Mandatory “Interns” are Assembling the iPhone 5 – I hope it’s worth it.
Tim Bean
9/8/2012
Innovating the Term “Employment”
<What follows is called satire>
Modern technology is grand, isn’t it? I mean never in the history of humankind has the world been so interconnected. Have a friend in Sweden? Log into whatever social network application and send them a message instantly; or browse their photos, or whatever. Do you have something on your mind that you want share with, essentially the world? Well then just fire up your Twitter account and let’er rip – so long it fits within the 140 character limits of course. And with the advent of smartphones we can do all of this from the palm of our hands almost anywhere we go – almost.
Well, that’s all well and good for us consumers, and given the profit margins of the companies (except Research In Motion) that own the patents and invented these technological marvels, I’d say it is good for them too. But how is all of this success, and joyous ability to connect to virtually everyone, and everywhere, treating those who manufacture these devices?
Well, again, if you are the company that manufactures these devices then you’re probably looking pretty damn good too. If you are the person on the assembly line, then depending on which “magic” phone you are putting together your success might be a little different.
I don’t think it is any big secret that most (if not all) of our smart phones are manufactured overseas, specifically in China. I also don’t think it is any big secret that the smartphone that is considered a “must have,” or the “coolest” is Apple’s iPhone.
It seems that every other year, or so, Apple releases a newer version, and with every new version released there are lines that form the night before the official sales date outside of Apple Stores across the country, and I guess the world too.
Because of the expected/pent-up demand for the up-coming iPhone 5, the company Foxconn, in China, that assembles these hipster icons is short on the number of employees needed to meet the expected number of phones Apple anticipates selling on day one. Oh, No! What on Earth are all of those “first adopters” going to do, if they can’t get this gizmo on day one?
Have no fear, Foxconn, and I’m sure maybe a government official or two, or three, they all have your back. It was decided that they would go to nearby universities and get them to suspend classes and then have those students “participate” in mandatory “internships” on the assembly line, in order to fill the initial orders. It’s all good though, because these are paid internships, with the students earning about $250 a month. Hey, the cost of living is so cheap in China, and they’re college students, so I’m sure that must be a relative fortune. Especially considering their educations were involuntarily put on hold, and that they only work 12 hours a day/6 days a week; all so several college students here can be the first to have the 5th iteration of a cell phone that really isn’t too big a leap over the 4th iteration.
Maybe some thank you letters should be sent? Nah, that’s so last century – just send them a “shout out” on Twitter; it will get to them as soon as they can afford their own iPhone – oh and when their government actually allows them to access Twitter.
