Foxconn's Factories Visited By Nightline, iDevice Builders Finally Speak
Now this, this is pretty insane. For quite some time now, ABC's Nightline has been attempting to gain access to the behind-the-scenes nature where iAnything products are built. But in typical Apple fashion, the company has remained pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing. But there's something even Apple can't ignore: massive public pressure. While the company has been getting away with all of this secrecy in the past, there has developed a sudden surge of interest in what exactly Apple's doing behind the scenes. Why? Because they just had their most profitable quarter ever, pulling down billions in profit in just three months -- it's the most impressive thing this side of an oil company. So with all of that money behind made, who is losing out?
Foxconn, a huge manufacturer of consumer goods in Asia, is one of the major companies that Apple turns to when they need thousands and thousands of iPad, iPhone and iAnything made. The facts aren't surprising: these folks get paid around $2 per hour, and can opt to have some pay removed for living in the dorms and being fed on-site. There is over 1.3 billion people in China, so there's no question that many of them flock to this kind of employment. To the Western World, it seems absurd, but it's a bit less so in China.
Nightline received unprecedented access to a facility in China to see what exactly went down in these massive plants, but the findings just aren't that shocking. Only a few employees mustered up the courage to speak out, and the most insane thing they said was that they think about how tired they are during long 10+ hour manufacturing shifts. One of them even confessed to never actually using a powered-on iPad, despite helping to build thousands of them.
Furthermore, the company knew Nightline was coming. This wasn't a surprise attack. The chances of Nightline actually seeing what's really going on day-to-day is slim to none. Entire factories can be made to "look" like a perfectly suitable haven in mere minutes, so you have to remember that while digging in. In truth, we may never know the real feelings of the people that build iPads for next to nothing (in Western terms), but this is certainly more than what we've known in the past. Give the Via link a look for the full 6-page report.
Foxconn, a huge manufacturer of consumer goods in Asia, is one of the major companies that Apple turns to when they need thousands and thousands of iPad, iPhone and iAnything made. The facts aren't surprising: these folks get paid around $2 per hour, and can opt to have some pay removed for living in the dorms and being fed on-site. There is over 1.3 billion people in China, so there's no question that many of them flock to this kind of employment. To the Western World, it seems absurd, but it's a bit less so in China.
Nightline received unprecedented access to a facility in China to see what exactly went down in these massive plants, but the findings just aren't that shocking. Only a few employees mustered up the courage to speak out, and the most insane thing they said was that they think about how tired they are during long 10+ hour manufacturing shifts. One of them even confessed to never actually using a powered-on iPad, despite helping to build thousands of them.
Furthermore, the company knew Nightline was coming. This wasn't a surprise attack. The chances of Nightline actually seeing what's really going on day-to-day is slim to none. Entire factories can be made to "look" like a perfectly suitable haven in mere minutes, so you have to remember that while digging in. In truth, we may never know the real feelings of the people that build iPads for next to nothing (in Western terms), but this is certainly more than what we've known in the past. Give the Via link a look for the full 6-page report.
