Posts by giovanni tiso

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  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    That would throw hundreds of millions of Chinese out of work.

    That's what they said about unionism in developed countries, remember?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    We could rename this portion of the thread "Globalisation and its completely content, thank you, would you please pass the salt?"

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    My heart bleeds for us :-)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    Simon Grigg, who lives in Asia, is better value on this than me, but not allowing developing countries to use their low costs of living as a competitive advantage doesn't actually help those countries.

    My country went through it in my lifetime - by which I mean a competitive advantage in terms of lower wages, but also sweatshops.

    One thing is saying that the minimum wage in China should be the minimum wage in the US, in absolute terms. Another to exploit the lack of protections and welfare provisions for workers. We should demand that the latter be instituted - we really have no excuses not to. (I mean we are pretty stringent on the environmental standards of our devices, right? Why not also human labour standards?)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    By the Ministry for Setting Everyone's Margins?

    More or less. There are laws that say we can't treat the workers of our countries the way we treat workers in the developing world. It would take a series of very simple acts of Parliament, Congress etc. to extend those protections across the board. It's the right thing to do, and furthermore we all know it's the right thing to do. It would also be very easy to do. We just choose not to do it.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    But ... but ... it's the same reason we wouldn't expect authors to sell their books for the cost of printing (or digital delivery). A lot of work went into that book.

    Whoah nelly. No. Seriously. Just no. It ought to be possible to manufacture things without brutally exploiting the population and poisoning the environment of poorer countries. There's no natural, objective, necessary reason why an iPad (or anything else, just using the example at hand) should cost 350 dollars in materials, and 10 dollars in labour. It's just the way we do business. We do it because we are the Empire. Let's not wallow in it. And yes, I'm sure research costs a lot of money, and those researchers are good people who deserve their pay. But those factory workers are good people too. We have made political decisions that allow us to exploit the latter but not the former. We could have legislated otherwise. This is what keeps our toys cheap.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Cracker: Jobs Blows,

    and although three of the above had internet access, it really wasn't worth the bother.

    Describes how I feel about my 3G nokia. It's excruciating to even just check my email on it.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Cracker: Jobs Blows,

    it's like a relationship Damian, not a cult, you get to know your man and you know how he 'operates', so you hang back and don't stress yourself out, until the upgrade for the upgrade has fixed the problems with the upgrade.

    You must tell us how you upgrade your man.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    I was hoping somebody would say that. Somebody that wasn't me, preferably.

    Actually this may be more than just Apple trying to disguise its profit margins -- there may be a legitimate question of the iSuppli estimates' validity.

    They were bang on on the extent that Apple could bring the prices of the first iPhone down, however.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    It was iSuppli's claim, not mine. And they're the go-to people for this sort of thing.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

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