The retail image of consumer electronics products — bright and shiny in their meticulously sterile packages — fundamentally contradicts how they are manufactured. The work is often dirty and occasionally dangerous, emphasized speed leads to injuries, and the constant stress of repetitive motions and work quotas can exact other kinds of tolls. However, looking deeper into the supply chain — including where and how common and critical base minerals are extracted, refined and prepared for production — reveals different sorts of costs.
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Conflict Minerals: The Human Cost of Technology
Posted by: Charles King February 11, 2014 05:00 AMThe retail image of consumer electronics products — bright and shiny in their meticulously sterile packages — fundamentally contradicts how they are manufactured. The work is often dirty and occasionally dangerous, emphasized speed leads to injuries, and the constant stress of repetitive motions and work quotas can exact other kinds of tolls. However, looking deeper into the supply chain — including where and how common and critical base minerals are extracted, refined and prepared for production — reveals different sorts of costs.