Nothing worse than a spoiled apple
Cody Boland
Issue date: 3/5/10 Section: Opinion
Apple. A single word that once may have immediately stimulated thoughts of a crisp fruit that lays at the heart of old school Americana now has a different meaning. To the average tech-savvy individual, Apple most likely relates to the electronic juggernaut responsible for products and programs that are seen on an everyday basis.
From increasingly popular computers, to the pioneer of mp3 players, as well as the hippest phones and the largest online catalogue of legal music and media downloads, Apple products are in our lives in a big way.
Apple's stock is epic, and in a similar vein to the classic Starbucks observation, their stores continue to pop up everywhere. Case-in-point: last year's Starbucks location in the Union, now a Mac store.
As a multigenerational iPod user since the age of 15, someone who has iTunes as their primary music program and is using Macintosh OS X to both type this column and lay out the newspaper page this article will appear on, I can safely say that Apple products are wonderful tools and have added to and altered how the individual uses technology on a daily basis.
Only one small problem: Apple is evil!
Now, I'm not so na've as to think that their business practices are any worse than the many other corporations out their that abuse employees, take advantage of consumers and use every legal trick in the book to obtain the largest profit possible. We live in a consumer-based capitalistic society where "morality" tends to be dictated in the end by the bottom line being black.
Still, Wal-Mart gets a constant bad rap for mistreating employees and using Chinese labor for cheaper goods that are quick to break, yet Apple seems to be glorified as the bastion of cutting edge with little mention of their own internal practices.
A quick look at the back of my third iPod in six years confirms that it was manufactured in China.
A cheap, short lasting product made by Chinese manufacturers surely paying employees a salary that makes the very product they make out of their price range. Not that I'm surprised, but if that is what makes Wal-Mart shoppers the ones contributing to the downfall of the American economy, that new iPhone surely isn't helping either.
From increasingly popular computers, to the pioneer of mp3 players, as well as the hippest phones and the largest online catalogue of legal music and media downloads, Apple products are in our lives in a big way.
Apple's stock is epic, and in a similar vein to the classic Starbucks observation, their stores continue to pop up everywhere. Case-in-point: last year's Starbucks location in the Union, now a Mac store.
As a multigenerational iPod user since the age of 15, someone who has iTunes as their primary music program and is using Macintosh OS X to both type this column and lay out the newspaper page this article will appear on, I can safely say that Apple products are wonderful tools and have added to and altered how the individual uses technology on a daily basis.
Only one small problem: Apple is evil!
Now, I'm not so na've as to think that their business practices are any worse than the many other corporations out their that abuse employees, take advantage of consumers and use every legal trick in the book to obtain the largest profit possible. We live in a consumer-based capitalistic society where "morality" tends to be dictated in the end by the bottom line being black.
Still, Wal-Mart gets a constant bad rap for mistreating employees and using Chinese labor for cheaper goods that are quick to break, yet Apple seems to be glorified as the bastion of cutting edge with little mention of their own internal practices.
A quick look at the back of my third iPod in six years confirms that it was manufactured in China.
A cheap, short lasting product made by Chinese manufacturers surely paying employees a salary that makes the very product they make out of their price range. Not that I'm surprised, but if that is what makes Wal-Mart shoppers the ones contributing to the downfall of the American economy, that new iPhone surely isn't helping either.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Ryan
posted 3/15/10 @ 12:52 AM CST
I am offended by this article. I feel Apple is the world's best company. I will protest this tomorrow.
Ryan
Post a Comment