Bring Those Jobs Back

Apple’s iPad and the Human Costs for Workers in China

There have been several articles in the media lately about the manufacturing process for the myriad electronic devices we use. From concerns about human rights violations to the state of the American economy, there seems to be a general feeling that something needs to change. The article above is just a small piece of the pie that represents the problems we face not just in making the things we like but also compensating those who make them.

Apple has a feedback page (http://www.apple.com/feedback/) where you can tell them about problems or give them suggestions. While they don't respond to those e-mails, they do take them into account. I'm urging everyone to submit feedback to them: Let Apple know that we want a change. Give them the confidence that it's what we want. Here's what I said, and feel free to copy/paste if you'd like.

Your company gave us the first personal computers. It gave us the best way to play music portably. It gave us the first real super phone. It gave us the first real tablet. It even gave us a wonderful store to visit in order to buy these products and to take them if we ever have any issues with them.

It is understood that demand and cost have made overseas plants a necessity. But the company that gave us all of those things has to also be able to find a way to get those jobs back to America.

Your company has already demonstrated beyond question the value and stability of its products - from the devices themselves to the software that runs on them. Paying a little more or waiting just a bit longer for them seems like such a paltry trade-off for knowing that it was built in the country where the workers' rights are taken seriously.

Everyone claims that transforming the supply chain would be an intensive and excruciatingly long task. Steve told President Obama that those jobs are not coming back. But he also said, "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Let's do this - because if any company can, it's this one.

Please share this around your circle of friends. Maybe if enough people bring it to the spotlight, Apple will know we trust them to be the ones to revolutionize yet another facet of the world. We also have to be ready to eat our own words on this one - if they somehow pull it off and there are delays and/or price increases, it's something we're going to have to accept with the knowledge that they will eventually return to the levels we're used to.