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Re “How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work” and “In China, the Human Costs That Are Built Into an iPad” (“The iEconomy” series, front page, Jan. 22 and 26):

It’s ironic and disheartening that the company that set out to change the world could accomplish the task only by employing vendors who subject workers to slave-labor wages and an Orwellian work environment.

With all due respect to the late, great Steve Jobs, if the famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial for Apple were reshot, the image of Big Brother on the giant screen might fittingly be his own.

In stark contrast to its counterculture origins, Apple seems to have evolved into the embodiment of everything it once despised — a greedy, callous, ruthless behemoth beholden only to fund managers who demand incremental profits every quarter at any cost.

BRUCE SILVERMAN
Minneapolis, Jan. 26, 2012

To the Editor:

I’m grateful that American workers do not have the “flexibility” or “diligen…………… continues on New York Times

Apple’s profits may have soared last quarter, with revenue up 74% (to $ 46.3 billion), but I wonder how celebratory they feel in Cupertino as reports emerge about the company’s business practices, specifically how it keeps production costs low so that it can “make a 60%, 70% margin per phone” sold?

In the last few days, the New York Times has published bombshell reports (“How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work,” “In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad”) that expose the appalling working conditions at the Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, China, where Apple’s products are made. Here’s an excerpt describing the troubling environment:

[T]he workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and document…………… continues on Los Angeles Times