面对这封专业读者的抗议信，我们显得非常平静，因为那篇《新浪：惊现乌龙事件！翻译有误还是偏袒华硕？》发布之前我们已经接到来自各方面善意和不善意的意见和建议，甚至包括抗议。

不过，我们确信一点，真理总是掌握在少数人手里的，我们将会在适当的时候拿出证据来证明，我们才是对的！  
 

DISCLOSER长剑，质疑新浪前请自己先做好功课！

作者：我是谁不重要

昨天MSN一上线，就有朋友把你们网站那篇文章的连接丢给了我。看完后，实在是震惊！

一方面没有想到新浪的编辑水平那么差，另一方面也没想到你们的水平那么高。

但是，1个小时之后，我的想法发生了改变，因为我在互联网上找到了那篇英国记者的原文。

《iPod City: Apple criticized for factory conditions》

"We have to work too hard and I am always tired. It's like being in the army. They make us stand still for hours. If we move, we are punished by being made to stand still for longer…We have to work overtime if we are told to and can only go back to the dormitories when our boss gives us permission…If they ask for overtime we must do it. After working 15 hours until 11:30pm, we feel so tired."

The first facility, run by Taiwanese company Foxconn, is described as "the original and largest plant to be built in mainland China. It's a sprawling place where 200,000 people work and sleep." Many are already questioning this figure as being an error of some sort, as that would basically be a city the size of Tallahassee, Florida. It is worth noting, however, that the Foxconn facility produces electronics equipment for a variety of IT companies besides Apple, and the Longhua facility holds one-fifth of their "million-strong workforce." iPod Nanos are produced in a five-story factory at the facility, stationed with police officers who check everyone who enters and leaves to "thwart rivals intent on industrial espionage." For 15 hour workdays, pay at this facility is approximately US$50 per month.  
 
The second facility visited benefited from its proximity to Shanghai. Dormitories are outside the plant, work is only 12 hours of the day, and pay is almost US$100 per month (the security guards who watch over the workers earn up to US$150), of which up to half is paid back to the company for housing and food. The remainder is typically sent home to families, many of which are struggling to bring in that kind of money farming.

Given that the iPod nano components cost approximately US$75 but have around 400 parts, cheap labor becomes very important at keeping the price competitive. One guard at one of the facilities visited understood this: "Payment is lower because the boss wants to reduce our costs," he says. "Prices need to be competitive to get orders from abroad."

What results is an unpleasant catch-22. Overseas companies need to keep their costs down so first-world consumers can afford their products and they can stay in business. In places like China, the low wages and shocking conditions present an opportunity not unlike what came of the Industrial Revolution.

James Kynge, author of China Shakes The World, argues that despite Westerners' perceptions about working conditions in factories, the wages are a godsend that are transforming rural China. "The money sent back to farming families from the workers now exceeds the amount made from agriculture," he says.

Further, China has no unions, which allows subcontractors like Foxconn to keep wages artificially low.

Workers will be lucky if they make two percent of the profit from an iPod. Foxconn will make less than ten percent. Far more money is spent by Apple on marketing the product than making it.

That's not to say something can't or shouldn't be done. A recent BusinessWeek article profiles a Hewlett-Packard manager whose job is specifically to fight for "Supply Chain Social & Environmental Responsibility." Bonny Nixon-Gardiner not only travels to facilities like the Foxconn Longhua plant to ensure the working conditions are decent, but she has also worked with other companies such as Dell, IBM, and Intel to create the Electronic Industry Code of Conduct, setting out basic labor and environmental standards for IT contractors.

It's not an easy job. Grover Thurman of Foxconn describes working with Nixon-Gardiner as "like being kissed and slapped at the same time. It can make you psychotic—but it needs to be done."

We can only hope that Apple, who puts at least a little of that marketing budget into trying to promote themselves as a socially responsible company , can get on board with the movement towards technology manufacturing ethics.

Of course, Apple isn't alone in its use of labor in Asia, including that which has been profiled here. We hope that all such companies keep the improvement of workers' conditions at the top of their "must have" feature list for the future.


大家看清楚了吗？原文里面可是白纸黑字点名富士康（FOXCONN）哦！但是，这个英国记者在讲到苏州工厂时哪里有提到华硕（ASUS）半个字！？

难道，你长剑大人要新浪的编辑自己编撰出一个华硕（ASUS）来吗？

恐怕，这才是你长剑大人的真实目的吧？

我承认新浪的编辑产业背景的确没有你丰富，但是这不并妨碍他把一篇英文报道平实翻译成中文版本，如果说他把苏州工厂安到富士康（FOXCONN）头上有错，那么你怎么就敢那么肯定那家苏州工厂就是华硕（ASUS）所有呢？？

难道，你就不怕英国记者写错了地名？比如说把昆山写成了苏州？一个外国人搞不清楚昆山和苏州好象不是什么大不了的事情吧？请别忘记，富士康（FOXCONN）在昆山可是有工厂的哦！

最后我也想说一句，你最大的嫌疑就在为什么不敢把原文一起刊登出来，让大家自己也仔细对比对比，如果不是心里没底，恐怕你早就这么干了吧！

随信发去MSN，有问题可以随时找我，我错了我道歉，但如果是你错了，请向新浪科技道歉！

我随时恭候你长剑大人的大驾。

BTW 如果你们网站不刊登这封来信，我会发动我的朋友去各大论坛发帖，不信就试一试。

【声明】DISCLOSER刊载此文不代表同意其说法或描述，仅为提供更多信息，也不构成任何建议。对本文有任何异议，请联络question@discloser.net。