

How long would it take for a Foxxcon worker to buy an iPad? - RobSim
http://robs.im/how-long-would-it-take-for-a-foxconn-worker-to-save-enough-money-to-buy-an-ipad/

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jtreminio
I'm not sure what the purpose of this post is?

Is it to show how expensive the iPad is, or to show how little Chinese workers
earn on average?

When I was younger and less experienced as a developer, I worked as the
groundskeeper for some posh apartments that I would never be able to afford.
Is this the same thing?

Workers working at an assembly line factory don't make much money. I don't
think that's news to anyone.

~~~
RobSim
Thank you very much for the feedback, I've updated my post with a little
section on what this means.

~~~
dualboot
Not really sure about what is unfair about it. An iPad and iPhone is a luxury
item.

It's actually startlingly easy for a worker in China to be able to afford
something as amazing as a tablet computer.

There are certainly concerns about the factory "cities" that the workers have
to live in and spend 95% of their annual income on.

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siglesias
I'm all for higher wages for Chinese workers, but what does the final price of
a manufactured good have to do with the manufacturing wage? If they happened
to be applying their skills to something with a lower final price, like remote
controls, wouldn't it be fallacious to assume that to be more just?

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thingylab
What exactly is the point ?

How long it would take for the guy who washes the dishes in my favourite
restaurant to buy the shoes I'm wearing? How long would it take a techie in a
hedge fund to buy a yacht? How long would it take the sales guy a Cartier
store to buy that 75kUSD watch?

More importantly, what would knowing this tell us about _anything_?

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grimtrigger
Another important question to remember: How long would it take him to buy an
iPad if he wasn't a Foxxcon worker?

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cpursley
I'm not sure of the point.

How long would a Ferrari worker take to buy a Ferrari?

How long would it take a construction worker to buy the house they're building
(in cash)?

And the list goes on...

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akamaka
I apologize in advance for being off-topic, but the quality of comments on
this post is really disappointing.

This article has only gotten 8 upvotes so far, but nearly as many complaining
comments with pointless analogies about building sports cars or airplanes.

If you're going to complain about an article being pointless, you could post
some useful fact or insights, instead of comments that are entirely devoid of
any information.

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Lockyy
I don't take this as the author making a protest about the Chinese workers
being exploited (and I'm not getting into an argument about any potential
exploitation.) If anything this article is just the author highlighting the
living and working wage disparity between the east and west.

Honestly, I just took this article as a guy doing some maths about an
interesting situation without any judgement about it.

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facorreia
How long would it take a Boeing worker to buy a Boeing 777 Freighter?

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jack-r-abbit
The 2013 Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed carries a $209,600 base price
(with options can go to $245,440)[1]. How long would it take for a Bentley
factory worker to buy one of those?

[1]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentley>

~~~
dualboot
Having been one of those factory workers -- it was not really something I lost
sleep over.

I did get a laugh out of the thought, though.

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aidos
Ok, there's lots of backlash to this on here but I think the focus is a little
wrong.

No, it doesn't make sense to use the cost of the manufactured item as a
benchmark - it's not completely relevant as has already been pointed out.

You could look at it a different way. We are in a very privileged position -
I'd bet almost everybody here could walk out and buy an ipad right now if they
wanted to. The people in these factories are not so lucky.

The numbers just give a little perspective to reality of what's going on.

~~~
RobSim
Thank you very much for the positive feedback. I thought I'd just present the
numbers and let people interpret them, but I guess I should've been more
concise.

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dualboot
Not particularly informative. I worked on an assembly line for four months
during the aftermath of the DotCom collapse building Mercedes M-Class SUV's.
I've never _ridden_ in a Mercedes much less driven one.

Of course I could if it was a life goal but I still wouldn't waste my money on
something like that.

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givan
I know that there are machines that automatically solders all the chips and
electronics on a board which I think is the hardest part, why isn't the whole
electronics manufacturing process automated yet? Whatever the reason I don't
think it will last long and then I wonder where all these workers will work
then.

~~~
RobSim
It's a tricky issue. They are being exploited, sure, but without foxconn jobs,
where would they work?

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aaron695
How many iPads could a (foxconn) worker have bought before China became a
technology manufacturing hub is the real question?

Hell of a lot less I'd image. A lot less medicine and school for their kids as
well I'll guess.

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bnr
I don't know, how long would it take a US factory worker to buy one? How long
would it take for a Apple employee in Cupertino?

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monochromatic
Yes, let's shut down the factory. Then it would take infinitely long.

