Menu
close
Home › Forums › Teaching About Asia Forums › Asia in My Classroom › The iPhone factory in Shenzhen, China working conditions
Anonymous.
AnonymousThank you for sharing this link. I love This American Life and I also heard the same story and noticed it had many parallels to the documentary I mentioned previously, entitled China Blue. Speaking of i-phones, they seem to be super popular in China to the point that recently there was a riot, when a store did not open for fear that a growing crowd would get out of hand. Once the crowd heard the store would not open for safety concerns, the crowd turned hostile. The device is so popular that the Chinese are willing to pay $790 to $1,070 for the device alone. Sales of the i-phones in China rose to $13 billion, from $3 billion, for the last fiscal year, yet Apple has only five authorized retailors in all of China. If they opened more stores, this would alleviate another growing problem, which is the scalping of Apple products by unscrupulous people who pay others to wait in line to obtain Apple products so that they in turn can sell for outrageous prices on the streets of Beijing. Here is a link if you would like to read more information.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fiw-apple-china-20120114,0,7243366.story
edited by mcovarrubias on 1/14/2012
AnonymousAn amazing story -- people rioting in Beijing to buy an iPhone!!!! If this phone is this popular, I don't see how censorship can continue. Pat Lamkie
AnonymousWhen I heard about the iphone incident in China, I immediately thought about the incidences at Wal Mart and with the Jordan sneakers. The iphone has become a status to most people. Owning an iphone seems to make some people feel special. Is it really the best phone on the market?
AnonymousGreat link! On my Friday commute I heard a story on MPR about people rioting outside of China’s Apple stores, mostly throwing tomatoes at the stores because after hours of waiting for the release of the new I-Phone people were turned away, being told that the new phone was not ready to be released. The news story noted how slow the Apple company has not been able to fully appreciate the popularity of its products in China with only 5 Apple stores in total in China. Ironic of course, sine the I-Phone along with other Apple products are assembled in China. Nonetheless, interesting story to share with our students about how China continues to be that all important market for American products – maybe just not quite Apple products, just yet.
AnonymousAre you serious? What a silly reason for a riot! What is sad about this story is the fact that they make them there!
AnonymousI checked out this podcast of This American Life. It is no longer available and the reason why is because it has been retracted. The story was fabricated by the person that was researching the conditions there. Mike Daisey created a play based on the information that he claimed he had found but it turns out that most of his information was exagerrated. Unfortunately, this program did not fact check. They have a new episode based on the retraction that is still very interesting where Rob Schmitz, a reporter for "Market Place" living in China, investigates the fabrications. This last twelve minutes they discuss the true working conditions in Apple factories in China. Yes, they have 12 hour work days and often work more than 60 hours a week, they live in overcrowded dorms, and the factories are not properly ventillated. However, it seems they aren't being poisoned, child labor is rare, and gun yielding guards don't line factory gates. The end of this podcast is interesting because it poses the question, should we feel bad buying Apple products? Check it out and decide for yourself.
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/460/retraction (this was orginially aired March 13, 2012)
AnonymousDeprivation of desirable electronics consumer goods may bring about rioting. From the perspective of the western consumer this may be perplexing, but to assess the situation in the proper context of its development, necessitates to see the riot incident with the Chinese consumer lens. Then assess the situation based on what were the circumstances before the riots and the intent of the rioting crowd.
AnonymousThese working conditions seem similar to the factory conditions during the Industrial Revolution in Lowell, Massachusetts. While it seems highly functional and cost effective, it seems that the workers pay a much bigger price than the company that benefits from the sell of the product. I don't think the costs (from the human perspective) outweigh the benefits (from the business perspective).
edited by nfreeman on 11/17/2012
AnonymousSince I have been taking this class, I have tried to incorporate as much as possible what has been made available to us. Considering that this is such an interesting topic for the students, I showed the video and had them write a short reflection on it.
AnonymousIt seems unreal that a frenzy for an iPhone would result in a riot and possibly the loss of someone's life. If I had one and lived in China I would be afraid to use it in the public for fear of getting robbed and or killed over a phone.Perhaps they should try appointments or mail only. Oh, that leaves the open door for theft. This reminds of when they were fighting over Jordan tennis shoes here in America.
AnonymousTo me the idea of having to have an iphone or jordans that people would go for hours or days just to buy it to me is silly. If you have to put yourself in discomfort just to obtain a popular thing is ridiculous.I can see standing inline to buy for or water for my family. But beyond that I don't see any point or comprehend the whole idea.
clay dubeAmy Herman has already noted that Ira Glass and the producers of This American Life retracted the original Mike Daisey story. They were alerted to the problems with the Daisey story by Rob Schmitz, who explained how he uncovered the problems in a radio broadcast and in two presentations at USC. The public presentation can be viewed at our website (http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2758) and on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80waoNxq8-k&feature=youtu.be).
Of course, many teachers also joined us in April 2012 for a teachers-only session on covering China where Schmitz, Ching-ching Ni (LA Times) and Mei Fong (Wall Street Journal) discussed the challenges and rewards of reporting from China.
Rob_Hugo@PortNWThe reporter's experience in Shenzhen, China, is a snapshot of the human cost of China's Industrial Revolution
Click on the following link to hear a podcast from a reporter who went to Shenzhen where the factory that makes iPhones is based.
http://audio.thisamericanlife.org
If the link does not work, go to kpcc.org and enter "This American Life". Enter the date January 7, 2012 at 1:00 pm PST. The show is hosted by Ira Glass.
You can listen or download the podcast directly from the kpcc.org website.
(I've edited this post only to correct the spelling of the city's name in the subject line and in the post and to delete the stray code generated in copying/pasting. Please note that this particular broadcast contained manufactured information and was later the subject of a correction. Please see below - Clay)
edited by Clay Dube on 3/7/2013
AnonymousChina has become the world's factory. As they have started to industrialize, China has started to go through the growing pains that other industrialized nations faced. The conditions in factories is one of these that can draw a correlation to the Industrial Revolution in the west and in Japan. This lends an opportunity for students to draw on their learning of the past to compare it to modern times. This gives the opportunity for them to see that history is not just about learning about the past but also linking it to the present and recognizing the patterns in human life. Students can compare and contrast the conditions and offer solutions to correct them. Invaluable as a learning opportunity.