WHY I REFUSED A NEW iPHONE. WHY YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT IT YOURSELVES.

WHY I REFUSED A FREE iPHONE FROM A CLIENT ... OR ANY PHONE MADE WHERE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ARE RAMPANT.
I cannot possibly knowingly support slavery and human rights violations.

I was in a meeting with a client and he was expressing his satisfaction at work I had done for him. As we talked and as a cheque passed hands, he said, "I'd like you to have this as a token of our satisfaction, above and beyond your fee." He handed me a shiny new iPhone with the Max Allen Media logo branded on the case. I was touched. It's not often a client shows such appreciation.

It was a sweet and incredibly naïve gesture but still it was much appreciated by myself. But really, "naïve"? Was I being rude or stupid? Not really, and let me explain why I cannot own an Apple product, be it a phone, computer, or any other product branded with an apple on the front ... or back.

Apple Computer's lead contractor for manufacture of their products does almost all of its Apple work in the People's Republic of China. In fact, Foxconn is the largest private employer in this nation of well over a billion people. Operating largely in the city of Shenzhen China this company manufactures electronic components and equipment for a variety of customers, but the largest by far is Apple Computer.

Apple and Foxconn have often been implicated in human rights violations regarding their treatment of employees. So numerous are the complaints they are impossible to count without a computer. "Hopefully not an Apple computer."

From employing small children and feeble elderly under allegedly 'slave' conditions their alleged violations range from deprivation of food and water to physical beatings. One worker, Li Hua, who 'escaped' from the 'black jail' conditions, describes what he allegedly went through, "When I had to go to the toilet, I was told to just 'do it in my pants' and I did. I was only 14 years old."

Whenever I see an Apple product all I can see is the product of slave labour at the hands of a multi-national crime syndicate. I see the sadness, embarrassment, pain, and torture of untold masses and it breaks my heart. As a result I make it a point to avoid anything made in China whenever possible. As China has saturated the world with their products, it isn't always possible. But in the case of Apple, it's easy for me to make a decision.

As I outlined my case as politely as I could I informed my unknowing client of the Apple phone's origins. His eyes were wet with tears as I outlined known fact and solid suspicion in my case. I could see that I had hit home. He is a decent man and no longer the "China Naïve" person he was before we met. He has since eliminated all Apple products from his home, office, and company.

I hope you will take this to heart and make your own decision according to your own conscience.

I'm Max, and that's the way I see it!

P.S. I realize that electronic goods are manufactured in a variety of countries where human rights violations are rampant. India is another not mentioned here and there are probably a dozen more in the wings. I also know that there are countries such as Korea and Singapore where workers make these machines and still manage to support a family and live a decent life.