Marketplace:
Last week, Marketplace’s Rob Schmitz actually got inside a Foxconn factory in the southern city of Shenzhen. He didn’t meet anybody who was poisoned on the job. He didn’t meet any 13-year-old workers. Nobody he talked to had been hurt in an explosion. He says the stories he heard were more about China than Apple.
In the first of two reports, Rob introduces us to the people behind our iPads.
Is this supposed to be heartwarming? Real? How sweet. I don’t have to look any further than the spectacle that was the Olympics in China were everything was pristine and righteous, and not a hair was out of place. Anytime _anyone_ visits the Foxconn factory, do you honestly think that they don’t somehow prepare for that? Sweep the dust under the rugs. It’s all this publicity, an “inside” look at Foxconn. Why hasn’t there been an undercover investigation, where someone goes in with some video gear and gets the real deal, then I’ll start listening. But all this polished publicity doesn’t paint an accurate picture. The reality distortion field is strong in Asia as well.
Yes. Someone is inevitably lying to you.
Especially regarding the logistical likelihood of doing “undercover” work. I mean, how hard could it be? It’s only China, right?
Because you’re just waiting to see Geraldo Rivera busting into the “real” part of Foxconn, where weeping underage workers are actually ground up into sausage and fed to laughing Apple executives.