Journal: News & Comment

Wrought by hands far away

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The last laptop I worked with was made in Taiwan, but all the new Apple devices I'm using—an iMac Core Duo, a MacBook, my iPod—came from factories in China. (In the case of my MacBook, directly from there to here via FedEx.)

The first Apple computer I had, back in 1982, was built in the U.S.A., while my 1993 Macintosh Centris 660AV came from Ireland. You'd be hard pressed to find a new pre-assembled computer (or TV, or toy, or even oceangoing freighter) not from China now. And while I'm living with it, I'm not quite comfortable with the moral compromise.

Yes, I know that Apple's contracting to a factory in China is what let me get the swell new MacBook I'm typing on for less than $2000 with taxes. Yes, I know there are arguments that the working conditions of those who built it for me are probably better than those of many of their fellow citizens. I know that.

I know lots of other things too.

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