In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

[DainBramaged]

Source: NY Times

The explosion ripped through Building A5 on a Friday evening last May, an eruption of fire and noise that twisted metal pipes as if they were discarded straws.

When workers in the cafeteria ran outside, they saw black smoke pouring from shattered windows. It came from the area where employees polished thousands of iPad cases a day.

Two people were killed immediately, and over a dozen others hurt. As the injured were rushed into ambulances, one in particular stood out. His features had been smeared by the blast, scrubbed by heat and violence until a mat of red and black had replaced his mouth and nose.

“Are you Lai Xiaodong’s father?” a caller asked when the phone rang at Mr. Lai’s childhood home. Six months earlier, the 22-year-old had moved to Chengdu, in southwest China, to become one of the millions of human cogs powering the largest, fastest and most sophisticated manufacturing system on earth. That system has made it possible for Apple and hundreds of other companies to build devices almost as quickly as they can be dreamed up.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html?_r=1

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“And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China.”

[No Elephants]

1. The Daily Show did a bit on how nets are being put around factories in the hopes of saving

workers in China who have been attempting to jump to their deaths.

With classic nth degree understatement, Stewart said something like, "I believe that's called 'treating the symptom.'"



The plutonomy is alive and well, folks, but it kills people in so many ways.

Speaking of which.....

Hey, SCOTUS Justices, when was the last time you heard about corporations trying to commit suicide over working conditions?

[aquart]

2. The great Steve Jobs-for-China.

Continue to worship him.