Jun 13, 06
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iPod slaves.
From the people who make them to the people who use them.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index...S&NewsID=14915 Macworld Daily News Monday - June 12, 2006 Inside Apple's iPod factories By Macworld staff Apple's iPods are made by mainly female workers who earn as little as £27 per month, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday yesterday. The report, 'iPod City', isn't available online. It offers photographs taken from inside the factories that make Apple music players, situated in China and owned by Foxconn. The Mail visited some of these factories and spoke with staff there. It reports that Foxconn's Longhua plant houses 200,000 workers, remarking: "This iPod City has a population bigger than Newcastle's." The report claims Longhua's workers live in dormitories that house 100 people, and that visitors from the outside world are not permitted. Workers toil for 15-hours a day to make the iconic music player, the report claims. They earn £27 per month. The report reveals that the iPod nano is made in a five-storey factory (E3) that is secured by police officers. Another factory in Suzhou, Shanghai, makes iPod shuffles. The workers are housed outside the plant, and earn £54 per month - but they must pay for their accommodation and food, "which takes up half their salaries", the report observes. A security guard told the Mail reporters that the iPod shuffle production lines are staffed by women workers because "they are more honest than male workers". The report also explains that the nano contains 400 parts, and that its flash memory is the most expensive component. The report looks at several salient components of the nano, and describes the product as a reflecting the global way business works today. This is because the iPod nano contains parts developed by technology companies from across the planet. Apple is just one of thousands of companies that now use Chinese facilities to manufacture its products, the report observes. Low wages, long hours and China's industrial secrecy make the country attractive to business, particularly as increased competition and consumer expectations force companies to deliver products at attractive prices. 
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Jun 13, 06
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Same shit with video games... Mainly MMORPG's.
http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3141815 "Sack" is the only name I'm given for the person I'm supposed to contact. He lives in the Fujian province of China, but his place of business is online—he plays Lineage II. He's paid about 56 cents an hour to work in a videogame "sweatshop." If the term sounds familiar, it's because of Lee Caldwell. The notorious MMORPG scripter got busted four years ago for admitting that his company, BlackSnow, hired workers in Tijuana to earn gold by "farming" in Ultima Online. Caldwell sold that in-game tender online for a handsome real-world profit while only paying his employees pennies on the dollar. Since 1998, the second-party market for MMORPG loot has steadily grown. Last year alone, this newfound industry grossed roughly $500 million, according to Bob Kiblinger of UOTreasures. CGW decided it was high time to go underground and find some of the key players who are going after a piece of the action. Sack is the low man in these operations. "I work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the U.S. Lineage II server," he says. He works long, boring hours for low pay and gets no holidays. Carefully constructed macros do most of the work; Sack is just there to fend off the occasional player itching for a fight or game master who's hunting for these automated farming programs. "Everyone knows where the good places are, and GMs know that your account has been online for a whole month," he says. "[A GM will] message me asking, .Hello, what level are you, please?' I know he isn't asking my level; he just wants to know if [there's actually a person at the computer]."
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Jun 13, 06
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The thing I find most interesting is I work with a guy who's originally from China and I had a conversation with him about this. He didn't see anything wrong with it, he said that there is a huge demand to work for places like this as it is much better than doing hard manual labour elsewhere and most of them have free accomodation. He said that alot of these places have huge hiring signs outside and people actually flock to go work there.
He also suggested that the wages aren't that bad, in some locations in China he said it's possible to live off those wages. Obviously not in the big cities. China is due for an industrial revolution :)
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Jun 13, 06
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http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,...ory_page_next1
Imagine living @ work, making iPods all day, for 50$ a month. It would take 4 months to buy what you make. :285:
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Jun 14, 06
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China. Please makeme an overpriced IPod. And Africa, please make me overpriced shoes.
But Thailand, stop making such great knockoffs. MMM yeah. I dont like my picture.
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