Apple manufacturing plant workers complain of long hours, militant culture

The article I chose to read was about the company Apple doing nothing new compared to other companies as far as going over sea’s to make parts or all of their products to then be sold here in the states.  The article was published by Chi-Chi Zhang from CNN on Monday February 6, 2012.  I picked this article because it does interest me as to why companies have been going to other countries for factory work.  They can save millions of dollars by paying “minimum wage” in other countries compared to the minimum wage here in the states which are about 8 dollars at the moment.                                                                                      

This article was about a specific factory worker, a young 18 year old college student who could use the money the Foxconn Technology Group would pay her.  She has never seen the finished Ipad product and has worked at the factory that makes them.  The Foxconn Technology group is one of many who manufacture products for Apple along with other global brand names, such as Amazon’s Kindle and Microsoft’s Xbox.  The first day she worked there an eldery women said “why did you come to Foxconn, Don’t ever think about it again and leave right now.”  Employees of Foxconn have a saying “they use women as men and men as machines.” After three weeks of applying more than 4,000 stickers a day onto iPad screens by hand and working 60 hours a week in an assembly line, Chen says she's ready to go back to college and study hard so she'll never have to return to Foxconn.

I feel this article has some great points into what the problems are with big businesses who go overseas, but let’s face it companies in the states become big businesses to make more money and buy going overseas they can do that.  I feel like other countries need to establish a minimum wage, it probably will be much less than ours but it may be more than they are making now.  Its definitely wrong beyond belief to force unpaid overtime on workers.  This article really hit home for me because last year I had to take a year off from school for medical reasons and I worked in a factory doing very very insanely monotonous tasks over and over again.  That only energized me and forced me more to get an education and get out into a job over minimum wage and with benefits.   

Facebook Photos "Deleted" over three years

Facebook Photos Trying to be "Deleted"

Over 3 years later, "deleted" Facebook photos are still online, this article was updated on Tuesday February 7, 2012. The website is http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/06/tech/social-media/deleted-facebook-photos-online/index.html. After reading this article I had this summary. Facebook photos are a major problem on personal privacy. People are constantly getting tagged into photos and are uploading photos, some they may not know that they took or were in. This is a problem in getting jobs and in how people may get an impression of you. There is an option to untag yourself, but some people have the photos still and can still be found. Like everything on the internet, everything is still there. You can't fully delete anything off the internet. Though Facebook is trying to delete photos completely they are still able to be found. Photos are accessible if you have a direct link. Facebook photos are causing problems for many people, because when trying to get a job offer certain businesses are able to find some photos that they may not like. It is said that photos have the chance to be fully deleted by the CDN within 45 days. This may be true, but in my personal opinion this most likely is a fallacy. The internet is too much of a giant subject to fix. Though our society is constantly improving on our advancements in society, we are still going to have troubles solving the problem of fully deleting materials off the internet. Though inappropriate pictures are constantly getting getting uploaded, instead of people trying to figure out how to delete photos completely, people should be working on how to not allow certain photos to be uploaded. For example, if there is a photo that contains any drugs or alcohol, they should not be allowed to be uploaded. Though the age problem comes into play, people shouldn't be able to make a false Facebook account. Facebook accounts should have verified content from the persons birth certificates. Facebook and the internet are two very big aspects of peoples lives and both are very hard to keep fully true. Both Facebook and the internet have many fallacies which creates a world where more problems can occur, this is part of the reason why Facebook is trying to delete photos completely off of the internet. So overall, without the ability to find the truth out about anyone deleting photos off of Facebook completely will take longer than 45 days. 

Verizon and Redbox vs Netflix

   I read the article "Verizon and Redbox team up to battle Netflix" which was written by David Goldman and published on February 6, 2012. Julianne Pepitone, staff writer at New York CNNMoney, also contributed to this article.
   This article states that Verizon and Redbox are becoming more efficient than Netflix, and are beginning to take lead. People won't have to wait a few days for their mail to come in order to get a movie. They can just go to the Redbox and pick out a movie, or, they can get the movie on their computer or mobile phone. Although Netflix dominance in the streaming video aspect, it has many uprising challengers.

  The main difference that may affect the Netflix and its challengers, are their availability of ne listings. According to the article, Netflix features past-season TV shows and older movies but has been criticized for its lack of newer content. With Redbox, however, there is a greater amount of new-release content available to consumers.
    In my opinion I agree with this article. I have never used Netflix, so I'm not totally sure on how it works, but I have utilized the Redbox before. The Redbox does allow 'customers' to rent new releases and is quick and easy. There are times when I approach a Redbox and there is a line of people waiting to get a new movie. It charges only a dollar a night per movie, although lately I have noticed the prices increasing.

   I believe Netflix charges a flat rate each month for an unlimited amount of movies. I do not know if there is still a lot of movies being mailed out, but I believe it is more of an online account. This allows customers to get the movie right away instead of waiting a few days for it in the mail. You can get Netflix on such things like IPODs, computers, Xbox, PS3, etc..basically anything with an internet connection.

Should You Feel Guilty Buying an iPhone?

The story that I read about was about to workers of Foxconn. Foxconn is a China based factory that makes Appleproducts such as the iPod, iPhone and the iPad. The workers at Foxconn have recently started to protest due to the harsh working conditions that they are facing. Foxconn is a 24- hour factory and the workers work six days a week, sometimes in twelve hour shifts. The workers live close to the factory in dorm like places and some of the workers are underage. There have been reports of people being seen jumping from the buildings that the workers in in an attempt to commit suicide. One worker in that worked for an Apple manufacturing company in Changdu was killed due to an explosion at the factory. Foxconn however denies the reports of any of these horrible working conditions that is being reported by the New York Times. Apple refuses to comment of the subject however there was an e mail form the CEO leaked saying that Apple is committed to worker safety and take it the claims very seriously. People in the U.S responded to this by saying that Apple should make their products in the U.S. because those working conditions wouldn't be acceptable here. In order for Apple to make their products here there would have to be an increase on the price of the products and Americans are not willing to pay more than they already do for the products. If the workers in China do stage a boycott against their employers and are successful, than the conditions for the workers could very well change but the prices of the goods here in America would change also. The prices of all of our favorite gadgets would increase significantly.

Facebook

I chose the article about Facebook pictures not being deleted for over 3 years wrote by Jacqui Cheng on February 7th, 2011. I find this article really important in society today because everything is linked back to social networking since more than half the world uses it and doesn’t understand when they click delete, what actually happens. In this article, it summarizes how someone wanted a picture that was posted by someone else of their kid naked crawling around in the yard to be deleted and even though you delete it on the site, doesn’t mean that it’s off the World Wide Web. He contacted Facebook Company and asked for them to take it off the site for privacy purposes. He was told that they are working on a way to delete it permanently it from everything so that people don’t have to worry about having something as little as a picture to ruin your background. He soon found out that they didn’t completely take it down like he had asked because they get thousands of pictures every day and couldn’t get to his personal picture yet. They said they are working on a way to delete it within 45 minutes of pressing delete, but are still working on it. Since social network is such a big thing to be involved in, people find it the easiest way to find out something that you want to know about anyone. People these days are concerned that when you go and look for a job, they will look on your Facebook to see if you are a good or bad kid. Since Facebook is nationwide, a lot of people use it, put pictures up, and post stupid things that they will regret someday. By having this filter that will delete those mistakes that you regret, will allow people to not have to worry about it. I know people that are in college and they will change their name slightly just so there job sight, school, or anyone for that matter will find the pictures. I personally am on Facebook and watch what people post on my wall and put pictures up of me because I know people that have gotten screwed because this site.

"Over 3 years later "deleted" Facebook photos are still online" Tuesday February 7 2012 http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/06/tech/social-media/deleted-facebook-photos-online/index.html After reading this article about the "deleted" Facebook photos I can say that I am pretty shocked to hear that the photos we delete from Facebook aren't really being deleted. I am a Facebook user and I have deleted some photos from this website either because I didn't want them up anymore or I just didn't like them and to find that they aren't being deleted right away kind of shocks me. In the article they discuss how the systems being used a few years ago did not delete photos with in a reasonable time period and that now they are working on a newer system to fix that problem. They also talked to the people from Facebook again and said, "Wolens claims that Facebook is on the verge of fixing up its content systems so that "deleted" photos are really, truly deleted within 45 days." For me and for many many other Facebook users I really hope this is true because I know that for me I am going to being looking for a job after I graduate college and I know that I don't want a photo on Facebook to decide my future. Also for other people who already have jobs they have to be careful what goes on their Facebook profiles because if one in-appropriate picture goes up on their profile then their boss can see it and they could possibly get fired. Therefore any photos containing certain illegal activities like drinking, doing drugs can hurt you for getting the into the future college you want and a future job that you want and to have the future you want. They said that this has been and on-going issue for years now and that they have been writing about this for a long time and that hopefully it will get resolved. So for me as a contributor to putting up photos on Facebook that since it takes a long time for photos to be deleted, I will now know that I won't put up pictures that are in-appropriate and photos that can hurt the future I am striving for.

Apple Cost Cutting Measures

Apple Cost Cutting Article

The article I read discussed the way Apple the computer company saves money. The company saves money by designing their products in America and assembling them in China. In China the work the people do does not entail minimum wage. This means apple can produce a lot of product cheaply due to the low wage labor force. Along with cheap labor in China, Apple is able to get its many computer parts cheaply and efficiently. With various glasses, metals and antennas needed for production Apple must import them from multiple countries. Being such a wealthy and innovate company Apple is looked down upon for its exploitation of the Chinese work force. Many other successful companies like Nike and Adidas also exploit the cheap labor in China, but more recently have acted more proactively towards fair wages. Apple charges almost 500 dollars for a new I Phone 4gs without a contract. With a new 2 year contract you can get an I Phone 4gs for around 200 dollars. With the estimated I Phone costing Apple 196 dollars to produce Apple really thrives off sales of un contracted I phones. Granted Apple did generate 4.6 billion dollars revenue last year yet they still use cheap wage tactics in China. Apple claims that’s its “partners” that operate for them in China have to live up to certain conditions and standards set forth by Apple. Personally I believe that a country so heavily geared and originated in America Apple should be responsible for its Chinese exploitations. Just because the company is not working under Apple officially, Apple should hold them fully accountable of their standards. There is no excuse that because they are just partners, than that means they can exploit cheap Chinese labor. Overall I feel that the governments of both the United States and China should be more attentive to the serious labor crisis China is having. In the event both governments cal collaborate and work together to defeat the poor labor situation then the problem can be eliminated fairly easily. Unstill then there is not much that can be done because apparently most of the companies like Apple fail to admit wrongful labor practices.