Apple factory inspectors put positive spin on Foxconn conditions, but watchdogs are skeptical | The Verge: “Apple factory inspectors put positive spin on Foxconn conditions, but watchdogs are skeptical”

(Via The Verge)

They aren’t Apple factories, and they aren’t Apple inspectors. This headline seems to imply at least one, if not both.

Now, I have my doubts about the FLA after reading many articles recently. Seems like there’s a good chance they are sugar coating conditions over there at least a bit. They could very well be a “public relations mouthpiece” for the industries it claims to be watching. It certainly wouldn’t surprise me.

And the article itself is actually presented in a pretty balanced way.

But I HATE headlines like that. Especially from a group like the Verge that is claiming to be so “fair” in its reporting. The headline is all most people ever read; if you can’t get the facts straight there, how can you hope that I’m going to trust you?

Apple forcing Pegatron to stop production of MacBook Air lookalike Zenbook:

Pegatron stands to suffer a lot if it loses Apple contracts. Not only does the company assemble iPhones for Apple, but they’re also rumored to be producing the next-generation iPads that are expected to ship next month.

(Via TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

There’s no question in my mind that these new Wintel notebooks are a complete and shameless ripoff of the MacBook Air. And if Apple were to go to the courts to defend its designs in a trademark/copyright infringement case, I’d be behind that. No reason other PC makers should benefit from Jony Ive’s industrial design expertise.

But threatening to leave your contracted suppliers/manufacturers for building these products has a bad smell to it. This is over stepping the line I think. It’s a bully tactic that could easily be interpreted as stifling competition. Apple cedes the high ground by going this route, if indeed, this story is true.

Part of the problem when you’re the top dog after many decades of getting the shaft is that you live in constant fear of losing that top dog status and getting shafted again. Apple’s position on top is so obviously secure from where I’m standing, but Tim Cook has a lot more to lose if I’m wrong about that than I do. So I get where the fear comes from.

Still, I think Apple should let these obvious knockoff products die in the market. It’s not like they’re going to sell particularly well, because they lack the one critical feature of any successful knockoff: price. They’re not any cheaper than the real thing, so why would anyone buy one?

Since it’s obvious to most of the world that these things are shameless wannabes, why not let them hit the market and fail miserably, prove to other companies that you can’t beat Apple by aping it’s every move anymore. Or take the issue up in court, if you must. What’s one more case amongst the hundreds Apple already has going?

That way, you go after the company that created the knockoff, not the middleman who just builds it for him, and most importantly, you don’t get seen as a bully playing hardball with manufacturers to suppress competition.

It’s a fine line between pulling a contract because someone helps another company build a copycat product, and pulling the contract because someone builds any competitor’s product.

Apple Store employees accept petitions from protesters:

At press time, it was unclear if the protesters were wearing clothing manufactured in the USA, or if they plan similar protests at Best Buys, Walmarts, Gamestops, or the headquarters of Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, HP, Dell, or any of the other retail outlets and consumer electronics companies who also heavily employ Chinese labor to build their products.

(Via TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog)

Well played, Mr. Rawson. Well played.

Apple warns developers against gaming App Store rankings | Macworld:

For many developers, Apple’s warning, and the fact that it appears to be cracking down on apps that take advantage of these means, is definitely a positive. For one thing, it helps level the playing field for those trying not just to make a hit, but a living developing software.

“There are plenty of developers who work very hard to produce quality apps,” The Iconfactory’s Craig Hockenberry wrote in an email toMacworld, “and we’re all happy to see Apple kick these scammers to the curb.”

(Via www.macworld.com)

Dan Moren over at Macworld did a great job with this article. I’m glad someone is bringing the issue some attention, lest App Store customers get the impression that the majority of developers are more like snake oil salesmen than legitimate small business owners.

I suppose to some extent we should expect the hucksters to come in and try to make a quick grab for a million dollars off the latest trend. But I hope that it’s clear to at least a good number of App Store customers that we’re not all in it for fame and fortune. Some of us, as the article points out, really do just want to make a decent living and escape life in a cubicle. We’re in it for the long haul.

I talk about this constantly with my partners at Bombing Brain Interactive. The long term goal: be able to continuously make a living designing and building great products. No Lamborghinis or cruises around the world required. Just make enough to keep going and not have to work a “day job.” Support our families doing something we love, and make customers happy in the process.

There’s no short cut to achieving that goal. You work your butt off and keep trying to improve your apps, and hope that you get enough buzz and word of mouth going to keep feeding you.

The sooner the get-rich-quick scammers move on to the next big thing, the better off we’ll all be. I’m just surprised it’s taking this long for them to realize that most are falling flat on their faces. As long as they’re still around, the rest of us have to keep fighting the negative public perception.

CNN investigates Foxconn iPad factory conditions, Apple responds:

A new report features a woman who works 60 hours per week assembling iPad components in China, though she has never seen a full iPad in person.

(Via www.appleinsider.com)

I know a lot of American workers in cubicles who work 60 hours a week and haven’t seen the product their company produces. So what’s your point, CNN?

All kidding aside, conditions in China are pretty horrible. But parading out individuals and making it look like a specific Apple issue is a little Reality TV-kitschy, even for CNN. CNN isn’t interested in getting at the truth here; they’re jumping on a bandwagon to get more clicks. This is the problem with journalism in the 21st century. Even our most “trusted” sources like the New York Times, institutions that are supposed to have high standards, follow, rather than lead. They give us what we want to hear, instead of providing us with the facts we need to form legitimate opinions.

Read this, and then this, and then we can have a talk about China. (And keep in mind that Paul Krugman is by anyone’s standards a liberal.)

I’m not saying I agree with everything in those two articles, but it did make me think there’s a lot more to this than just having companies pull out of China, or worse to have us impose American ideals on those cultures.

Like most things in the modern world, this is a complex issue. You can’t boil it down to one company, or assume that any one organization can fix it. But that’s easier, so that’s what we do. Once we push the blame and responsibility onto someone else, we can all feel better about ourselves without having to actually do anything meaningful. As if not buying a new iPhone this year is going to make anyone in China’s life better.