There are so many idiotic comments in this thread it's absolutely ridiculous.Foxconn is a brand name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., which employs (according to Google Finance) 211,xxx people. Where the author of the article got the "200,000 in a single plant" idea is beyond me. Frankly, that would be impossible.p.s. I work in electronics manufacturing for a competitor of Foxconn. I used to work for a cell phone mfr in a plant that employeed 4,000 people in a 1,000,000sqft factory to turn out just over 1,000,000 handsets per month. I know what I'm talking about.p.p.s. Part of China's employment laws require factories to house workers in dormitories. This is mostly because so many factory laborers come from several days (by bus, bike, foot, ...) away and are by default forced to live at work. Many only travel home on holidays.
>>> just because a job pays doesn't mean it pays well, or enough for that matter. i may not know the local economy of the city in which these people work, but 27 a month with 15 hour days seems awfuly low---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You're absolutley right that they're shoveling the s**t of the rich, but they're better off themselves for doing it. Rural farming areas in China are incredibly, incredibly poor, and the more the workforce makes the transition to factories and industry the more the country will move forward.If you look at it on an individual basis from factory to factory, it doesn't look pretty. But, on the whole, it's like a lot of tiny boats on a slowly rising water level. Things will be better, much better, if not for this generation, then for the next one. I realize that sounds awfully inhuman, but we got through the Industrial Revolution okay in the end in the West, and the majority of us have a vastly better standard of living because of it.
please explain how it is a travesty.how are apple fanboys refuting what is said in macworld? i havent seen any posts claiming that the article is inaccurate.
'I realize that sounds awfully inhuman, but we got through the Industrial Revolution okay in the end in the West, and the majority of us have a vastly better standard of living because of it.'yeah, we did so well we placed our production burden on countries we know will work for peanuts. The thing is, our industrial revolution was production for ourselves, not little trinkets for the brits or something. Chinas employment conditions are terrible as it is, why take advantage of that and give them s**tty jobs? yeah, be greatful for the little money coming in as opposed to none, but it's still little money. just because you CAN pay them pennies a day doesn't mean you SHOULD."hey, let's get all these starving etheopian kids to make our shoes! We'll give them one bowl of rice for every 5 kids working 3/4ths of the day. it'll be really really cheap because all we gotta do is give them a little rice. and i MEAN little. Hey, if it werent for us, they wouldn't have that 1/5th of a rice bowl! they'd have nothing! they should be kissing our feet we're so generous!"
sam10685Jun 12, 2006
"are you kidding me??? do you know how many people are in china??"isn't there close to 2 billion? 200,000 people is not really a lot.
bigelliotJun 12, 2006
There are so many idiotic comments in this thread it's absolutely ridiculous.Foxconn is a brand name of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., which employs (according to Google Finance) 211,xxx people. Where the author of the article got the "200,000 in a single plant" idea is beyond me. Frankly, that would be impossible.p.s. I work in electronics manufacturing for a competitor of Foxconn. I used to work for a cell phone mfr in a plant that employeed 4,000 people in a 1,000,000sqft factory to turn out just over 1,000,000 handsets per month. I know what I'm talking about.p.p.s. Part of China's employment laws require factories to house workers in dormitories. This is mostly because so many factory laborers come from several days (by bus, bike, foot, ...) away and are by default forced to live at work. Many only travel home on holidays.
canadiens1160Jun 13, 2006
>>> just because a job pays doesn't mean it pays well, or enough for that matter. i may not know the local economy of the city in which these people work, but 27 a month with 15 hour days seems awfuly low---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You're absolutley right that they're shoveling the s**t of the rich, but they're better off themselves for doing it. Rural farming areas in China are incredibly, incredibly poor, and the more the workforce makes the transition to factories and industry the more the country will move forward.If you look at it on an individual basis from factory to factory, it doesn't look pretty. But, on the whole, it's like a lot of tiny boats on a slowly rising water level. Things will be better, much better, if not for this generation, then for the next one. I realize that sounds awfully inhuman, but we got through the Industrial Revolution okay in the end in the West, and the majority of us have a vastly better standard of living because of it.
trafnarJun 13, 2006
billyliberty, please explain what they are doing that is immoral, was there something in the article that suggested immoral behavior?
trafnarJun 13, 2006
please explain how it is a travesty.how are apple fanboys refuting what is said in macworld? i havent seen any posts claiming that the article is inaccurate.
pabsterJun 13, 2006
Rebrad, I like the Clinton reference.Although I find him IMMEASURABLY more annoying than ANY Apple fanboy I've met.
everfallingJun 13, 2006
'I realize that sounds awfully inhuman, but we got through the Industrial Revolution okay in the end in the West, and the majority of us have a vastly better standard of living because of it.'yeah, we did so well we placed our production burden on countries we know will work for peanuts. The thing is, our industrial revolution was production for ourselves, not little trinkets for the brits or something. Chinas employment conditions are terrible as it is, why take advantage of that and give them s**tty jobs? yeah, be greatful for the little money coming in as opposed to none, but it's still little money. just because you CAN pay them pennies a day doesn't mean you SHOULD."hey, let's get all these starving etheopian kids to make our shoes! We'll give them one bowl of rice for every 5 kids working 3/4ths of the day. it'll be really really cheap because all we gotta do is give them a little rice. and i MEAN little. Hey, if it werent for us, they wouldn't have that 1/5th of a rice bowl! they'd have nothing! they should be kissing our feet we're so generous!"
glenraJun 13, 2006
(accidental dup - deleted)
ciusJun 27, 2006
Maybe you're eating steak, but I'm eating Ramen too.