Demand for New Technology: Who's Really Paying for It

   After reading the New York Times article about the working conditions in Apple factories, I thought about all the Apple products I use everyday and where they are really coming from. The workers are expected to produce products like machines. Exploited, over worked, and underpaid, the factory workers are treated inhumanely. The idea of sweatshops and human slavery to me feels like a foreign idea. Even though majority of these factories are overseas, the products being made are products almost everyone in our country uses.
    About a month after the new iPhone 4GS came out, my phone contract was up and I was able to upgrade my phone. I went to three stores looking for the new iPhone and every store was sold out. At the time, I was upset and wondered why they didn't make more. It is the high demand and instant gratification society in developed countries that leads to the slavery in factories in undeveloped countries. We want it and we want it now. The factories cannot keep up with the demand. To make as much profit as possible, the factories exploit their workers to poor conditions, low wages, 12 hours shifts, and extreme 98 hours of overtime a month.
    According to theguardian.com, Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, said last month he had never turned a blind eye to working conditions. Apple produced annual audits of its factories but last month appointed an independent group, the Fair Labour Association, to take over inspections.
    Foxconn produced its first iPad at Chengdu last November and expects to produce 100m a year by 2013. Last year Apple sold more than 15m iPads worldwide and has already sold close to five million this year. The new iPad 3 is expected to release in March and the iPhone 5 model is expected to release later this year. Ultimately, I believe it is up to Apple to step up and stop the injustice going on in their factories by setting up stricter regulations and threatening to immediately shut down a factory if any regulation is broken.
    As consumers, we need to let Apple know that ethically created products are in demand. We want to buy Apple products and know that it is not at the cost of human suffering. I signed the two petitions for Apple to make an ethical iPhone 5 and treat their workers fairly.