News Steve Jobs dies aged 56

iSAD
RIP Steve. I never bought anything you made but I still thought you were a stand up guy.

 

Yep, Foxconn's everywhere. CPU sockets, USB ports, Ethernet sockets, memory slots, PCIe slots, etc - they're more than likely all made by Foxconn

 

ASUS. The difference is I've had that motherboard for knocking on 6 years and I'm TRYING to buy the most ethical products and limit the amount of technology i consume. I know that many products share standard parts manufactured in less than humane environments but there's not a lot I can do about that except boycott technology completely which isn't an option. My issue with Apple/Foxconn is the HUGE margins Apple make on their products enough that they accumulate more Available Capital than the US Government yet still find it acceptable to be associated with a manufacture that forces it's employees to;

-Sign away their rights to Legal limits on working hours;
-Force employees to sign a document saying they will not commit suicide and if they do families will claim minimal compensation
-Make many of them work 80+ hours a week.
-Force them to live in dorm like accomodation in triple layer bunk beds with many to a room.
-Not allow any talking during working.
-Not rotate shifts so people are doing the same mundane task for many hours on end.
-Put up cages and install stress buster dummies in a room to help prevent suicide.

From what i can gather Apple use Foxconn to produce/build all of their iPhones and iPods.

It's utterly disgusting. This is why as a consumer of electrical goods I try my best to research the most ethical manufacturers and source products from them.

 

There is no reason for me to say RIP about Steve jobs, because if I did for him I would have no reason not to start saying it to every other poor sod that died yesterday, everyone is just as important as each other ant certain people don't deserve special treatment.
He was one of many people who have helped turn around a business and in his condition, probably didn't have all that much involvement in apple products over the last year, maybe only in an approval factor.

I still dont get why some people feel so attached to someone they have never met and probably not even been within 1000 miles of him. It is pretty shocking that some people have so much money that they can just leave an ipad at one of the street shrines with a candle graphic on it. No doubt the ipad wont be there tomorrow.

 

carl, all the money in the world is out there ready for you to go and get it.

all you have to do is make it happen, nobody will just give you it but they are all giving it to someone. . . . . .

jealousy is a horrid thing, you too can make enough money for yourself to throw away 500 pound without a care, anyone can, most just dont have the balls to even try.

 

They don't, if you put it like that. But with so many callous trolls online. It doesn't hurt to show you're not one of them does it.

 

+1 My Thoughts exactly We are all human at the end of day and should respect each other to the same extent.

 

I didn't really want to start an argument in this thread but I smell BS.

What has your research uncovered? Who are the most ethical manufacturers? And what wonderful guilt free products can we buy from them?

EDIT

Just in case you do decide to give an answer (which I doubt) could you please state your source.

 

Whatever else the guy was or was not he was a human being with a family. That is enough to just give the guy some respect and move on.

Says something about our community that we all feel we have to make some point or another or make or defend a tasteless joke.

Sometimes Bit Tech is no better than any other faceless forum full of internet dipsh!ts,

 

6 Years ago when I got my computer I just used google to research providers corporate responsibility statement and checked to see they were complicit with it with google searches. Nowadays i Just use ethical consumer.

You seem to be missing the point, I merely said I TRY to buy the most ethical of products not that i won't buy it if it's unethical. Apple just happens to be very unethical. Surely it's better to have a product that's made with 10% of the parts manufactured in unethical factories than it is a product where 90% of the product is made in hellish conditions.

Now stop being pedantic, I only said TRY!

 

I'm disgusted that the tragic death of a guy who had and still has so much respect from so many people around the world after a long and hard battle with cancer has to be turned into a f**king joke like everything else on the Internet. Internet equals anonymity and anonymity equals rudeness, arrogance and disrespect every time something bad happens which in the real world would demand and get the respect that it deserves.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "LIGHT HEARTED JOKE" ABOUT SOMEONE DYING FROM CANCER.

 

And you think that other companies don't? Do you drink Coca Cola? Wear GAP clothes? Eat tinned tuna? How Fairtrade is your coffee? You buy veggies from Kenia or Chile? Shop at supermarkets? Where does the petrol in your car come from, Iraq perchance?

And if Apple makes such huge profits, how come no competitor has been able to make a product of comparable quality for significantly less? See any decent 10" tablets for under £200,--lately? Seen any cheaper smartphones of comparable build quality? Of course not. All companies are working on the same principles. If you don't buy Apple, you'll have to not buy most gadgets. Or is your Apple hate just your token act of morality?

 

Yes there is. Listen to Lou Reed's album Magic & Loss, which he wrote after two of his friends died of cancer. It's an overwhelmingly sad and poignant tribute to them but there are lighthearted moments.

 

To be fair , it's not as though there is much choice other than to buy from the far east manufacturers . As Mighty Yoshimi says , conditions and practices do vary even amongst the big electronics companies out there. With the Foxconn Shenzhen factory often mentioned as having the worst working practices of the lot. quote:

Buddhist monks were brought in to cleanse the factory of evil spirits. Most famously the company put up nets around workers’ dormitories, and created a somewhat dubious “no suicide” contract all employees were required to sign:

 

Lots of talking but have given no answers. Can you name any ethical (iyo) company you can buy hardware from?

I am not being pedantic, you made the statement that apple is not an ethical company and use the foxconn conditions as a basis for this. You then say you try to seek out ethical company's, now my little apple hating cupcake, how hard are you really trying?

What do you drive? What clothes do you wear? What do you drink? What do you eat? Do you own and video consoles? What mobile phone do you own? What television do you own? What footwear do you own?

Now if you have answered any if those, then maybe you can answer this question. Are you really trying or did you just use this example as a way to bash apple because you are just a hypocritical know nothing?

 

I think it best Bit-Tech close this thread as too many assholes are preaching and/or going way off topic and/or getting accused of trolling.

 

Spot on. The joke was fine. People who are disgusted need to get a grip. His other comments deserved the ban.

I don't think Jobs was an innovator. Marketing genius maybe.
Sad news all the same.
Cancer is an evil thing.

 

*

 

No offense intended Unicorn, but you could do with being less sanctimonious and should try to understand that your opinion doesn't necessarily equate to that of everyone else on this forum. In particular, you should go back and read the posts of those who have lost people to cancer or other terrible diseases - I've been there, and a light hearted joke has a way of cutting through the sadness like nothing else could at a time like that. We all need cheering up at some point and jokes are one way of doing that.

Of course there are less tasteful jokes which go too far and I would never condone those - for instance if it had been making fun of the man, his family, other cancer suffers or celebrating his death in some way then I would probably be agreeing with you, but I think you (and others) are blowing an innocent joke way, way out of proportion here. Just because someone laughs at a joke doesn't mean they respect them any less than they did before they read it.

 

Well I must be on the other end of the scale then, because I've lost close friends and family to cancer too, and anyone making jokes about those people, no matter how "well intended" or light hearted they may be would have the same effect if not worse on me. I'm not being sanctimonious, I just happen to think it's an incredibly insensitive and disrespectful thing. Apparently I'm alone in this; sad that. All I wanted was one thread where something sad didn't have to be joked about in any way. One thread where people could pay their respects, say something nice and reflect on the life of a legend. Once again I have expected too much of the Internet. My fault, really.

This all started with the "I hate Apple but yeah, RIP Steve Jobs" crap which is almost as stupid as the jokes tbh.

I'm going to leave it alone now - If you feel that I've blown this entirely out of proportion, I am truly sorry. I stand by my morals and deny sanctimony though. I feel it was way too soon for jokes and that jokes about the dead are uncalled for in the first place.