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Monday, September 24, 2012

Tech The Truth About Apple's iPhone 5

Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 7:44 AM

Facility that reportedly makes parts for Apple's iPhone 5 closed after 5,000 police put down a riot [nvolving as many as 2,000 employees and] injured 40...

The fight, the cause of which was under investigation, erupted on Sunday night at a privately managed dormitory near a Foxconn Technology Group factory in the northern city of Taiyuan, the company and Chinese police said.

The company and police said the violence was not work-related and grew out of a personal dispute, but comments posted on Chinese Internet bulletin boards said it might have erupted after a security guard hit an employee.

At the end of the day, what Mike Daisey said about the Apple corporation is brutally true. The universe works that way sometimes. With indirection, direction is found.

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At the end of the day, what Mike Daisey said about the Apple corporation is brutally true

It might be more accurate to say that what Mike Daisey said about Apple reflects brutal truths, while distractingly and disastrously distorting those brutal truths.

Or, in other words, Fnck Apple, and also Fnck Daisey.

Posted by Warren Terra on September 24, 2012 at 8:21 AM

Apple does not give a shit about consumers or workers. They do not believe that consumers nor their workers have rights. It has been Steve Job's business philosophy since day one.

They do make a higher quality product though, so there is that. Take your pick.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on September 24, 2012 at 8:23 AM

Jobs', rather.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on September 24, 2012 at 8:24 AM

Grateful that my iPhone 5 shipped before all this went down.

Posted by redbelt on September 24, 2012 at 8:33 AM

Before calling it "brutally true," or just plain "true," I'd like to see less ambiguous reporting. "Facility that reportedly makes parts for Apple's iPhone 5" is not "Facility that makes parts for Apple's iPhone 5." It means that they can't confirm what the parts are, or for whom they're made.

Before judging, we must always insist on the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth.

Posted by Matt from Denver on September 24, 2012 at 8:38 AM

Kind of like that factory in China that Bain was going to buy that Mitt Romney visited. Where the employees were kept behind barbed wire and guard towers to keep out all the prospective employees who thought the way to get a job there was to break in.

Posted by shambhaladawa on September 24, 2012 at 8:43 AM

I assume that Charles and Theodore don't own/use any products made by the following companies. Because, chances are high that Foxconn manufactured it or parts for it.

Acer Inc. (Taiwan)[41]
Amazon.com (United States)[7]
Apple Inc. (United States)[42]
Cisco (United States)[43]
Dell (United States)[44]
Hewlett-Packard (United States)[45]
Intel (United States)[46]
Microsoft (United States)[9]
Motorola Mobility (United States)[44]
Nintendo (Japan)[47]
Nokia (Finland)[42]
Sony (Japan)[8]
Toshiba (Japan) [48]
Vizio (United States)[49]

Posted by nador on September 24, 2012 at 8:51 AM

the fantasy of our bright future in dense urban cities sipping lattes and coddling our iPhones may just be a lie...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/techno…

Posted by south downtown on September 24, 2012 at 9:00 AM

@4

You are a despicable human being.

Posted by Confluence on September 24, 2012 at 9:07 AM

Didn't Fritz Lang cover this 80 years ago?

Posted by Teslick on September 24, 2012 at 9:09 AM

@10,
and Upton Sinclair about 20 years before that.

@2,

They [apple] do make a higher quality product though, so there is that.

I disagree that they make a higher quality product. Their customer service reps go above and beyond the call of duty to kiss their customer's asses though.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on September 24, 2012 at 9:23 AM

Nobody comments on the report that 5,000 police officers were sent to quell the riot...?

Nobody? What the hell kind of overreaction is that to send that many cops, and who even has that many cops? Oh yeah, China does.

Posted by Dr_Awesome on September 24, 2012 at 9:28 AM

It's not just Apple. As the beeb points out: "Foxconn is not just used by Apple, but by all the biggest tech companies in the world. Some of its clients include HP, Microsoft, Nokia and Sony."

We can dump on Apple, it's fair criticism, but we should bitch loudly about the others, too.

Posted by rainbird on September 24, 2012 at 9:32 AM

How is this even possible in the workers paradise that is the People's Republic of China?

Posted by Westside forever on September 24, 2012 at 9:34 AM

Did you read this on your iPhone?

Posted by balmontguy on September 24, 2012 at 10:11 AM

@7 -- most of the anti WTO protestors used those products, also wore shirts made in the third world. those with cars owned hondas and camry's and VW's made abroad, too. they are anti trade only when marching on their shoes made in china and bought for really cheap prices!

Posted by faux anti WTO on September 24, 2012 at 10:13 AM

@7: Yeah, they don't give a shit about foreign workers either. Since the post was about Apple, I did not think it necessary to also list every international company that has a poor labor record.

Unless of course, you are just making that "well its ok that Apple does it, because others do too" argument I hear so often.

But at least other companies still think that consumer's rights exist, and let you actually own the products you buy.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on September 24, 2012 at 11:22 AM

@17, hmmm, didn't realize that Apple owns the computer I am using to type this response. Interesting.

Posted by nador on September 24, 2012 at 11:39 AM