Picture
I don't know if you heard, but there was explosion at an iPad 2 Foxconn factory a fews days ago that left dozens injured. Three were killed, but let's talk about the important stuff! iPhone 4S and/or iPhone 5 release dates could be delayed!

A quick Google news search of "Foxconn" the other day revealed the most prominent headlines to be related to delays in iPhone/iPad production and/or a drop in Apple stock. None of the articles I perused had even acquired the names of the victims or any quotes or descriptions about who they were. The best I could find were these series of pictures of anguished relatives from Sina/English — and they didn't even name the relatives.

Still, I was struck by the pictures — in the lowest photo, two women (who I presume to be Chinese) sit waiting in the hospital ward. One of them is wearing a red blouse and a purse — the other a striped shirt below a gray suitcoat. It looks like something I might see a young American mother or professional wear. Out of all the coverage I've seen, these three photos have done the best job at telling the human side of this story.

I understand that many media outlets don't have the resources to reach all the way out to China, but I find it hard to believe that a quick Google translation of Chinese news sources or a phone call to the right people couldn't at least produce the names of the deceased.

As this story breaks, it is becoming increasingly clear that this was a factory without regulation or supervision. How many more of these places with deplorable working conditions exist? As sad as the deaths of three people are, how much worse can it be? I can't help but be reminded of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire 100 years ago that changed the American workplace. How many people have to die before companies like Apple take an active interest in their employees and not only their consumers?

And my message to the media: If I have to buy a laptop with blood on it, I want to know whose blood it is.

UPDATE: News sources are now saying aluminum dust produced during the polishing process are a possible cause of the explosion. Reports are saying the reason three people died is because iPads need to shine. 

The plant where the explosion took place was built in 76 days — a record time for Foxconn, specifically made to produce the iPad 2.
 


Comments




Leave a Reply