I think it's time for me to check out of the smartphone game. I really like them for travel, but this is crazy.
Why not just ditch every piece of technology then?
Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
11–20 of 161 posts
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#12I think it's time for me to check out of the smartphone game. I really like them for travel, but this is crazy.
Why not just ditch every piece of technology then?
It's a really tough call. Is it ok to keep using the phone i have? well, yeah. the damage is done. i'd think of that as something like a vintage fur. the animal won't get any more dead.
the bigger question is, is working at foxconn better than starving on the farm? I don't know much about rural China. I have a hard time believing that people would be driven to suicide without the factory job.
also, a lot of stuff i could likely make myself - i'm just to freaking lazy to buy the parts, solder them up, 3d print a case, and code up the OS.
I'm not saying every company needs to be lilly white, but i'd pay an extra $50 for a device that had a significantly lower probability of driving the maker to suicide.
-- edit -- to be clear, i could get a lot of what i want out of something like this: http://www.adafruit.com/products/330 + wifi + gps. i'm pretty sure i can get a cellular connection via a sparkfun board.
of course, i'd never get through security with a battery hungry monstrosity like that, but it's pretty doable.
Also, someone will probably point out the parts come from places far worse than foxconn, so perhaps i'm screwed.
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#13Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not just ditch every piece of technology then?
It's a really tough call. Is it ok to keep using the phone i have? well, yeah. the damage is done. i'd think of that as something like a vintage fur. the animal won't get any more dead. the bigger question is, is working at foxconn better than starving on the farm? I don't know much about rural China. I have a hard time believing that people would be driven to suicide without the factory job. also, a lot of stuff i c…
I'm not sure what marknutter's intent was, but Foxconn really manufactures a lot of stuff beyond smartphones. PCs typically have Foxconn parts in them, as do routers. Any tablet you own has a good probability of being touched by Foxconn. Even if you get away from Foxconn completely, a lot of Chinese manufacturers have the same problems with less press.
So the more pertinent question in my mind is, "Is there any company that sells ethically built technical gear?"
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#15I think it's time for me to check out of the smartphone game. I really like them for travel, but this is crazy.
I'm conflicted. Conditions for the lower class in China are abominable with industry or without. The alternative for those workers is to go back to their home village and do subsistence farming. It's not like they have a ton of options.
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not just ditch every piece of technology then?
Ditch every piece of technology that's got a foundation in exploitation and human suffering? Challenge Accepted.
So you're going to basically have to resign from your job and probably stop using every piece of tech you currently do.
I know this sounds overly snarky, but it's true. Those are the options. Either get out of tech on "principal", or realize that would be cutting off your nose to spite your face, and use these devices to help change the way of things.
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not just ditch every piece of technology then?
It's a really tough call. Is it ok to keep using the phone i have? well, yeah. the damage is done. i'd think of that as something like a vintage fur. the animal won't get any more dead. the bigger question is, is working at foxconn better than starving on the farm? I don't know much about rural China. I have a hard time believing that people would be driven to suicide without the factory job. also, a lot of stuff i c…
> It's a really tough call. Is it ok to keep using the phone i have? well, yeah. the damage is done. i'd think of that as something like a vintage fur. the animal won't get any more dead.
It could be argued that by getting rid of your phone, the person buying from you (or being given it) would not buy the new smartphone that they would otherwise have.
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#18FTA: (apple) so obsessed it even programmed Siri to avert uncomfortable questions about its origins
... freakin' really??? And I suppose that when I ask Siri in jest to open the pod bay doors, I should be worried that my phone is plotting my demise based on the response?
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#19I think it's time for me to check out of the smartphone game. I really like them for travel, but this is crazy.
I'm conflicted. Conditions for the lower class in China are abominable with industry or without. The alternative for those workers is to go back to their home village and do subsistence farming. It's not like they have a ton of options.
Or you could buy a Galaxy Nexus, made in Korea. I agree, those workers are probably better off working at Foxconn than if they stayed in rural areas and survived by subsistence farming, but it's still a moral grey area. It's akin to saying that slaves lived longer and in better conditions picking cotton in Alabama than growing beans in Africa. It might be true, but it doesn't make it good.
Re: Foxconn workers threatened mass suicide for their working conditions
#20FTA: (apple) so obsessed it even programmed Siri to avert uncomfortable questions about its origins ... freakin' really??? And I suppose that when I ask Siri in jest to open the pod bay doors, I should be worried that my phone is plotting my demise based on the response?
I think this may be a reference to the recent episode of This American Life on the topic [0]. On that program they use this issue as a light introduction to the main theme, just a curious feature of Siri that when you dive deeper leads to an interesting story.
[0] http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/454/m...