a worm in the apple

Apple has been under much scrutiny, specifically within this past year, with the discovery of its use of sweatshops in China. The workers found in these shops are paid minimal wages & are placed in hazardous working conditions; these harsh working environments would never be condoned within the U.S.

The article In China, Human Costs are built into an iPad describes the inhumane treatment these Chinese workers face in order to produce various Apple products, as well as other brand items. The utilization of sweatshops unfortunately shows how the company values production and income over human rights.

I must admit, I am a big fan of all Apple products - their simple and clean design of products is so attractive - but I feel greatly unsettled that a human life could have possibly been at risk during the production of my iPhone or Macbook.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is currently visiting China to address the issues listed above -  but a company based on ethical principals should have never had this problem from the beginning.

According to Tim Cook, these are Apple's core values (found here):

• We believe that we're on the face of the Earth to make great products.
• We believe in the simple, not the complex.
• We believe that we need to own & control the primary technologies behind the products we make.
• We participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution.
• We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.
• We believe in deep collaboration & cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot.
• We don't settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, & we have self-honesty to admit to when we're wrong & the courage to change.

The values are in line with the recent occurrences in China; it seems as though Apple has minimal focus on the human-interest perspective within its mission statement.