 +0000

Apple products have the LARGEST profit margins. And that is where the problem lies. A $400 computer? yeah, probably has to be made over in China for cost reasons. But a $2500 machine? no reason for it to be made over there.

Apple, with their profit margins, could EASILY make all of their products in the states AND still make a pretty decent profit. But they don’t want to, because their profit margins would be cut.

By: Carl Frederick II

Carl Frederick II — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:17:00 +0000

Apple can look at what Tiffany’s and other respected firms have been doing to manage worker conditions in their supply chain.

By: hysonmb

hysonmb — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:15:00 +0000

This is what happens when your market is socially aware types who are willing to take action. The funny thing is, Foxconn is producing much more than just Apple parts. Nintendo, Asus, Dell and many more use that same labor pool.
I do think something needs to be done and I hope a point is made, not only to Apple but to all companies that use those facilities. What they really need to do is pull those jobs out of Foxconn and make a point to the suppliers that these types of issues will cost them money and not just the lives they don’t seem to care about.

By: Peterpatina

Peterpatina — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:05:00 +0000

Yes every company that buys their stuff at qualcom or whatever they are called, should make sure conditions are fair for the worker, but Apple were the worst when it came down to negotiating a price for the work they got done there. They paid less than any other company, which means their lines of production were the worst to be working on. That’s why they had netting around the building to stop workers from killing themselves. And no they don,t make stuff for everyone in the same building. Apple secrecy. Any way, someone had to be worst and it really doesn’t matter who was, what matters now is that hopefully, things will get better for the worker, now that all this has come out. This is really the major concern, or it should be. Beats me that with today’s technology, they can’t make a series of robots on a factory line that could pump these things out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They just need to design the parts so they can be assemble quickly and efficiently so there fore they can be built quicker than any number of people could. Look at the motor industry. Crude example but you get the drift.

By: firmsoil

firmsoil — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:04:00 +0000

These modern day (Cr)Apple Thénardiers are heartless.
iAppleInc + iCommunistDictatorship = iSlaveWorkproducts ”They work women like men, and men like animals” – Girl Chen (a cry from a modern day “cosette” at Apple-FoxConn military-industrial-jail)

By: IWASBS

IWASBS — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:05:00 +0000

Of course the current paradigm is the responsibility of the industry as a whole. But, I can understand the protests that are scheduled in the US, since Apple is (theoretically) and ‘American’ company. Protests outside the US, it would seem, are unfairly singling out Apple over all the other companies complicit in the institutional enslavement of workers. Those protests outside the US should, in fact, be aimed at all the players, not just Apple. (Trust me, I am not supporting Apple, but I do expect a level playing field.)

By: Hardy

Hardy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:52:00 +0000

I am there to support anything that brings Apple’s bottom line down.

By: Hardy

Hardy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:52:00 +0000

I am there to support anything that brings Apple’s bottom line down.

By: Hardy

Hardy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:52:00 +0000

I am there to support anything that brings Apple’s bottom line down.