Apple Driving Workers to Threaten Mass Suicide? The Pathologies of the Modern Corporation
Here in my household, we are swimming in Apple products. We have four iPhones, although only three of them are currently in use. We have an iPod and an iPad. We have a MacBook and a MacBook Air (on which this post is currently being composed). We have two iBooks in storage, along with my iMac, which dates to the summer of 2000. It still boots up and works just fine.
Im not an Apple fanboy. I just prefer products that work well, rarely ever crash, and help me create value. Apple products meet those needs perfectly, whereas most PCs Ive used simply don't.
If those were the only things I cared about in life, I wouldnt give those products a second thought. But theres more to life than a functional piece of consumer electronics. Those items should exist to help me do the things in life that I want to do, to help me live a better life. Theyre tools, not ends.
Even thats not sufficient. One of my main goals in life is to build a better world, to ease suffering, end oppression, and provide equality all in order that others may have the freedom to pursue their own dreams. A well-designed product can certainly help that process along. But what if the way that product is made actually undermines those broader goals? Suddenly, theres a problem.
Read more: http://www.alternet.org/vision/153873/apple_driving_workers_to_threaten_mass_suicide_the_pathologies_of_the_modern_corporation/?page=1
Got to love this part:
We sell iPhones in over a hundred countries, a current Apple executive said. We dont have an obligation to solve Americas problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.