Apple

Apple products are a huge part of my life and until reading the New York Times article on the blood and sweat that is behind the making of Apple products I had no idea of the working conditions that the assemblers of Apple products experience. I think it is appalling that a company can get away with using this type of labor because they are such a high profile company. Other manufacturing is watched very closely, such as pharmaceuticals, companies involved in these endeavors go through tons of procedures to ensure the well-being of their workers and their buyers. Why can’t other industries be watched the same way? Right now Apple is the richest company in the world. The company is sitting on $100 billion in the bank. The suppliers of Apple products would change everything if Apple told them they didn’t have another choice but obviously Apple has not done so. Apple is manufacturing these products in China for a reason, it is cheap labor and the government does not have the strict laws on labor that the United States and European countries have.

This article has not prevented me from using my apple products because it is not just Apple that is using the cheap labor in China, it is all of the technology companies. Apple products are still the best on the market, in my opinion, and it is going to take a lot more to prevent people from using their products. Though I feel that even if Apple had to raise prices in order to use better working practices then I think people would still pay.

My consciousness has been raised about this issue. Before reading this article I did not know what was going on in Foxcon and in other suppliers' factories. I think people need to be aware of what is going on so we can successfully change the working practices in these companies in China that make Apple products. Recently I did sign two petitions on making a more ethical iPhone 5. More people need to be aware of what was sacrificed to make their electronic devices that we take for granted.