Apple hype on trial

The results are in and Apple Inc. has exceeded everyone’s expectations, posting a 13.1 billion dollar profit in the fourth quarter.

How is it that this once floundering company is now the biggest in the world? The answer is rather simple: child labour is cheap.

Many of you may be surprised to know that the company exploits children for cheap labour. So will people stop buying these products?

The short answer is no, they will not.

While news of their use of child labour has been public for some time, an article recently featured in the U.K. publication the Telegraph this week reported that their sales will continue to increase and their stock value will continue to rise.

Apple has been a proponent of child labour and the general safety and morale in their factories is no less than appalling.

In recent years, there have been 22 deaths in factories under the direction of Apple.

Additionally, hundreds of workers have been injured as a result of dangerous workplace operations.

The most recent of these incidents was a worker having their skin burned off and subsequently dying.

So this leads me to ask the question, why is it that people have chosen to turn a blind eye to social justice simply to continue living the ‘iLife?’

Has society become so obsessed with the ‘cutting edge’ ideas of Apple Inc. that the costs to morality no longer enter in to the equation?

Some people will argue that it is virtually impossible not to use Apple products, such as the massively popular iPod.

To these claims, I would state that people are simply too lazy to find alternatives.

I am proud to say that I have owned one Apple product in my life and have been Apple-free for over two years now.

And even yet there are people who have never owned an Apple product. This is proof that it is incredibly easy to survive without Apple Inc.

On the other hand, there are people who cannot seem to live without the company who owns Macbooks, iPads, iPhones and iPods.

To me this is dumbfounding — not only in how they can afford these products, but why one ‘needs’ all of these things.

This highlights the moral dilemma of our era. It seems incredibly important that we have the newest and most expensive technology.

Our compulsive need to remain at the top of this list has led us to disregard all moral principles.

It is a well-known fact that I dislike Apple Inc. as a company, but I do not deny that these problems exist throughout many tech corps.

It is the responsibility of the consumer to research all purchases, not only for functionality (as is normally the case), but to examine the companies producing these products.

Many people will tell you that they are unaware of Apple’s social
injustices, which suggests a sense of ignorance on behalf of not only their users, but of society as a whole.

I do not attribute this solely to the ignorance of those buying these products, but to the lack of regulation regarding manufacturing practices.

No one denies that Apple products are incredibly expensive to begin with but the moral price of buying from Apple is even higher.

While it may be virtually impossible for just one individual to make a dent in their 13 billion dollar profits, it is time to stop buying Apple.

Your wallet will thank you, as will your conscience.