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Originally Posted by ProfCrash
(sigh)
When I click on the Amazon link I get a message that I have to subscribe to read the report but why would I want to support a company that supports arms sales and is bad to animals (paraphrasing).
Really? Just about any major international retailer is going to sell stuff from companies that are some how connected to the arms trade. Heck, they are tied to people in the slave trade (they sell items where there is a massive amount of documentation that shows how slave labor is used to make them, such as chocolate). But then I would have to only shop at stores that sell free trade, fair practice chocolate and I don't know too many places that are that specialized...
And yes, Amazon's warehouses are hard to work in, the work is tough and people are not paid a ton. That sucks but those same people can choose to do something so that they can get better jobs. Amazon follows the law. If you don't like the law, work to get it changed. That goes for labor and tax law because last I know, Amazon has paid all of the taxes it is legally required to. Same as Apple, Sony, BN, and every other major company out there.
It is up to each individual to decide what their breaking point is and where to spend their money but I have a hard time buying the argument made on a sight that uses such inflammatory language and then tries to get me to pay money to see what it is they are complaining about.
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Well, I think it's all a matter of degree. I try to buy ethically when I can, when it's available, and when I can afford it. Sometimes it's not available, sometimes it's not possible, sometimes I can't afford it. But personally my 'breaking point' is that if it's possible and affordable, I want to do it.
Legality is one aspect of it. Since I'm not American or Chinese, I can't lobby those governments for better labour laws, but I can express my opinion directly to companies (Amazon and Apple) from the position of being a consumer, which I have in the case of Apple. Even if the working conditions of Foxconn were legal according to Chinese law, using my IPad and other Apple products leaves me with a pretty bad feeling every time the suicide net stories surface before the launch of a major product. At the end of the day, the corporate rhetoric used to justify that is very much one of 'customer demand', and I want to make clear that I do not demand products produced on that basis - even if that means costs rising.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ProfCrash
So go ahead, buy your e-reader from a small vendor. If you can find it of course. After all, those folks are not large enough to have the ties with weapons dealers, bunny killers, and plantation owners. Nevermind the fact that the highest score was a whooping 10 out of 20 so no one is doing a particullarly ethical job of building an e-reader.
And it is flat out laughable that one of the suggestions is to download apps on your Apple tablet or Samsung Galaxy, because I am sure Apple and Samsung are really better then Amozon on enviromental, labor, and other issues.
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Well, I don't know if I'm going to buy my next e-reader from a small vendor, because I don't know what's out there - but I'm looking around to try to find out what's available and what those alternatives have to offer. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to have them. As you say, they all have bad scores, so there's no perfect choice here. But often we do have choices, and usually some are better than others.
Yes, I thought that suggestion was weird, too. I'm guessing it's based on the idea of less consumption - i.e. if you already have a gadget that can do the work, don't buy another. But that's just speculation on my part.