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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 155. Apple invites press to “special event” in September. Apple release results of their iPod factory probe. MacBook, hacked or not hacked? New firmware cools MacBook and exorcizes demon cow. Dublin man successfully “shames” Apple. Apple store employees fired for downloading Leopard. Lions Gate films reveals iTunes movie deal. MacBook delays. Apple settles lawsuits with Creative. Listener explains Apple stock options troubles. Answers to your Mac Pro questions on graphics cards and memory. The usefulness of Activity Monitor in troubleshooting Mac issues. Listener explains how to automatically get lyrics and artwork in iTunes. Browse iTunes library visually with CoverFlow. Another tip for improving QuickTime streaming performance.
New music, The Punk by Beep
I want my two dollars! — Better Off Dead… (1985)
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I’m not always a fan of the music on the MacCast but this song was awesome! They have another killer track on their myspace page too.
Hi…
Listening to your podcast in Beijing, and I would like to preface that unless you are in Rome, you simply don’t understand Romans.
Your comments about the way that Apple-dot-US should be changing the salary complexity in the Chinese factories are waaaay out to lunch, man. Seriously. I’m paid a local salary here, and I *chose* my salary structure to be more like US: simple monthly number. My coworkers choose their structures, and they *choose* the complex arrangement: base salary, allowances for transit, services, utilities, etc. In this way, the complex salary received by the factory workers is exactly the complex salary arrangement that my coworkers choose when given the alternative of a simple US-style structure.
This is China, man, and that’s how they like it.
Unfortunately, I think the question is whether business in China should be done in Chinese, or English — whether business should look like a foreign method, or a local method. As a counterpoint, how would you like to choose your preferred salary, and someone came and broke your contract, saying “the foreign office requires us to renegotiate your contract, you have to accept this new one, or you cannot work here anymore, and your family goes hungry.” Seriously, you’d be a bit unhappy about that too.
Come to Beijing. See the Great Wall. See the Forbidden City. See what it’s like, and you’ll understand that Chinese make Chinese choices, they are not forced upon them.
Realize too that even the changes forced upon them from the US, well, Chinese just accept it. Very accepting society.
Allan
Allen, I had to go back and listen to that segment again based on your post. The comments you reference were not mine. I was simply reporting on Apple’s policies and it is their guidelines that stated the salary policy of Foxconn was too complex to meet Apple’s standards. I did say that to me they did seem complex also, but I did not offer any opinion on whether I felt that was good or bad. I think I also said later in the segment that we need to understand that different countries have different standards and even if we don’t like those standards we can go in and regulate the standards of other countries.