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Viva la globalización!
iPods er cool, ikke?
De er flotte, de er trendy, de er dyre, og de bliver fremstillet under slavelignende vilkår, i kæmpemæssige sweatshop-agtige fabrikker i Kina.
Dette rapporterer i hvert fald Mail On Sunday, i en artikel, der ikke er online, men refereres i MacWorld UK.
Arbejderne er alle kvinder, bor i sovesale med hundrede mennesker i hver, tjener ca. 300 kroner om måneden og må ikke modtage besøg udefra:
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.Artiklen i Mail on Sunday gør ifølge MacWorld meget ud af, at Apples iPod udvikles, fremstilles og samles i forskellige dele af verden og netop derfor i særlig grad afspejler, hvordan den globaliserede handel virker.
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.
Blandt andet tillader den altså store virksomheder som Apple at presse prisen ned eller fortjenesten op ved at få produkterne fremstillet af slaver - helt uden at den almindelige forbruger overhovedet behøver at vide eller kere sig om, hvordan de er blevet lavet:
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.Det kan man da for alvor kalde fremskridt, ikke? Tænk lidt over det, næste gang du overvejer at købe en iPod.
Via Boing Boing, hvor Cory Doctorow kommenterer:
My guess is that this is no worse than the conditions in which Powerbooks, Thinkpads, Zens, Linksys routers, etc are manufactured, but Christ, this is depressing.Men er det mest deprimerende, at det er sådan, det går til - eller er det, at alle vi andre gerne vil blive ved med at have råd til vores iPods (og Powerbooks, Thinkpads, Nokia-telefoner, osv.), når blot vi kan blive fri for at vide noget om, hvor de kommer fra?