THE AGONY AND ECSTACY OF STEVE JOBS at the TRON

                                                     " I will never be the same
                                                       After seeing that show. "

                                                              Steve Wozniak , Apple Co-Founder
                                                              To the New York Times

This show caused a lot of controversy when first coming out , the criticism was not about the substance of the content , rather semantics about how the scenarios in the performance were actual primary sources sightings by the author himself or a representation of attested evidence being presented in a hard-hitting format which translates the gravity of the issues to a theatre audience.

This piece from corporate business journalists conveys a sense of the objections from those that prioritise share price and the image of stock listed companies and those who they use as cheap sources of labour.More focused on fuelling complexities and less on addressing correctable wrongs



The comment from "infocus" clarifies the topic somewhat and why the objections of the above piece are more smokescreen and less outrage at poor reportage.
      

"Interesting bit from Rob Schmitz, Marketplace's China correspondent in Shanghai:
"What makes this a little complicated is that the things Daisey lied about seeing are things that have ACTUALLY HAPPENED in China: Workers making Apple products have been poisoned by Hexane. Apple’s own audits show the company has caught underage workers at a handful of its suppliers. These things are rare, but together, they form an easy-to-understand narrative..." (All-caps are mine.)"

The real issue of the play , and therefore the real question is not whether an emerging economy like China uses practices that are less labour-friendly than those of which a Company like Apple would apply to Workers in the US , it is did Apple know about these practices , all attestable  and reported in the public domain and if they did why did they not do enough to make sure that they did not happen on assembly lines making Apple products.

This interview of the writer Mike Daisey gives an indication of the kind of reaction one should expect from any company that values and is not shy to embrace "ethical" values and corporate responsibility statements.( The last two minutes is especially profound in how big institutions have to respond to Human Rights for its employees and users).Identifying that old style colonialism has been replaced by modern economic colonialism is a piercing conclusion.

             

And you can see the whole play in the link below , a very commendable choice for a college play that bodes well for the future concerns of the next generation of workers.