Reviews:
 ·AT&T Southwest
| reply to meeeeeeeeee
Re: In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad said by meeeeeeeeee:I have no idea IF anything will come of it, but MAYBE we can shame the corporations and our government into acting so I posted the following petition on "We The People" at whitehouse.gov. It only recently occurred to me that that site gets far too many petitions that that branch of government has no control over. I'm not sure they have any say in this either. |
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 bobrkYou kids get offa my lawnPremium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA
·SONIC.NET
| reply to JohnInSJ
said by JohnInSJ:said by bobrk:said by JohnInSJ:But corporations are just giving consumers what they DEMAND. Would you pay $2000 for your iPhone, built in America, with no pollution, by workers paid a living wage, working in safe and clean factories? Would you pay $10,000 for that big screen TV? $5,000 for that new laptop? You would? Really?
I believe in that article that it states an iPhone would only cost $65 more if it were made in America. I did not see that anywhere in the article. Please quote that, I'd love to see it. Hmmm. I think it was in the other article about Chinese manufacturing by Apple that was in the Times. I'll have to find it. |
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| reply to howardfine
The Office of the President can propose, endorse and be a very strong lobby to Congress for any legislation. Perhaps he cannot Directly act, but he has the power to make it happen or at least get the ball rolling. |
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steven sPremium
join:2002-09-14
Dearborn, MI Reviews:
 ·WOW Internet and..
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to daveinpoway
The reason they aren't manufactured here isn't just because of the cost, they do NOT want their potential customers to see the manufacturing process. Out of sight, out of (the customer's) mind. So even if it only cost $10 more per iPad to manufacture in the US, they still wouldn't do it. |
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 FutureMonAch Du LieberPremium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2000-10-05
Seaside, CA
·Suddenlink
| reply to meeeeeeeeee
said by meeeeeeeeee:The Office of the President can propose, endorse and be a very strong lobby to Congress for any legislation. Perhaps he cannot Directly act, but he has the power to make it happen or at least get the ball rolling.
That is until Apple, Dell and Microsoft all gang up and threaten to raise prices if they are forced to move to where the conditions aren't so harsh.
Oh wait. Obama just mentioned in his speech on Tuesday, corporate tax incentives for bringing jobs back to the U.S...
- FM
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Q: How many theoretical physicists specializing in general relativity does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to hold the bulb and one to rotate the universe.
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Reviews:
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to meeeeeeeeee
said by meeeeeeeeee:he has the power to make it happen or at least get the ball rolling.
He doesn't. Only Congress can do such a thing. He can bring it up and use influence but he has no such power or authority. |
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bobrkYou kids get offa my lawnPremium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA Reviews:
·SONIC.NET
| reply to JohnInSJ
said by JohnInSJ:said by bobrk:said by JohnInSJ:But corporations are just giving consumers what they DEMAND. Would you pay $2000 for your iPhone, built in America, with no pollution, by workers paid a living wage, working in safe and clean factories? Would you pay $10,000 for that big screen TV? $5,000 for that new laptop? You would? Really?
I believe in that article that it states an iPhone would only cost $65 more if it were made in America. I did not see that anywhere in the article. Please quote that, I'd love to see it. Ah, here's the article:
»www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/busin···nted=all
It is hard to estimate how much more it would cost to build iPhones in the United States. However, various academics and manufacturing analysts estimate that because labor is such a small part of technology manufacturing, paying American wages would add up to $65 to each iPhone’s expense. Since Apple’s profits are often hundreds of dollars per phone, building domestically, in theory, would still give the company a healthy reward. |
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 DrModemPremium
join:2006-10-19
USA
kudos:1
 ·exede by ViaSat
| reply to FutureMon
said by FutureMon:said by meeeeeeeeee:The Office of the President can propose, endorse and be a very strong lobby to Congress for any legislation. Perhaps he cannot Directly act, but he has the power to make it happen or at least get the ball rolling.
That is until Apple, Dell and Microsoft all gang up and threaten to raise prices if they are forced to move to where the conditions aren't so harsh. Oh wait. Obama just mentioned in his speech on Tuesday, corporate tax incentives for bringing jobs back to the U.S... - FM I laugh at the stupid tax incentives. The taxes are the least of our worries; We don't have the factories, the supply chains or even the workforce that knows how to run them. It's all gone. To China.
Even if we started the ball rolling today it would take decades to return to our former glory. |
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| reply to howardfine
said by howardfine:said by meeeeeeeeee:he has the power to make it happen or at least get the ball rolling.
He doesn't. Only Congress can do such a thing. He can bring it up and use influence but he has no such power or authority. Presidential Influence can do wonders... Anyway, I'm hoping the added publicity will shame the corporations into acting instead of just giving lip service. One thing for certain, signing the petition won't kill any workers. |
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steven sPremium
join:2002-09-14
Dearborn, MI | Have you been awake for the past 3 years? The president alone has very little power. He can sign and veto bills, and not a whole lot more. |
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 JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
 ·PHONE POWER
·Comcast
| reply to bobrk
Right - the wages would add 33% more cost (as in, labor costs are nearly 0 now, and would go up 10fold)
Costs for environmental impact (clean factories) labor taxes, labor insurance, and all the other costs, could easily add 66%. Considering these are numbers pulled out of the asses of people who never have actually made anything, I would take them with a grain of salt.
Thanks though, for that link.
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My place : »www.schettino.us |
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 ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 | reply to daveinpoway
Who wants a refurbished iPad? |
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| reply to steven s
said by steven s:Have you been awake for the past 3 years? The president alone has very little power. He can sign and veto bills, and not a whole lot more.
Have YOU been awake ever? Public pressure sent Congress running scared on SOPA/PIPA. A President proposing something with STRONG Public sentiment now, would go VERY Far. |
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bobrkYou kids get offa my lawnPremium
join:2000-02-02
San Jose, CA | reply to JohnInSJ
I'm not sure about the 33%. An iPhone nominally costs, what, $600? The $200 price is subsidized. |
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 NezmoThe name's Bond. James Bond.Premium,MVM
join:2004-11-10
Coppell, TX
kudos:1 | reply to daveinpoway
So, let me get this straight. Because a company creates demand and consumers want the 'cheap' goods, it's okay to contract with a company that treats their workers like shit. Much of what I read in this thread seems to indicate as much. I don't care who is doing it or ignoring it or whatever; Apple, MSFT or Granny Smith, it's wrong, period.
Nice. I'm as guilty as the next person for buying stuff made by these poor people. I need to change.
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My Gallery
Formerly Nezmo  |
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Reviews:
·AT&T Southwest
| said by Nezmo:Because a company creates demand and consumers want the 'cheap' goods, it's okay to contract with a company that treats their workers like shit. Much of what I read in this thread seems to indicate as much.
From what I gather, the companies may not have known much about how the suppliers treated their workers at first and, now that their in, they can't get out. |
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FutureMonAch Du LieberPremium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2000-10-05
Seaside, CA Reviews:
·Suddenlink
| reply to Nezmo
said by Nezmo:Nice. I'm as guilty as the next person for buying stuff made by these poor people. I need to change. Society en-masse needs to change. Problem is, there's no easy way out.
In order for our economy to survive, we must spend.
Just about everything we spend on - is now made in china.
Heck even if you went so far as to make your own clothes; chances are the cloth came from china too...
- FM |
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ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 | reply to howardfine
said by howardfine:said by Nezmo:Because a company creates demand and consumers want the 'cheap' goods, it's okay to contract with a company that treats their workers like shit. Much of what I read in this thread seems to indicate as much.
From what I gather, the companies may not have known much about how the suppliers treated their workers at first and, now that their in, they can't get out. Or they simply don't care. They contracted with company X to do a job Y. Unless it affects their own bottom line, there's not much concern as to how things get done and more attention paid to the final product. |
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scross
join:2002-09-13
Cordova, TN | reply to howardfine
said by howardfine:Well, duh. They even hire people to help do that. And any company that doesn't try to do that is flat out stupid.
Well, duh, that's why we have people working for a few bucks a day overseas (and spending all of that overseas, too, what there is of it) while a US citizen could be making $10 an hour or more an hour doing that here - yet the US consumer would only be paying a dollar or two more for each unit of the product. This seems like a remarkably fair price for consumers like you and me to pay for maintaining a healthier US economy, but of course US companies don't think that way. But in won't matter much before too long, anyway, because there won't be that many US companies left to make these decisions. I expect even our much-beloved Apple will soon be facing extreme competition from cheap knock-offs and clones (actually they already are, just not so much in the US yet) - all of which will be sourced from China, of course.
Survival in the long-term requires long-term thinking - something that has been in short supply in the US for quite a while now. |
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JohnInSJPremium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA Reviews:
·PHONE POWER
·Comcast
| reply to bobrk
said by bobrk:I'm not sure about the 33%. An iPhone nominally costs, what, $600? The $200 price is subsidized.
33% of the build cost.
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My place : »www.schettino.us |
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