The first thing that the outlook lacks to the largest extent is the fact that Apple though the thing called ‘Apps’ has created one of the largest businesses and therefore one of the largest bread-earners for a ton of companies (and therefore human individuals) around the globe. The copy-cats like Samsung followed the same path as was shown by Apple, and that has in turn caused Samsung to grow by using Android. Although Apps were not invented by Apple, but they ‘created’ the economy.
Except for a single line about similar conditions in HP, Dell,Lenovo, Sony et al factories, this seems more of an Apple’s-Back-Stabbing effort. It is not an un-imaginable situation to have cost of land, labor, capital extracted by selling ‘product’. Product price points are set keeping these in mind. That is how any business house works. If China provides cheap labor, that is a driving factor for companies to open factories in these countries. Why look only at manufacturing industry, do You find any significant report on the work-life-balance (the so called must have) of IT creatures in India? Honestly, I could not understand the reason of this report targetted only for at Apple. It is because of the blasts and killed individuals? if yes, where are similar reports of such disasters in other billion dollar industries- not only electronics.
It no doubt is really grave to learn of the mis-fortunes of human individuals, but then– a comprehensive and well made report is one that gives a full perspective and not a biased on like this!
I am not sure if such kind of ‘Journalism’ is what I am expecting from a paper as well known and circulated as New York Times. Talking of responsibilities, probably such biased reports are more detrimental to the society as a whole across the globe than the atrocities of Apple.
A View from Outside 