The working environment of the Foxconn factory indeed does seem other-worldly to me. The sheer size of the factory as well as the huge amount of people working in an assembly line-like process is something I have never witnessed here in the United States. I also agree with others that the working hours for the employees of this company are unnecessarily high and should receive notice on the international stage. However, even though I am an owner of an iPhone, I do not feel personally responsible for the poor working conditions of these employees. I do think that knowing the background of how our electronic devices are made is important, and I also believe that knowledge of potentially unfair working conditions for the people assembling these products should be shared. But it is not going to prevent me from buying these new devices.
I found the discussion we had in class regarding the availability of other jobs to Chinese citizens to be quite interesting. A point was argued multiple times that the majority of the people living in China do not have access to a job as stable as the one held by many of the employees of the Foxconn factory. Based on the arguments made in class and the fact that China is a nation of over a billion people, I believe that a job at a place like the Foxconn company provides enough needs and benefits in order to satisfy the majority of the Chinese people.