iPhone 5

The demand for iPhone is causing riots in China at Foxconn, employer of some 1.1 million Chinese workers. It also supplies products for companies such as HP, Dell and Microsoft. Have we seen that in Obama ads about jobs going overseas? No. His administration is hoping this gooses the economy.

Workers at Foxconn are so miserable there have been 17 suicides and there are nets on the buildings. Work, sleep, eat--all in the same building. I've seen factory farm chickens that look happier.

Wang Zhiqian, who used to work on Foxconn’s production line and now recruits workers for the company. “We attract many fewer workers now than in 2010. People would rather work at a hotel or other places. It’s not a lack of workers in these areas, it’s a problem of spiritual emptiness.”

Wang and others describe work days that routinely extend three hours into overtime, leaving little opportunity to do anything after hours but sleep, and little talk among the workers, who stew in their frustrations.

“It’s definitely not a happy place,” he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/foxconn-riot-in-china-unlikely-to-be-the-last-experts-say/2012/09/25/1e6828b8-071c-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-09-19/tech/tech_mobile_iphone-5-pre-orders_1_iphone-4s-release-apple-stores-16gb

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/24/apples-5-million-iphone-5-sales-what-analysts-are-saying/