November 19, 2012

Fun at Foxconn

From SingularityHUB:
1 Million Robots To Replace 1 Million Human Jobs At Foxconn? First Robots Have Arrived.
Foxconn, the Chinese electronics manufacturer that builds numerous mobile devices and gaming consoles, has been in the media lately because of labor issues, complaints over working conditions, rumored riots, and even suicides, all occurring in the past few years as demand for smartphones and tablets is skyrocketing.

While consumers began to complain in response to media coverage over working conditions, prompting Apple to hire an audit of the factories, Foxconn�s President Terry Gou had another idea for dealing with labor concerns: replace people with robots. In fact, last year Gou said that the company would be aiming to replace 1 million Foxconn workers with robots within 3 years.

It appears as if Gou has started the ball in motion. Since the announcement, a first batch of 10,000 robots � aptly named Foxbots � appear to have made its way into at least one factory, and by the end of 2012, another 20,000 more will be installed.
Employee conditions are already bad there -- I cannot imagine what they will be like in a few years. All for our iJunk. Wonder if they will be selling their robots on the open market -- might be fun to have one. Posted by DaveH at November 19, 2012 4:08 PM
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