Here's a great video from The Daily Show where Jon Stewart talks about Apple, Steve Jobs, and (especially) Foxconn. Part of it is funny in that funny-because-it's-true way. Part of it is sad because working conditions in China's Foxconn, where Apple products are assembled, are brutal by Western standards. Check out the video below.
The video certainly made me laugh, but also made me feel guilty. I have an iPad, iPhone, MacBook, and Xbox 360, all of which were assembled in Foxconn factories. I'm positive that most of the products in my apartment were made in China. While I try to buy "Made in the USA" products whenever I can and try to support companies that sell products that are made start-to-finish in America, as a gadget enthusiast and gamer it's impossible not to support Chinese factories.
It would be great if more consumer electronics companies used Western factories that treated employees fairly and paid strong wages, but Chinese factories will be used as long as there are shareholders to answer to. The cheap labor in China is impossible to beat (without heavy government subsidies).
Do you think about where your electronics are made? Does it matter to you that your iPad and iPhone were made in a factory where employees work for low wages under poor working conditions?
