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All posts tagged "china"


Friday, May 21, 2010

The Cost of Our Shiny Gadgets

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 01:00 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/21/...hts-on-foxconn/

"It's obvious, by now -- or it should be -- that something's going on at Foxconn -- the owners of massive factories in China which most famously assembles Apple products (though it's also responsible for many, many others). There have been several suicide attempts this year -- at least a few of them successful (though it's been pointed out that the number is pretty much on par with the rest of China) -- and over the past few days we've seen what can only be called a shocking expose by a worker who went undercover there."

Engadget's Laura June shares her thoughts on the real cost of the gadgets we know and love - because this Foxconn issue isn't just about Apple; they make products for HP and other big OEMs. I share June's thoughts that I'm not an economist; I know enough about wages to know that they need to be appropriate for the country the workers are in...you can't just take a North American minimum wage figure and use that. On the other hand, I support the concept of a "living wage" no matter what country we're talking about - if someone can't make a reasonable living working 40 hours a week, then they're not getting paid enough (and that applies to my own country as well).

I'd be a hypocrite if I said that the plight of the workers making my gadgets was at the forefront of my mind when I opened the package on a new device, but it's definitely something I've been thinking about more lately. Do I like cheap gadgets? Yes. But would I be willing to pay 10% more, knowing that money would make its way back to the workers in the form of better pay (which would be hard to do, but possible)? Yes, I absolutely would. Would you?


Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Zune Factory in China Confirmed

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Zune Talk" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/14/microsoft-building-a-zune-factory/

"The fact that you all voted the Zune "Worst Gadget of the Year" in the recent Engadget Awards doesn't seem to be causing any hand-wringing in Redmond, as Microsoft confirmed today that they're building a dedicated Zune factory in China with an unnamed partner to crank out the oft-rumored next-gen Zune. It looks like Toshiba's not going to be involved this time around, as Zune marketing director Jason Reindorp has been quoted as saying that the rush to get the original Zune to market "forced us to take a look around at what was on the shelf...and get it out there," while this time they're interested in "the flexibility and control we have in creating a device from scratch." Ouch. Sorry, Tosh."

We reported on this a couple of months ago as a rumour, but it's been confirmed now: Microsoft's Zune factory is next to their Xbox 360 factory, and this means that future Zunes will not be manufactured by Toshiba and slapped with a Microsoft logo like the first generation product was. Ultimately I think this is what Microsoft should have done in the first place - the Zune was rushed to market with off the shelf parts, and it shows. Microsoft desperately wanted to get into the market though, and they were prepared to take their lumps to do so - and what lumps they've taken! Looking forward, this will hopefully be nothing but good news for them: tighter control over the product, 100% influence over the design. I can't wait to see what they come up with...

Tags: china, factory

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