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nickoftheparty's review against another edition
4.0
This book tells you the deadly cost of your phone. The brutal, degrading labor that went into producing enough iPhones and iPads and Macbooks to meet holiday consumer demand. One part of me wishes it could've been a little more succinct, could've hit you a little bit harder in the face with the central theses; much of the time, it reads like a business case, or a college thesis. But presenting that information in totality is effective. (I also wish it had suggestions for the average consumer to work in solidarity with international labor movement, but this is not that book.)
grubnubble's review against another edition
4.0
From the perspective of researchers embedded in factory workers’ lives, this book shows the incredible predation of capitalism on the most marginalized workers in the world. Foxconn, a manufacturing company employed by Apple and other big tech companies, exploits their workers to the point of despair; lying, misleading, and abusing their workers and student interns to meet quotas of production. This is a solid introduction to these horrors and to the effects of globalization in China, with a strong support for workers and workers’ rights to have dignity and humane working conditions.
bookaneer's review against another edition
4.0
A wake-up call for consumers, not just Apple products but also Kindle, Samsung users and so on.
It is baffling (while at the same time, not really) to see how corporations (both main and suppliers) and governments (local and national) colluding in such inhumane practices. I read about the suicide jumpers in Foxconn factories a few years back but did not know the extent of the suffering. Then I also found out from this book about the mistreatment and forced labor of student interns, which broke my heart, really. The book could be better organized, I have to admit that, since some parts are repetitive or better integrated with others. Yet, it still makes me wonder how we as consumers can do better than just protests. First of course, we need to know what's behind our gadgets, the true human cost behind it, and then what? There were some examples of social movements in China, the US, and many more, but how to make them effective?
Back in early 2000 there were talks of Foxconn megafactory in Indonesia. In 2017 the plan was scrapped but what about their subsidiaries and so on? Lots of electronics corps have their manufacturing bases here as well. And then we just had that omnibus law to attract investment passed last year....My head is spinning.
It is baffling (while at the same time, not really) to see how corporations (both main and suppliers) and governments (local and national) colluding in such inhumane practices. I read about the suicide jumpers in Foxconn factories a few years back but did not know the extent of the suffering. Then I also found out from this book about the mistreatment and forced labor of student interns, which broke my heart, really. The book could be better organized, I have to admit that, since some parts are repetitive or better integrated with others. Yet, it still makes me wonder how we as consumers can do better than just protests. First of course, we need to know what's behind our gadgets, the true human cost behind it, and then what? There were some examples of social movements in China, the US, and many more, but how to make them effective?
Back in early 2000 there were talks of Foxconn megafactory in Indonesia. In 2017 the plan was scrapped but what about their subsidiaries and so on? Lots of electronics corps have their manufacturing bases here as well. And then we just had that omnibus law to attract investment passed last year....My head is spinning.
razeenrafi's review against another edition
5.0
Dying for an IPhone: Apple, Foxconn, and The Lives of China’s Workers
Book by Jenny Chan, Mark Selden, and Ngai Pun
If you ask anyone What’s your next dream Phone ? majority will answer it’s Iphone 12. If you ask a employee in Foxconn in China who manufacture’s Iphone They will tell need a good and better work conditions.
This book discuss on Suicides, excessive overtime, hostility and violence on the factory floor in China. Employees in this factory miss their family and have to work overtime without sleep in unhygienic condition and Hazard are even denied their pay. This book open our eyes on modern capitalist atrocity ..
Book by Jenny Chan, Mark Selden, and Ngai Pun
If you ask anyone What’s your next dream Phone ? majority will answer it’s Iphone 12. If you ask a employee in Foxconn in China who manufacture’s Iphone They will tell need a good and better work conditions.
This book discuss on Suicides, excessive overtime, hostility and violence on the factory floor in China. Employees in this factory miss their family and have to work overtime without sleep in unhygienic condition and Hazard are even denied their pay. This book open our eyes on modern capitalist atrocity ..
smuds2's review
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
UNFINISHED
REVIEW RATING SYSTEM - [ 1 = FELT DECEIVED, 2 = NOT WHAT I EXPECTED IN A BAD WAY BUT WASN'T A WASTE OF TIME, 3 = WHAT I EXPECTED FELT LIKE MY TIME WAS USED AS EXPECTED, 4 = PLEASANTLY SURPRISED, 5 = THINKING ABOUT IT MONTHS LATER ]
RULES : (1) can not give anything a 5 outright, must either be a re-read or a update to score, (2) can not give incremental ratings, except for 4.75 which is functionally a "revisit in case it is actually a 5", (3) I should always end with a "this leads me to think" of 2-3 ideas this book roused in me.
'Harrowing, and is a good reinforcement for opting out of consumerist culture.
The writing style is informal and easy to read but is filled with nonstop gut punches
REVIEW RATING SYSTEM - [ 1 = FELT DECEIVED, 2 = NOT WHAT I EXPECTED IN A BAD WAY BUT WASN'T A WASTE OF TIME, 3 = WHAT I EXPECTED FELT LIKE MY TIME WAS USED AS EXPECTED, 4 = PLEASANTLY SURPRISED, 5 = THINKING ABOUT IT MONTHS LATER ]
RULES : (1) can not give anything a 5 outright, must either be a re-read or a update to score, (2) can not give incremental ratings, except for 4.75 which is functionally a "revisit in case it is actually a 5", (3) I should always end with a "this leads me to think" of 2-3 ideas this book roused in me.
'
The writing style is informal and easy to read but is filled with nonstop gut punches
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide
petercowan's review
Heavy subject matter but very well told. Academic feeling, but with enough plot/story to make it engrossing.
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