Job Discussion Forums

Mikalina · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 1:50 pm Post subject:

No. The article shows that Foxcomm is bad and that Apple uses them. It shows that the main reason profits are so high at Apple is the net cost of its items - items made by Foxcomm and charged at low prices - due to the conditions of the workers.

I agree the the article's raison d'etre is to explain that everyone is 'winning' except the workers but my point is that Apple use this company to make their profits; Steve Jobs' reputation is based on the production and sale of these products; we need to questions exactly what we think is success and whether the price to be paid for it is tenable.

johnslat · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:29 pm Post subject:

Not to worry - karma is working. I have it on good authority that Mr. Jobs has been reincarnated as a future Foxxcom minion.

In other words, Jobs got jobbed.

Regards,
John

Mikalina · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 3:12 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Johnslat. That made me smile.

My worry is about what I can do so that I don't discover one day that I've been re-ncarnated as a Foxcomm minion.

johnslat · Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 5:48 pm Post subject:

Dear Mikalina.

I think that heeding the words of Henry James might ensure that you escape such a dire fate:

"Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind."

Regards,

John

wangdaning · Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 3154

Evil Foxconn, employing 16 year old vocational students. Evil, evil, evil Twisted Evil

China still allows students to opt out of a university route and be trained in a vocation. Do people make money off it, yes. Do the students learn skills that are beneficial, yes.

The pay at Foxconn is actually relatively higher than what people made assembling electronics in the US (not many people in the US have the skill to assembly electronics nowadays). This is why people leave their hometowns to go work at the factory, they get money.

The biggest problem is the living environment. Being housed in company facilities that are small, people tend to get a bit crazy.

As for Jobs, well, there is a good Southpark episode that says something like, putting already existing technology in an appealing case and charging more.
Jobs did not invent the PC (he got a grant from the US that helped him sell many computers), he did not invent the personal media player, he did not invent the smart phone, and he did not invent the touch pad pc.

People dying, especially early because of disease, is a sad thing, but not a loss to all humanity (we are still here and apple will still package and overprice new technology).