Peter Thomson

Peter Thomson

The World’s environment editor Peter Thomson has been covering the global environment since 1991, and has served on the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists since 1998. He is the author of Sacred Sea: A Journey to Lake Baikal.

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Soul-Searching Over Apple Exposé

February 2, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment
Apple's iPad tablet computer. (Photo: Wiki Commons)

Apple's iPad tablet computer. (Photo: Wiki Commons)

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The World’s environment editor Peter Thomson has been reading the news on Apple’s supply chain, and shares some thoughts on Apple, human rights, and us.

Would YOU be willing to do without the latest iPhone or iPad in order to send a message? Add your thoughts in the comments below.

Read an excerpt of Thomson’s recent blog post on Apple:

“… it’s become increasingly clear that the Apple empire is built on the backs of inhumane and even deadly conditions for thousands of workers, not to mention their mediocre (if improving) environmental record. How should the millions of consumers who’ve flocked to Apple’s devices in recent years respond to this reality?

One option being proposed is a boycott—stop buying the company’s products until it cleans up its supply chain. 
It’s an honorable idea, perhaps, but boycotts rarely generate momentum (think Exxon) and even more rarely affect corporate behavior—especially when a company’s products are seen as being irreplaceable, which is what the cult of Apple is all about.

And even if consumers were willing to switch to other products, are Apple’s competitors any better? Some more than others, perhaps, depending on what you’re looking at, but in general, not so much.

So to really take a stand on these issues, consumers would have to boycott not just Apple but all the makers of the devices that define our digital age. And of course this industry is no different than just about any other these days in its relentless global pursuit of low costs and high profits. It’s what the 21st century economy is largely built on. Can we boycott an entire economy?

And, some ask, should we? …” >>read more:

Discussion

5 comments for “Soul-Searching Over Apple Exposé”

  • Jenn Lindgren

    Let’s run more stories like this!! Keep/start people thinking about what the CAN do. Thanks all!

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/4DQZVQ3FLUPQMY5C2VOCX6ANFE Cadmus

    you asked: I don’t have a ipod, ipad, tablet, mp3 player or video game console…
    don’t have a TV, i gave it up when i was a senior in high school 1996. 
    I do not have a cell phone both because of how they are made and because of how
    the U.S.  failed to regulate the industry causing a huge proliferation of unneeded
    towers. 
    I reduce my consumption as much as possible.  I disassemble any products I
    throw away to recycle any rare metals because I realize there are many negative
    externalities associated with my purchasing. I have a stereo that has not
    worked for 6 years and I can not find a replacement that is made sustainably. 
    I am waiting.  the article says: “are Apple’s competitors any better?” no.  So I
    boycott the entire industry. I would love all of the products I mentioned
    above.  I secretly CRAVE video games. 
    But I am trying to live sustainably.   That is hard in this
    culture, I have a long ways to go.  Most people don’t try.

  • Russ Bixby

    Can “we” boycott an entire economy?

    I already do.  I use a desktop computer which is a retired, six-year-old server;  my notebook is five years old.  Both work very well running software which I had a hand in writing – GNU/Linux.

    I also keep 2K and XP around to run remote service applications in my work with alarm and access control systems.

    Heck, most of Apple’s OS/X is lifted from tthe GNU project;  there’s part of me in there.  A bit of Windows is lifted from BSD, and I’m in there as well.

    My portable MP3 player I built in ’97 – before iPods – and it works just fine; 30GB is enough for me.  For those who aren’t engineers, there are still options.

    My ‘phone is an older Samsung Moment.  Again, it just works.

    While I do own a Mac, it’s a Quadra 840AV which I keep around because it runs PhotoShop VERY well.

    I’ve several aouomobiles, an ’00 Ford mini-van and two utility vehicles made when there was still a wall down the middle of Main Street Germany.  They all WORK, and well.

    I also don’t buy pre-ripped Jeans, being instead happy to damage ‘em myself in the course of my day to day activities in basements, attics and atop ladders.

    Noone “needs” the latest-greatest-newest except maybe some poor schlub whose work or school requires something which will crawl only on Windoze 7 – not all that common.

    While I do love the style of Apple products, and know the software intimately as I “tech for food,” I’m contented to love it from a distance.

    I’m also contented to produce rather than obsessively consume, and to stay clear of any unnecessary “upgrades” to whatever code-bloated, shorter-lived dingus currently hogs the limelight.

    Russ Bixby, geek of the plains

  • http://twitter.com/redactyl Michael Billingsley

    @humansafeMichael BillingsleyAsus 13″ laptops at #3,7,10.. Apple & Asus 11″ tops – Consumer Rpts. One diff – Asus best in environmental responsibility/worker conditions.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Youngun-Song/100003323732183 Youngun Song