What would you pay for a gadget made under better conditions?

[elemenoP]

Apple is getting a lot of heat for conditions at the Foxconn factory, but Foxconn also supplies parts to Amazon and B&N, among many others.

Are gadgets too cheap?

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/...logy&emc=cta1#

Would you pay more for a phone, tablet, or ereader that was made in your own country, or that was certified to be made under ethical conditions?

Poll coming, please be patient.

[Penforhire]

No, but I do pay more for some items of quality made in my country (America).

[cjr72]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

No, but I do pay more for some items of quality made in my country (America).

+1

Even if the company claims to be making gadgets under better conditions how would I know they are telling the truth? I watched a documentary a while back showing young kids in India staying out of school and hand stitching soccer balls together that said on the ball something to the effect of "This ball was not made using child labor."

[elemenoP]

Penforhire, what kinds of things do you pay more to be made in the USA?

I don't know what kind certification would exist, I just know that something like this exists for coffee and other items. And I don't know if the existing certifications for coffee and other things are real or bogus. So the safest would be "made in the USA" but that would also be the most expensive.

So would you do it? How much would you pay for a made-in-the-USA Kindle (or ereader of your choice)?

eP

[Apache]

Apple isn't the only one using Foxconn. They should all be taking heat.
Apache

[Billi]

Originally Posted by Apache

Apple isn't the only one using Foxconn. They should all be taking heat.
Apache

Foxconn produces all the Kindles and Pocketbooks, too.

Yes, I would pay more for something made in my country, although I'm not sure how much exactly.

[RainingLemur]

I would pay more. I'd be inclined to pay even more if it were made here in the homeland, but I'd probably have to stretch out my purchases of certain gadgets (unless they were absolutely must-haves) to make the dollar go a bit further.

[ucfgrad93]

I would be willing to pay more, but not as much as 50%.

[Penforhire]

Elemeno, a few examples are my dress shoes (Allen Edmonds) and cars (C5 Corvette Z06 and a Chevy Traverse). My home desktop PC is a monster put together by a local company (out of mostly foreign parts, lol). I'm not blindly patriotic. I also own some Mephisto shoes (European made) and owned a Honda S2000 before switching to my Traverse.

I'd love to buy an American motorcycle but neither Harley nor Buell offered the best of what I wanted (I ride a BMW R1200RT these days, Yamaha FJR1300 before that).

When I buy major items, say a large kitchen appliance, I usually make an effort to see if it makes sense to buy American or not. I will pay some extra for top quality/peformance made-in-America but not an absurd amount more.

Part of the deal, for me, is that I work for an American electronics manufacturing company. We're multi-national but still have (dwindling) American presence. I took pride that one of my parts, a sensor, was in my Corvette. I'm not a union type, never was, but I still want to support American made where I can. Getting harder and harder though.

[wyndslash]

i would be willing to pay more for items made in their brands' respective countries and under ethical conditions, but perhaps not as much as 50%. unfortunately, many still want products as cheap as they can get them (for various reasons) and that in part helps perpetuate the abuse of people living in developing countries. it's a whole complicated mess, all right

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by cjr72

Even if the company claims to be making gadgets under better conditions how would I know they are telling the truth?

Of course, no reason. Ignore what the company says unless endorsed by an independent source without an ax to grind. The only plausible umpire is the much maligned mainstream dead-tree media.

From the New York Times:

In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

Executives at multiple suppliers, in interviews, said that Hewlett-Packard and others allowed them slightly more profits and other allowances if they were used to improve worker conditions.

“Our suppliers are very open with us,” said Zoe McMahon, an executive in Hewlett-Packard’s supply chain social and environmental responsibility program. “They let us know when they are struggling to meet our expectations, and that influences our decisions.”

It's true that you can also find articles on the net documenting other than ideal conditions for HP workers. But, from what I read, the umps are saying that Apple tends to be more bad, and HP less bad.

And guess what? HP is, in my experience, cheap. Their printers cost a little more, but their desktop computers are as inexpensive as anyone's. This shows that the cost of treating your suppliers well (at least by the standards of the locality they live in) is way less than fifty percent more. The cost may be zero because of their trying harder satisfy you. It's worth repeating the obvious -- Apple's history shows the lack of any substantial connection between treating people poorly and low prices.

[MichelleR]

I picked ethical conditions. I would also have a preference for made in America, but wherever it's made, I'd be willing to support monetarily the workers being treated well.

[GA Russell]

I would do without until the price of the ethically made device comes down to close to what the unethically made device is going for.

[odiakkoh]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i would be willing to pay more for items made in their brands' respective countries and under ethical conditions, but perhaps not as much as 50%. unfortunately, many still want products as cheap as they can get them (for various reasons) and that in part helps perpetuate the abuse of people living in developing countries. it's a whole complicated mess, all right

Similar feelings, if not the same. I don't care where it's made as long as there is ethical treatment to the employees but I wouldn't want to pay 50% more than I already do. But then again, I do pay 50% more or even double to get locally grown honey, eggs and other foods so maybe I would be willing if it actually happened.

[HansTWN]

I have visited perhaps a 1000 factories in China over more than 20 years. Not Foxconn or other electronics companies, but factories producing other items.

I must say that those reports are way overblown. Workers have to work hard, but they are paid very well by local standards and minimum working hours are being implemented (the customers of the factories check that very thoroughly, as well as safety standards and general working conditions).

Workers in China have their pick of places to work at these days, so treating them well and paying well is a necessity. The workers have come a long long way very quickly. If one factory works people too hard or don't pay enough they just go next door, where they will be welcomed with open arms.

The only factories that still do mistreat workers are small, locally owned and locally run, selling extremely cheap products (we are talking those 75 $ Android tablets and $5 shoes here). If you want to make good products you need good workers who stay at your company. And that means good pay and a good working environment.

Of course, these are factories, you can't goof off at an assembly line. But the workers choose to go to Foxconn, they could easily go to work at many other places. That alone proves that they don't feel mistreated.