46 replies to this topic

[Bone]

The only problem is that they don't understand that their consumers need jobs to buy their products.

I'm fairly sure they fully understand that. The people that would be taking those jobs aren't quite their target audience.

[Morph]

Regardless of how they treat their workers, Apple is guilty of cornering the market and that just won't fly. Boo.

[McAwesome]

Let us look at Samsung as an example.

Samsung, also one of the world's largest electronics manufacturer, only believes in making their products in Korea. The workers who work at Samsung plants get paid significantly higher ($2000 as compared to $800) than those who work at FoxConn.

Samsung does not make their workers work more than 12 hours a day, overtime included. Although Samsung isn't making a ridiculous profit, they are sure as hell still making a large profit. They reported a $280m profit in the year 2010 alone. Their mobile phone sales topped the charts with $80.9m.

Apple is just filled with greedy bastards.

Edited by McAwesome, 26 May 2012 - 02:33 AM.

[McAwesome]

Apple's filled with businessmen out to make money, but isn't that the same for nearly all companies.
Samsung has businessmen still, of course, but it seems that they are interested more in making and learning with the technology.

It's not going to stop me buying my iPhone today though.

I'll kill you on the way to the Apple store >

[iargue]

It's not going to stop me buying my iPhone today though.

Exactly whats wrong with the world.

Its okay if they abuse human life, overcharge for their products, and violate human rights, its okay as long as they keep marketing a product properly so i'll buy it.

[Waser Lave]

You mean after 14 suicides in a year which made apple look bad, which made apple join the fair labor association, which in turn forced foxconn to improve their working condition?

Given that Foxconn employs over 1.2 million people 14 suicides a year is very, very low.

[NapisaurusRex]

Given that Foxconn employs over 1.2 million people 14 suicides a year is very, very low.

Put into perspective, the country of Mauritius has about 1,297,000 people and 174 suicides a year.

[Waser Lave]

Put into perspective, the country of Mauritius has about 1,297,000 people and 174 suicides a year.

And China as a whole has a suicide rate of something like 20 per 100,000 people so the suicide rate of Foxconn workers is significantly lower than that.

[NapisaurusRex]

And China as a whole has a suicide rate of something like 20 per 100,000 people so the suicide rate of Foxconn workers is significantly lower than that.

Yeah. Salt Lake City also has about 1.2 million people, but I couldn't find an individual city suicide rate for it. Utah is like top 10 in the United States for suicides though.

[iargue]

Given that Foxconn employs over 1.2 million people 14 suicides a year is very, very low.

No.

14 suicides at a SINGLE factory. All committed AT the factory, in a brutal fashion. Is not low.

Its so sad that these people killed themselves in a manner that tries to make a point, and yet people just want to ignore them. How fucked up is it that people kill themselves to try and be heard, and people just don't care? Is it no longer a big deal that fourteen people decide to jump off their employeers building within a single year? "Eh, they are Chinese, who cares"

That's just sickening. They are still people.

[Waser Lave]

No.

14 suicides at a SINGLE factory. All committed AT the factory, in a brutal fashion. Is not low.

You're talking about massive factories though, I think each factory employs something like 400-500,000 people which ends up around 3 people per 100,000 (like 14-15% of the national average). I'm not devaluing the lives of those people who decided to do it, I'm merely showing that statistically Foxconn workers have a much lower suicide rate compared with their national average.

I think it's important to look at these things objectively.

[iargue]

You're talking about massive factories though, I think each factory employs something like 400-500,000 people which ends up around 3 people per 100,000 (like 14-15% of the national average). I'm not devaluing the lives of those people who decided to do it, I'm merely showing that statistically Foxconn workers have a much lower suicide rate compared with their national average.

I think it's important to look at these things objectively.

Actually, they do not. These 14 people are higher then the average statistics for SUICIDES AT WORK. There are a lot more Foxconn employees that commit suicide at home. These 14 are singled out because they did it at work, and not somewhere else, like the rest of china does it.

[Waser Lave]

Actually, they do not. These 14 people are higher then the average statistics for SUICIDES AT WORK. There are a lot more Foxconn employees that commit suicide at home. These 14 are singled out because they did it at work, and not somewhere else, like the rest of china does it.

I don't have the statistics for how many Chinese people commit suicide in particular places.

[luvsmyncis]

I don't have the statistics for how many Chinese people commit suicide in particular places.

I can't seem to find those figures either. I'd like to know if they all left notes. Sometimes falling from a building is an accident, not suicide. Or MUUUUURRRDERRRRR.

Here's what I did find out...
More people die by suicide at the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, California than in any other place in the world.
Also, there's a forest by Mt Fuji where many people like to end it all.
An average of 13 people a year have jumped off the cliff at Beachy Head, England.
Those are the top three most popular places in the world to commit suicide. Although, I'm sure many people jump into subways all over the world.

There are many reasons why people commit suicide. Stress at work, financial woes, mental disorders, and emotional anxiety. I wonder if there's a statistic on how many pharmacists kill themselves a year. Won't someone please think of the poor doctors and dentists?? *cries*

At the end of the day, the only person you can blame for a suicide is the person who committed it. Don't get me wrong, I think it's sad. But life is full of worries and heartbreak. Some people just can't handle it. And blaming Apple for the deaths of these workers is like blaming patients for the suicides of miserable pharmacists.

[shrouded]

Exactly whats wrong with the world.

Its okay if they abuse human life, overcharge for their products, and violate human rights, its okay as long as they keep marketing a product properly so i'll buy it.

Just don't harm an animal.

[Steve]

Apple, one of the largest companies in the world, has been around since the 1980s. They became big when Steve Jobs came up with the revolutionary idea of the iPod, a device that will dwarf the Sony Walkman.

In 2011, Apple was one of the most profitable companies in the world.

Most people do not realize, however, how much Apple cares about human rights. They do not. Apple's resident manufacturer, FoxConn, makes workers work more than 12 hour shifts a day with minimum wage. The average worker earns less than $5 USD a day. They live on campus in shared rooms. This makes them available 24/7. This isn't right.

Many workers get stressed out because of these conditions. This leads to mass suicide within their campus.

What are your views on this matter?

You know, I have no sympathy, I was researching some of this a while ago, and even though Foxconn is a shit company, and the media tore it a new asshole, people were climbing over eachother to try and get hired there.

On this note, did you hear about the guy who killed himself because he lost the prototype for iphone 4?
Turns out some news blogger snatched it from what I remember.

And like SirBaggy pointed out, you can't hate a Company that chooses the cheapest route of production to keep profits high.
It's business. That's all there is to it.

Edited by Steve, 31 May 2012 - 02:05 PM.

[Norava]

So because Apple works with a company that slaves their employees, makes Apple a bad company? Okay...

[Hina]

The price is Higher

[Bone]

The price is Higher