An apple a day may kill you

Steve Jobs has stepped down as the chief executive of Apple. Well he is gravely ill with cancer so he really should have other things to do in his life then sell gadgets to people with too much money to waste.

Yes I am not a fan of Apple or Mr Jobs and I do work in IT so I know a fair bit about computers and many other things to do with them. I do admire how he sells his products, he does nothing different but what he says at the press conference.

When Microsoft does a conference they show off the new thing and then say how much it is. Steve does a big long slide show as if he has been on holiday for a month giving you the story. And people love it, nothing new or different is contained in any Apple products as it has all been invented before.

Gone are the days of the Apple computer made in the U.S.A. they now buy off the shelf components from China. I have a big problem with this as much of what comes from China has been made in a factory where the health and safety practices are none existent. Also a normal working week can be 60 hours for the workers who are on a pittance pay.

Just two years ago the Foxconn electronics manufacturer had a workers commit suicide. Blaming the working practices and hours in the job he had. This did then go on to start a strike in the factory that also spread to others companies as well. This is nothing new and for us Brits, from the coal miners to the trains many have done so. But in China you can face being arrested for going on strike.

Foxconn have in a space of two years had 18 attempted suicides and of that 14 have died. Last one was in July this year. Most have been from jumping off the building they work in. Investigations have concluded the job is what is causing it. Also 20 Chinese universities have done studies and reported the same facts.

I may have a unique view of this as I have worked for a Chinese company’s and it was in the electronic area. Luckily I worked in the UK and was covered by the laws we have. I found the companies to be the worse I have ever worked for. The job was simply horrible, you were physically sore in your hands from the repetitive movements, feet sore from standing in the same position. So when I talked to some of the Chinese workers who then believed to be lucky to have that job here cause back home it was way worse. Working close to 80 hours a week doing the same manual task in a factory with no window, pretty much none existent breaks and you can't talk to anyone when working. Add in pretty much no health and safety, people soldering PCB s in a room with no extraction or masks will poison the people working (solder has mercury in it). Something like 120 hours overtime was the normal amount of overtime people were working. So after a working week of up to 80 hours a worker would be expected to work on for overtime. Remember the people get paid a pittance, simply owning an apple product is a pipe dream.

This was to me knowledge in 1996 and it was not till 2010 I saw anything in the news about it. The reason being the boom of electronic sales like Apple stuff. Oh and I don’t just not buy Apple. Same goes with Sony, Dell and Nokia. I will never own one of their products till this is all changed.

Ok after the strike the workers had a pay rise to a whopping $312 a month. WOW!

The management has been to blame and this has been reported from inside and outside China. They say they have done many things to change the working conditions like putting up netting (Much like in old prisons) to prevent suicides. Reports have been made that the netting has saved lives. Still does not make you feel good thou, kids still jumping. The management introduced a document where you sign saying you won’t kill yourself. Fuck what a great idea; roll it out to all the people on suicide watch the world over. Problem solved EH?

Personally if you have to live in a room a few metres square and work 60 plus hours a week for $312 a month I’d say that is very close to slave labour. The only way you can make enough money is to work on. Again this is the sort of treatment that was normal in the cotton mills in Glasgow and the world over 150 years ago.

Apple responds to this by saying they think nothing is wrong and go as far as saying Foxconn are doing well.

So next time you are in Starbucks and you see someone with an Apple, Dell or Sony laptop sipping a free trade coffee you have the tools and knowledge to tell em that they are a fucking hypocrite.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/7773011/A-look-inside-the-Foxconn-suicide-factory.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10182824

Tramd if I do and Tramd if I don’t

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-14648510

The above link is the latest news on the Edinburgh tram joke. Now the cost has been put at £651m at canceling the whole thing.

I was always against the trams in Edinburgh. One reasons being history, as the city much like every other in the country decided to remove them. Reasons are simple, they are slow, prone to breakdown and when they do it holds up all the other trams and the traffic as well. Remember all trams run one way on one track so no overtaking. They can also be very expensive to maintain. Just look at the state of the rail network costs.

Ok history aside what about now? Well the city for me has a very good bus service. One that puts others in Scotland to shame. Whenever I go to the city I am shocked to find how clean and fast the buses are, not to mention cheap as well. I am at the moment £5 to get to my work in Glasgow where in Edinburgh the price is £3.50.

The tram project was to be over three lines but this was changed to one due to cost. The line runs from the airport to the docks at Leith. The city does not need an airport link as the bus service is again fantastic. I have used it and you never wait for a bus in the airport, also they do have many waiting at the airport as well, it is that good a service. Also the journey is ten minutes. Why would anyone what to build a tram to take this service, I have yet to be on a full bus at the airport as most people will drive or take a taxi. Say a family are away on holiday, two adults and two kids. Do they take the bus to town then get on the tram with all the luggage in tow pay for four people to use the bus and tram OR get a taxi?

I have to give credit to the SNP as they were the only party against the tram project. But they did give it a green light.

First was the parliament building now trams. Keep wasting out money MPs.

Hi Fi

I was at a friends house a few weeks ago for some drinks and a chat. They are into music like me and we play some music to go with the evenings chat. But they don't own a stereo or what was called years ago a Hi Fi. They do have MP3 files on a laptop that they then power up and play. I was listening to the quality of the music and I was shocked at how bad it is. Ok I am a bit of a geek and that but I was struggling to tell what some songs were.

I personally have what is known as a Hi Fi. Very simple, an amp, CD, turntable and speakers. That is it some connectors and that is what I play my music on. Top price now about £200. The sound makes the laptop a waste of time as you really do miss out on much of the music.

When an album is recorded and mixed it is never made so someone can listen to it on a laptop with a maximum output of 1 watt. It is made to be played on the most expensive system you can get.

Ok I am not saying you have to spend £20K on a music system but just spend your money wisely. Again I have MP3 files and I do play over my computer but I have a sound card at £80 and an audio lead that cost £10 hooked into my £200 stereo and again the sound difference is so big for such a little amount of money.

For under £300 my Hi Fi and computer will sound better than any laptop on the market and just about any set of speakers for laptops as well.

It is not just about the money but the sound is so important to the music, when listening to music in the old vinyl days the engineers made sure they could get as much from the recording as everyone used a turntable and a Hi Fi. People would complain about an albums mix or sound. But now people just don't care.

Just think when listening to Queen, A Night at the Opera. That album cost £1 million to make back in the 70s. All the hard work and dedication that was put into the sound and mixing. Then people play it on a camera phone.

So there I was in my mates house trying to work out what album he put on, I did wonder if I was spoilt but people do spend a small fortune on laptops and I pods and phones. To the point it is way more than a good quality set up. Why do people think new technology is always better? Whit is Apple considered better than everyone else when it is made with the same parts as the cheapest Dell laptop. Same for Sony who make their own components to the cheapest standard where others buy in the best quality.

I have yet to be given an answer from someone to explain why they do this. And every time I have friends round they always comment on how good the sound is when playing music.