Let's not let old arguments about 'technology creating unemployment' be a smokescreen for the real issues
[..] Ironically, some of the workers say that they are made to feel like robots.
It is the responsibility of the large corporations to ensure that the companies making their electronics abide by similar practices as in their home countries. And it is the responsibility of all of us not to buy goods made by workers who are stripped of their rights and dignity.
In addition, the robot is compact and intended to fit into spaces ergonomically designed for human workers. This allows the robot to be easily interchanged with a human coworker when the production order is changed or a new layout is required.
FRIDA concept robot.
the reason Apple assembles iPhones and iPads in China instead of America, is that assembling them here or Europe would cost much, much more — even with shipping and transportation. And it would cost much, much more because, in the United States and Europe, we have established minimum acceptable standards for the treatment and pay of workers like those who build the iPhones and iPads.
Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records
"Hon Hai has a workforce of over one million worldwide and as human beings are also animals, to manage one million animals gives me a headache," said Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou at a recent year-end party, adding that he wants to learn from Chin Shih-chien, director of Taipei Zoo, regarding how animals should be managed.