That is profoundly sad.

It's not just sad, it is wrong. So are the oppressive conditions in the colton mining operations in the Congo that supply the materials for the vibrate signal on your cell phone.

Talal Jabari is the director of "Full Signal" a movie about the wireless industry,health and finance. He wrote: "Do we really need to call each other 4 or 5 times on our way to seeing each other? Do we really need to watch a football game on our phones? Should your child be playing or talking on a cell phone?” The answer to all of these questions is a resounding “no”. No, because you are directly impacting your health, your child’s health, and the health of the people living near the infrastructure.

There is no such thing as "FREE MINUTES".

Foxconn also is a supplier at the component level, like cpu sockets, motherboards and other stuff. They do not have a great reputation with the folks who build their own computers, as well as more commercial sources of these elements. I avoid their products.

I'm surprised Apple uses them, and if the quality level in the PC end is any indication of the mind set at Foxconn, it wouldn't surprise me that the iPhone workers are pushed harder, and may be supplied with substandard materials.

Brings Apple under a cloud, from my pov.

And Lithium from Bolivia....
The mining there is destroying parts of that country.

Lithium in electric cars will make usage in cameras, iPhones and any other personal electronics run on batteries minuscule.

No matter you pov, mining the planet to feed the frenzy cannot go on.

Nickel mining for current hybrid car batteries is pretty bad as well.

I own a hybrid vehicle, but but I dont kid myself about "saving the planet." I do it because my fuel bill is cheaper.

What I found interesting is that Apple & its customers seemed to be the demographic that were always aware of things like this and steered away from those types of products. Will news like this push the more hard-core customers away? Or will they just become hypocrites?

What's interesting is that Foxcconn plants are characterized as "iPhone plants", when they not only has other clients, but Apple isn't even Foxconn's largest client. Foxconn makes non-iPhone parts (and phones) that go all over the world.

But it's fun to bash Apple, I suppose.

But it's fun to bash Apple, I suppose.

And its' customers too, right Jon? Apple has now surpassed Microsoft as the #1 tech co. I'm sure their demographic is a bit more diverse than what you presume.

But it's fun to bash Apple, I suppose.

I just think the image Apple has tried to keep over the years is hypocritical.

As for their customers, I just hope they see that Apple isnt as cool as they thought. That they see Apple for what it really is, just another corporation that tries to keep the ugly parts of their operations under wraps.

That they see Apple for what it really is, just another corporation that tries to keep the ugly parts of their operations under wraps.

Apple, like HP, Dell and others, hires Foxconn--they don't run the factory. Apple sets standards, and has taken several public steps to get on the matter, including considering paying additional wages directly to the employees.

If you use a non-Apple computer or cell phone, chances are good at least some of its parts came through Foxconn. Who will you blame for that?

I just think the image Apple has tried to keep over the years is hypocritical.

Can you specifically explain what that "image" is? Or are you regurgitating press commentary as corporate philosophy?

Apple is not the only "sinner" in the economy. There is no way to list all the offenders...and all of us, no matter how "aware", all contribute in one way on another to the problem because we all consume stuff, buy and use fossil fuels and use electricity.
OK, now I have depressed myself...

another reason NOT to buy a cell phone made in China and oh by the way- go by shoe leather

another reason NOT to buy a cell phone made in China and oh by the way- go by shoe leather

And where exactly am I going to get a cell phone from then? I'm not aware that they're actually made anywhere else. And if they are I'm confident that many of the components come from China. This is what we get as consumers looking for the cheapest possible items.

I didn't get an iPhone to be cool. I got it because it was the best product of its kind on the market, in my opinion.

ok, so a few zillion of your fellow citizens have it figured out: repeal NAFTA, GATT and go back to 'protectionist' tax and employement structure.
Are our lives collectively any better now that our economy has shifted to the 'lowest bidder' model? We might save money on cheap plastic s**t, but at the end of the day,its still cheap plastic s**t.
When I first started at my corporate employer of many years, the branch manager told me that among the purposes of our business was to provide the opportunity for success of its employees, provide responsible and valued service and products to our customers and contribute to the communities we operated in,because their success insured ours. Once he was forced out, the ensuing managers had the mantra of low cost,max profits. I miss that first manager.
My point..as I ramble.. is that being the low cost price leader means jack diddly squat if its done at the price of everything else we value.
Screw the iphone, and most of us really don't NEED a cell,we simply have been sold on the idea that we do.As it is with most consumer goods.
At the best, we trade time for money. Time is finite, money can be bent,stretched and morphed into anything. Since your time is limited, what do you chose to trade your time for?

An update:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=18664