Are Tablets Just a Fad? amazon made some piss poor design decisions with that thing. no hardware volume buttons and power button at the bottom? wtf? try widgetsoid and create a volume control widget in the notification bar so you have easy access to it anywhere in the os.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? Not sure about the Kindle but on the rooted Color Nook you can edit the init.rc file and remap the hardware buttons. I've read about people changing the volume buttons to do other stuff. Changing the init.rc is risky though and may not be possible on the Kindle. You'd also need to get admin access.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? How about user 0? I've lost my taste for fancy electronics. I listened to a story about a guy that infiltrated the Foxconn plant and the condition were horrible. The people work 18 hours a day and their bodies get destroyed from poisons and repetitive motion. When they can't work any long they are tossed out like a bad part. If they complain they get fired and black listed so they can't get work anywhere else. If they try to form a union they're thrown in jail. The factories are super silent despite having thousands of workers because no one talks and there aren't any machines. Every thing is done by manual labor because it's cheaper and there is an endless supply of labor. A former employee was interviewed. He had been fired after his hand got crushed in a machine and couldn't work. They showed him an iPad and he about shit himself. He had been making iPad parts for years but had never seen a working tablet in his life.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? Apparently 300 Foxconn employees just threatened to commit suicide. That's what happens when you use slave labor.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? I've changed bfun's rank to something more appropriate due to his recent action.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? I love how Apple has this socially responsible hipster image when their shit is made using slaves. And yes Alterego, I know lots of other companies use Foxconn.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? Today I saw three dead geese. I wondered how they died. Maybe they froze to death in the cold dark night. Or maybe it was a double murder suicide. At least they died together and not alone like many of us will.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? Uh huh...except that you never mention slaves making products unless it's Apple. Where do you think all those cheap PC components come from? They don't have to come from Foxconn to have been produced by low-paid sweatshop workers. Most of the clothing that people buy in the U.S. is manufactured in those kinds of conditions. The sorry thing is this: companies could manufacture those things in the U.S. and still make a profit. The foreign sweatshops are simply a way of fattening the bottom line. The actual price of the product has little to do with the cost of labor. Think Nike shoes etc.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? the media don't write about it less it's apple duh. It's gotta be something that even Joe Sixpack can disect, and Joe Sixpack hardly knows his google from his microshaft.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? The majority of the blame has to go to China. They treat their people like used tissues. They don't even have to pay them more. Just work them less hours and put some safety regulations in place. A lot of workers get fired because their hands tremble too much. The trembling is due to nerve damaged caused by the chemicals they are forced to use without protection. Does Apple and other electronics companies share the blame? Yes. I'm sure they know exactly what goes on in the factories. Does the consumer share the blame? Yes, but they are guilty of ignorance. I'm not sure how much my buying habits will change but this will always be on my mind.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? Apple is in more of a position to do something about it given their love affair with the media and socially responsible hipster image.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? I agree with that, but the corporate mindset in the U.S. and other countries is a close second. The obsession with profit maximization and lack of knowledge or concern about macroeconomic issues is deadly over time. Profiteering isn't the same economic model as capitalism.
Are Tablets Just a Fad? I don't think Apple has ever promoted itself as "socially responsible" in the way you mean. They have tried to promote some green initiatives in terms of eliminating some of the chemicals used in their products and having more recyclable products etc., but their stance on workers in China is pretty much the same as other companies. They make statements about concern for the conditions and that they do due diligence on the companies they do business with blah, blah, but it seems to be pretty uniform to everyone else. You'd need to have a broad agreement among electronic companies to change things if you really wanted to put pressure on companies like Foxconn. And like I've said, corporate executives don't really have that mindset these days.