Blog #1 - Reed

When reading the first three chapters, what made the largest impression on me was his telling of the dark side of the electronics industry. He prompts us to think critically of the electronics companies which we buy our products from. And it makes sense. The companies constantly turns a blind eye and feigns innocence when approached with the subject of unethical work labor. As Reed puts it, the people on top are the dreamer and successes of a major discovery. The second tier are the app makers and such. The last one is the majority, Reed says, made up of mainly women who work below minimum wage in terrible conditions. The poor conditions range from working 16 hour days to committing suicide or dying in a fire.

These unethical standards only show the corruptness of large companies who take advantage of people's needs to work, especially poor people. They say corporations are people, but I highly doubt that. But a good point that Reed brings to the discussion about labor in factories is that the topic seems to die off after the scandal is exposed. As he says, the movement dies off from public view, easily wiped, like a memory from Men in Black or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

He also bring the issue of E-Waste that plagues the industry. People seldom forget that there are waste that goes beyond our islands of trash floating in the ocean. It is poisoning the workers, who deals with these toxins every day. He remarks that the workers are dressed in seemingly protective gear. However its not to protect them from the waste, but so the electronic device won't be contaminated by the human. It's an almost ironic situation.

I think this subject needs to be brought back to life. It's difficult to imagine a world without technology, but even more so about the people who work in shitty enviroments, creating the very base of what we hold in our hands.