It seems that quite a few children were discovered working in the factories where they assemble Apple products and components. Why this would come as a surprise to anyone is beyond me. Did people think Apple had a special brushed-aluminum facility surrounded by parks and fountains, where volunteer workers happily put together iPads just for the chance to be part of something magical? No, Apple is a gargantuan electronics company just like any other. I keep telling you! Hold them to a higher standard than Acer or Samsung and you’re bound to be disappointed.
The truth, as John pointed out in his series of articles describing China’s manufacturing districts, is that they’re all sweatshops of varying quality. Even 75% of the workflow is overseen correctly and employs no minors or what have you, what about the subcontracting for this piece of memory or that hinge? Can you guarantee that a fair wage was paid for that, or that kids weren’t involved?
It’s a fact of our globalized and consumer-oriented culture that we need to have stuff created as quickly and cheaply as possible. I’m not taking a position on this, I’m just saying that’s the way it is right now, and stuff like kids getting a dollar a day in Chinese factories is a consequence of it.
Props to CrunchGear
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Devin Coldewey… I pitty you… you twisted the facts… you better go back to high school I guess so that you would know how to write a factual article… crunch gear what is this? you are allowing this kind of reporting…
Here’s a link to what real reporting looks like. http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/01/tuaw-fact-check-apple-using-underage-labor-no/
Btw; I’m not saying nor did say that it’s okay. I’m just saying that that’s how it is regardless of how you might think about it or if it.
Okay, so let’s pay these kids real wages. OOPS! Product prices are too high now and consumers aren’t buying so the company went under. Now these kids have no job and no way to provide for themselves so they’ll probably turn to a life of crime and stealing and thus bringing society there down that much more. Thanks a lot you short sighted “everything in the world is simple because I’m ignorant” asshole.
Life is complex and not fair nearly any of the time. It’s also incredibly full of serious bullshit. Get over it because there is nothing you can do about it.
As long as people want their iPad’s for $500 and not $1000 this is how it’s gonna be, people really don’t care about a chinese kid working in a factory. As long as it’s not theirs. Sad but a fact.
You know what would completely eliminate child labor in China? Affordable, desktop-sized 3D printers that could print working, pre-assembled iPads.
That would probably eliminate adult labor in China too, but hey, 3D printable iPads!
I am in possession of the facts. The child labor we’re talking about is, generally speaking, long hours of hard manual labor, not sweeping up shop or bagging groceries for minimum wage. Did you note the rest of the audit, which found that workers are underpaid, overworked, and work in dangerous conditions? You are attempting to justify child labor based on the fact that here in an incredibly rich country some kids have the choice to earn a few extra bucks at a part-time job.
Apple’s minimum hiring wage is clearly inapplicable here, as I noted, since it’s impossible to have oversight over the entire process.
And the one implication in the article (it’s not stated as fact, notice) that the factories are in China is, I think, forgivable, considering the proportion of work that goes on there and the prevalence of kids in the workforce.
I did not mention that it was done during an Apple audit because that’s not really stated in the source. It was an annual report on its manufacturers, any of which might have discovered this information on its own or been forced to investigate it by local government (or Apple).
Fortunately for you, there are no prerequisites for being a commenter!
So because the factories throw the kids a bone, everything is okay? Jesus Christ. Do you honestly think that, or are you just trying to be controversial? Because what you’re saying would justify indentured servitude, sharecropping, and every other form of wage slavery.
The point is that the factories ARE there, that they are employing these people (sub-16 or not; that’s not really my point), and that they are paying them a wage that is barely at the subsistence level. Company executives make millions in profit, and the workers don’t even know because they can’t afford a damn newspaper.
As to your point, that they would have no job if the factory weren’t there, I grant you that. But is this constant labor–you can hardly call it a job if you’re not compensated in any real way–really better than a life on the streets selling crap? At least on the streets, you’re not constantly under the whip of a supervisor and you can decide where you go. There is nothing quite so degrading to human dignity as a sweatshop floor, where the soul of man is reduced to a number on a time sheet.
I just really hope you don’t mean what you say.
Let’s nickname the iPad the iTod then
I agree with Dean. Apple conduct the audit, they are being proactive in attempting to police their suppliers, an action that few other companies are doing. They should be applauded for trying to uphold the standards that they have set for their suppliers.
First off, let’s get all the facts here, Mr. Coldewey:
1) You say “children” (and technically, at least in the US, they are), but these kids were 15 years old – something rather idiotically (though, I’m sure, quite intentionally) left out by you. I, myself, had a job in the US when I was 14. It was in Maryland, and I had a work permit, so it was legal.
2) Apple’s minimum hiring age – in ANY country – is 16. In New Jersey, it is legal to work in some jobs as young as 13.
3) Your assumption that the factories were in China is just that – an assumption. All anyone outside of Apple and the factories themselves know is that they were located in one of several countries including China, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, AND the United States.
4) You neglect to mention the important fact that this was discovered during an audit conducted by Apple.
5) If you would like to be called a “writer,” you need to do more than just know how to type things into your computer.
And on the other side of the line, you have kids earning money so that they can afford to survive. Why do you think these kids are there in the first place? In most of these situations these kids aren’t slaves, they’re just working for their well being. Is that always the case? No, of course not. Is it far more often than we realize before instantly shouting your outrage like a finely tuned reflex mechanism? Most definitely. Get a clue and start using those big beautiful brains of yours. So what if they’re vastly underpaid? If they were given truly fair wages based on what WE would get, then these factories wouldn’t even be there and they would be making nothing.
The larger the company is, the more common it becomes.
yeah it’s disgusting but we’re to blame as well because we all want our gadgets as cheap as possible and that’s not doable without this type of labor. Sad stuff all around.
uh they had to come up with ’so much money’ some how chief
That’s despicable! Such a large corporation with so much money still do this kind of stuff?