RawMustard,
I meant the phenomenon of the computer. The phenomena that you're referring to are the same as we have here. If you want to get something made you have to get it made in China because it would be unaffordable if were built at home. Sad yes but also true. Apple are not angels we all know that but Steve Jobs in order to make his ideas reality had to comply with those abhorrent business practices.
I'm not happy that my Mac is made in the places you correctly describe but can you get it made here ? What would these poor exploited people do if that industry were taken from there ? I agree Apple could easily pay more as could many other prestigious companies..
I'm sure Telstra could provide better customer service if their CEO & managers were only paid half of what they get now. They'd still be multimillionaires for doing hardly anything.
I said great man because he really did have the biggest individual impact in the last century.
I can't & do not want to discount your claims.

There is no doubt that Steve Jobs and Apple have made their mark.
Some of the reports have been over the top however.
You would think he invented the computer, and one announcer on the
ABC even said so. Wasn't repeated, so someone must have intervened.

He was there early in the piece of personal computers but he was not
the first by any means.
I worked on what was said to be the first computer that could be
called a personal computer. It had been designed for a programmer or
an engineer to use himself, rather than submitting jobs to the
computer room on paper tape or cards.
It was a Bendix G15 and preceded Apple by many years.
It was not portable and was a valve machine. Them's were the days.

The first computer was Colossus at Bletchley Park, North of London.
It has been rebuilt and the WW2 site is very worth a visit.
I have a picture of it on my wall here and I bow to it every morning !

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If you want to get something made you have to get it made in China because it would be unaffordable if were built at home.
"""

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What would these poor exploited people do if that industry were taken from there ?
"""

Firstly I find this argument a bit hypocritical. You see we here in Australia would never condone the working practices of China, in fact we have people on this forum bleating constantly about the use of unions and the working conditions brought about by their existence. We have people bleating about work choices and the despicable actions of the ex Howard government and the current leader of the Lib's, Abbot. Yet it's no problem for any of them to promote the growth of China and to praise companies and executive officers that use the exploitation of chines workers for their own gains.

There would be a country wide revolution if workers here were treated in the same manner, people like Belly and lexi would have instant coronaries, yet we're quite ok with purchasing goods from companies we clearly know are in China to circumvent our own laws in the name of profits.

Our very own PM praised this vile man who stood at the top of this exploitation and hypocrisy, yet she has no problem demonising anyone that would try to reduce working conditions in here.

If you place the same restrictions on employers in China that we have fought tooth and nail for in Australia, then those goods would be affordable if made here as well!

There's no reason to take those jobs away from chines workers, simply place restrictions on a personal level on companies that circumvent our own laws and the way we feel humans should be treated. It's up to the individual to act and if they don't they should be shamed for the hypocrites they are, that includes our own executives and government officials!

RawMustard,
It's Australians who are making money by paying the chinese factory workers a pittance.
I keep thinking what would happen if the internet connection suddenly failed. Only the other day our supermarket experienced a breakdown & customers were waiting at the checkout for half an hour. Now that may not sound very long but if you have a plane to catch or the last ferry etc. those 30 minutes could spell big trouble. Imagine if security failed or the banks suddenly lost connection ? Doctors doing surgery over the net could really use a 30 minute break. Too bad about the patient though. Yes there are back-ups but we're now so dependent on internet connection I simply scares me if suddenly people had to think instead of using a keyboard. I have watched barmaids pouring one drink after another & then had to go to till to add it all up. I already added the drinks as they poured them. It's those simple things that make me wonder how the complex stuff would be handled if connection were lost for hours.

*If you place the same restrictions on employers in China that we have fought tooth and nail for in Australia, then those goods would be affordable if made here as well!*

Nope RawMustard, in that case those goods would simply become
unaffordable for most and we would have to do without. At the
same time the Chinese would go back to starving as they used to.

So the present solution is a win-win situaton, unlike any other
solution being presented right now.

*You would think he invented the computer*

Bazz,Jobs did in fact invent the computer which anyone could use,
which is what changed the world. Lets face it, your average
person would not bother with MS-DOS etc.

It was in fact Xerox which came up with the concept of the mouse
and Windows interface. Jobs saw it and recognised its enormous
potential, which Xerox did not. The result was the Apple Mac
and Bill Gates simply copied Apple with his Windows programmes.

Jobs got it wrong, when it came to pricing and being the standard.
Macs were simply too expensive for the average user. Gates
conquered the world by flogging his OS on the cheap. When you sell
10s of millions of copies, its suddenly highly profitable. So
Jobs was banished from Apple and he clearly learned his lesson.

When he came back, lessons learned, he continued with his bright
ideas. Combining technology invented by others and packaging the
whole thing in products which consumers love, at an affordable
price this time.

In the end, people want solutions, they don't just want products.
That detailed thought has gone into today's Apple products and it
shows.

Today Apple understands all this and its market cap of 350 billion
$ reflects that. Meantime Microsoft has clearly forgotten why
they grew so fast in the first place and have forgotten about the
consumer. No wonder they are only worth half of what Apple is
valued at. Consumers have voted with their wallets.

All credit to Jobs for learning from his original mistakes