Hardware made in democracies?

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Doe
  • Start date Start date
J

John Doe

This might be controversial, try not to take it personally.

I realize that finding basic hardware (CPU/mainboard/memory) made in
non-communist countries is difficult/impossible and probably costs
more. But maybe there is some scale. Anybody want to guess what
specific hardware or hardware company is more likely to employ free
people who work in reasonably healthy environments?

Thanks.

For what it's worth, here's my thoughts. I would look for a company
that writes a manual that is more nearly easy to understand (close
to clearly written, since I'm an English only speaker of course I
mean in English). That might not suggest much about its origin, but
at least it could suggest something about the attitude of that
company. When I think of Intel, I think of Indian engineers. But I
guess that's more nearly Democratic than Asia. Not sure what the
outsourcing/worker composition of AMD is. But I'm talking mainly
about manufacturing.
 
. Anybody want to guess what
specific hardware or hardware company is more likely to employ free
people who work in reasonably healthy environments?
Click to expand...

Not much guesswork seems necessary because we can:
1. Locate those countries with legislation requiring work
environments of which you approve.
2. Locate that subset of countries that (probably) actually
fulfils these standards.
3. Then find which countries have hardware manufacturers
that produce at home.
For what it's worth, here's my thoughts. I would look for a company
that writes a manual that is more nearly easy to understand (close
to clearly written, since I'm an English only speaker of course I
mean in English). That might not suggest much about its origin, but
at least it could suggest something about the attitude of that
company.
Click to expand...

It may be unsafe to think the literary quality of documentation
correlates with working conditions in a company's plants.
 
Don Phillipson said:
"John Doe" <jdoe usenetlove.invalid> wrote in message

Not much guesswork seems necessary because we can: 1. Locate
those countries with legislation requiring work environments of
which you approve.
Click to expand...

The reader can judge for himself (or herself) what "reasonably
healthy environment" means. Also, I said "scale" meaning there are
degrees of healthyness.
2. Locate that subset of countries that (probably) actually
fulfils these standards.
3. Then find which countries have hardware manufacturers that
produce at home.
Huh?


It may be unsafe to think the literary quality of documentation
correlates with working conditions in a company's plants.
Click to expand...

Hey ya Burt.
 
Fitz said:
It would be hard to chose hardware where some of the components
weren't made in China (if that's your standard,
Click to expand...

I'm not speaking in ones and zeros. My standard is more like "don't
give up". Look for ways to push back against the trend of oppressing
workers in democracies by companies that outsource work to countries
which treat their workers like slaves, and freely trading with those
countries goods produced by their slave labor. Since our current
Democratic leaders are more interested in immediate gratification of
certain constituents, it's our choice, we can empower the people in
our own country, or carelessly send our money to the slave lords in
communist countries. I'm willing to pay a little bit more for a
product made in a democracy, or conceivably made by a company that
pushes back against their masters (yes, that's an abstract concept).
Again, I realize that's exceptionally difficult with respect to
personal computer hardware, but I'm not asking for a nice neat
solution.
I try to avoid US companies who have obviously outsourced product
support to (3rd World) foreign countries. I want to talk to
someone who speaks English as a first language and hopefully knows
something about the hardware/software they are supposed to be
helping you with.
Click to expand...

Yup. Printed stuff like manuals are support too. Besides better
support, there might be some indication of a company's leanings by
their support. Better or cheaper aren't my only concerns.

To be clear. If I see products on the shelf that are all made in
China and I need one of them, yeah I'm going to buy it anyway.
 
I'm not speaking in ones and zeros. My standard is more like "don't
give up". Look for ways to push back against the trend of oppressing
workers in democracies by companies that outsource work to countries
which treat their workers like slaves, and freely trading with those
countries goods produced by their slave labor. Since our current
Democratic leaders are more interested in immediate gratification of
certain constituents, it's our choice, we can empower the people in
our own country, or carelessly send our money to the slave lords in
communist countries. I'm willing to pay a little bit more for a
product made in a democracy, or conceivably made by a company that
pushes back against their masters (yes, that's an abstract concept).
Again, I realize that's exceptionally difficult with respect to
personal computer hardware, but I'm not asking for a nice neat
solution.


Yup. Printed stuff like manuals are support too. Besides better
support, there might be some indication of a company's leanings by
their support. Better or cheaper aren't my only concerns.

To be clear. If I see products on the shelf that are all made in
China and I need one of them, yeah I'm going to buy it anyway.
Click to expand...

Hell, you're going to be hard pressed to find anything comprised of
individual components where nothing is made in a repressive country.
Look inside of any electronic equipment an you'll find components from
Mexico, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and many others. Even good old
American made stuff is owned by foreign companies - Milwaukee tools is
now owned by a company registered in Hong Kong.

While you can probably find some things that are mostly made in "free"
societies, repressive countries usually mean extremely cheap labor,
which results in lower priced components and higher profit margins.

My rant,
Bill
 
This might be controversial, try not to take it personally.

I realize that finding basic hardware (CPU/mainboard/memory) made in
non-communist countries is difficult/impossible and probably costs
more. But maybe there is some scale. Anybody want to guess what
specific hardware or hardware company is more likely to employ free
people who work in reasonably healthy environments?

Thanks.

For what it's worth, here's my thoughts. I would look for a company
that writes a manual that is more nearly easy to understand (close
to clearly written, since I'm an English only speaker of course I
mean in English). That might not suggest much about its origin, but
at least it could suggest something about the attitude of that
company. When I think of Intel, I think of Indian engineers. But I
guess that's more nearly Democratic than Asia. Not sure what the
outsourcing/worker composition of AMD is. But I'm talking mainly
about manufacturing.
Click to expand...

Just ran into this for what it's worth:


Systemax™ is the Great American PC Maker.

Ask your current PC Vendor 3 questions:
1. Are 100% of their systems assembled in the USA by US workers?
2. Are 100% of their tech support calls and emails answered in the USA
by US workers?
3. Do they have a company policy to NEVER export American jobs?

If they can't answer YES to all 3 questions, then come ask Systemax™.
We say "Yes" to the American worker. We are the largest, most reliable
PC manufacturer in the country that can make these claims. We've been
assembling and supporting the highest quality PCs for American
businesses and families in Fletcher, Ohio for over 20 years.


Note that they don't say that all components are made in the US.

Bill
 
Hell, you're going to be hard pressed to find anything comprised of
individual components where nothing is made in a repressive country.
Click to expand...

It's not a black and white issue. Admittedly, again, it's definitely
not easy when dealing with computer hardware. That's one reason I ask,
for some clues.

I found a decent a solution for myself.

To be clear, again, I realize that spending more for no better quality
is not necessarily an attractive solution, especially to someone in
business.
 
Bill said:
Just ran into this for what it's worth:


Systemax™ is the Great American PC Maker.

Ask your current PC Vendor 3 questions:
1. Are 100% of their systems assembled in the USA by US workers?
2. Are 100% of their tech support calls and emails answered in the
USA by US workers?
3. Do they have a company policy to NEVER export American jobs?

If they can't answer YES to all 3 questions, then come ask
Systemax™. We say "Yes" to the American worker. We are the
largest, most reliable PC manufacturer in the country that can
make these claims. We've been assembling and supporting the
highest quality PCs for American businesses and families in
Fletcher, Ohio for over 20 years.


Note that they don't say that all components are made in the US.

Bill
Click to expand...

No they don't, they just tell you to ask :)

To be clear, I'm not trying to save the world.

Thanks.
 
Back
Top