With the revelation that Apple’s products are made in factories that have broken child labor laws, according to msnbc , forcing women and children to work long hours in their factories so rich teenagers can buy their i-toys and gadgets…. is it socially responsible to let your own kid buy one? Adding to the problem, according to CNN , Apple is now being indicted by the US government for price-fixing.
Apple has the largest cash reserve of any company in the world, so why won’t they assume some responsibility for fair wages, ensure that their factory workers in China are paid and treated fairly? Since the news broke, there has been no real reaction or care from Apple. After all, the hipster dufus crowd seems ok with it: they’re buying the gadgets, apps and tunes, falling in hook like and sinker. The Apple Cult (oops, I mean Apple Community) seems more loyal than ever … blind faith and all.
Apple fell on hard times in the 80s and 90s, almost going bankrupt at one point, before being saved by Bill Gates who invested a ton of cash in Apple. The Apple operating system was clumsy, and the software was always a year behind the Windows PC version. They brought back Steve Jobbs , some say the greatest con man since Bernie Madoff, and started selling iPods to teenageers. Suddenly, they were back in profit. Then came the iPhone and iPad. Blackberry (RIM) already had the business market sewn up, so Apple went for teenagers. They sold slick iPhones to little girls, and used high school peer pressure ads to convince them they “had to have it” to be cool. Apple had become the cheerleader clique everyone disliked in high school. But… they were raking in cash.
By 2012, Apple’s war chest was bigger than any other company, even bigger then Exxon Mobile. You don’t beat “big oil” without breaking some rules. We always thought it was the very high price of i-products that filled their coffers (after all, a Samsung android phone is less than half the price and has more functionality, including flash!). Turns out there are serious questions about Apple’s social responsibility in the world. They don’t seem to care about the “poor people” they use and abuse to get to the top. So, can you really let your kid buy an iPhone?
According to Gawker ‘s Ryan Tate: “Apple’s success has been built literally on the backs of Chinese workers, many of them children and all of them enduring long shifts and the specter of brutal penalties for mistakes.”
Support for America, Joe Apple?
Here’s an idea for Apple: Spend some money supporting Americans! You’ve got a lot of cash – a ton of cash! Open a factory in the United States and put Americans to work building your products, at a fair wage! I’m not betting on that idea going far with the board. Giving up 2% of their profits to support America, well that’s just not how Apple rolls. Rotten apples don’t roll at all.
Apple doesn’t play well with others.
You’ll have to decide for yourself if you can sleep at night, knowing your teenager’s phone is helping make the world a darker place. No one can decide but you. I already shunned Apple products when I saw how poorly they work, and how incompatible they are with the rest of technology. My friends need 2 apps, a special hookup and permission from 3 Senators before they can move an i-tune from their iphone to a laptop or to their ipod. I can move songs around easily from any PC to my android phone in seconds. Easy. “It just works!” Ironic, Apple can’t use that slogan anymore.
