Sophisticated robotics replace human workers in manufacturing and distribution around the world from nytimes.com:
At the Philips Electronics factory on the coast of China, hundreds of workers use their hands and specialized tools to assemble electric shavers. That is the old way.
At a sister factory in the Dutch countryside, 128 robot arms do the same work with yoga-like flexibility. Video cameras guide them through feats well beyond the capability of the most dexterous human.
One robot arm endlessly forms three perfect bends in two connector wires and slips them into holes almost too small for the eye to see. The arms work so fast that they must be enclosed in glass cages to prevent the people supervising them from being injured. And they do it all without a coffee break — three shifts a day, 365 days a year.
All told, the factory here has several dozen workers per shift, about a tenth as many as the plant in the Chinese city of Zhuhai.
This is the future.
A new wave of robots, far more adept than those now commonly used by automakers and other heavy manufacturers, are replacing workers around the world in both manufacturing and distribution. Factories like the one in the Netherlands are a striking counterpoint to those used by Apple and other consumer electronics giants, which employ hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers.
“With these machines, we can make any consumer device in the world," said Binne Visser, an electrical engineer who manages the Philips assembly line in Drachten.
Apple's CEO Cook bets on transparency* from zdnet.com:
Apple CEO Tim Cook is betting that monthly updates on hours worked, audits and focus on firing offenses like hiring underage workers will limit any damage from an emerging supply chain controversy. Cook, speaking at a Goldman Sachs investment conference, reiterated that Apple “takes working conditions very seriously.” The company on Monday outlined a plan to allow the Fair Labor Association to audit its facilities.
“Many top executives and managers visit manufacturing facilities,” said Cook, who noted he’s worked in production plants too. “We’re closely connected to the production process and understand it at a granular level.”
Cook’s bet appears to be that this granular understanding coupled with metrics and a public dashboard can lead the tech industry and improve working conditions in China.
“Transparency is so important,” said Cook. Indeed, the company is aggregating overtime and hours worked for workers abroad. In January, Apple tracked weekly hours for 500,000 workers. Eighty four percent of suppliers complied. “We can do better,” said Cook.
Cook added that this dashboard is an unprecedented step and will be reported on Apple’s Web site.
The big question is whether this transparency will work. On one hand, Apple’s supply chain reporting can tone down complaints by industry observers. However, Apple could open itself up for more criticism. Apple’s bet is that it will get ahead of concerns about working conditions by leading the tech industry in disclosure.
It remains to be seen if a) other tech companies will follow and b) whether Apple can avoid additional scrutiny.
but #NavigatingNetflix will always be free...from reuters:
Subscribers have been up in arms since Netflix announced a changed pricing structure on Tuesday that will raise the price for a combined DVD and streaming subscription from $10 to $16 a month. The company is also offering DVD-only and streaming-only subscriptions for $8 a month each, but most people don’t seem to like the prospect of having to choose: The Netflix blog has seen more than 4,200 comments, most of which are negative, with a number of customers threatening to cancel.
Countless consumers have also turned to the company’s Facebook page, with negative feedback far outweighing any other kind of response. And on Twitter, the discussion around the plan changes has made “DVDs” an unlikely trending topics in a number of cities... [see also "
dear netflix"]
What does all of this uproar mean for Netflix? Of course, it’s unlikely that any price increase would be met with a thumbs-up by many consumers. However, the intensity of the backlash seems to suggest that Netflix really does have a problem.
Netflix has long enjoyed a lot of good will from its customers, simply due to the breadth of its DVD offering. Consumers tolerated the lack of selection in the company’s streaming catalog because it was seen as a value-add to their existing DVD subscription. Recent hiccups, such as Sony removing titles from the streaming catalog, also didn’t lead to many complaints.
However, with streaming and DVDs effectively being separated from each other and users being forced to pay twice as much, many customers are seemingly losing their patience with Netflix. The company may have to go back and do a better job at explaining these changes — or even unveil some great new streaming catalog additions before the September 1 deadline that will force people to pay more, choose between streaming and DVDs or cancel altogether.
