isn't this going to end up in mass unemployment, riots and calamity?
They are migrant workers. They come from all over, not the same place. You need lots of people in the same place pissed off at the same time to lead to a riot.
Fast food chains will be doing the same cause of $15/hr minimum wage.
Nah. Australia raised their minimum wage a big amount, and despite all the furor, it raised the price of a Big Mac about $0.45. The gloom-and-doomers are full of it. You can pay a lot of workers a lot of hours before you get to the cost of robotics for a burger job.
The gloom and doomers aren't full of it. You can't even compare Australia. The raising of the minimum wage in California will be the highest ever in the world. The minimum wage increase is going to cost close to a million jobs. Some parts of California its going to hurt a lot, especially in the farming communities. Farmers will be cutting their work force and food prices will go up. With many jobs being wiped out, it's going to cost California taxpayers billions with more people going on welfare. Even our own governor admitted the minimum wage increase is going to cost a ton of jobs. Here is Jerry Brown's quote: “Economically, minimum wages may not make sense. But morally, socially, and politically they make every sense.” Take Oakland for example, when the minimum wage was increased there to $12.25, food prices increased 20%. Fast food places aren't switching to robotics. They are switching to automated ordering. All the McDonalds in my area have started to install the monitors for ordering.
If manufacturing becomes more automated and relies less on human workers, is there any reason to continue to do it in China?
Exactly. But the question is who is designing and building the machine tools? Is it Foxconn or some other company. Could Apple buy those same tools? Does Apple have the expertise and resources to build them?
I'm also surprised that the Chinese government would permit such massive layoffs. The last thing they want is 50,000 + angry workers.
Considering the kind of specialized things Apple does, the volume they need and the quality they aspire too, I'd be surprised if they have on involvement in manufacturing development.
I think increased automation is technically a good thing. But what about those 10s of thousands of workers? What becomes of them and their families? If more and more companies like Foxconn do this, which seems to be the trend, isn't this going to end up in mass unemployment, riots and calamity?
Those who aren't trained to maintain the robots, will have to return to the farm. Wow, China's industralization is moving along very fast.
I think increased automation is technically a good thing. But what about those 10s of thousands of workers? What becomes of them and their families? If more and more companies like Foxconn do this, which seems to be the trend, isn't this going to end up in mass unemployment, riots and calamity?
So it's the company's duty to hire a low-skill worker doing highly-repetitive work that can be better done by a robot that will tirelessly work 365/24/7 at essentially zero pay (once capital expenditure is depreciated)?
It's unfortunate, but it is the individual's responsibility to adapt.
If manufacturing becomes more automated and relies less on human workers, is there any reason to continue to do it in China?
I want Apple out of China. I want China out of the WTO. It's a toxic relationship.
It's strange about the ramifications of China and automation. If they were to somehow automate the entire factory, save a hundred people to maintain/service the robots, then what is in it for China? They just end up being a supplier of cheap land for the factory, which can then be provided by any other country.
I suppose they would implement even stronger protectionisms in their country by not allowing access to their markets unless (like India) the product was produced there - which would make no sense if something required almost zero workforce to build. The next 10 years will be interesting.
I have not read that China has changed its rules around automation. China will not allow something to be automated if a human can actually do the work. Generally the only way they allow automation or robots is if you can show a human can not do the work, even then you may be required for a human to be involved like pressing a button to make the robot begin the work. I was in HDD factor in China and elsewhere and the entire manufacturing process of HDD today is completely automated it is almost completely lights out production. In China they still had people sitting at the machine watching what it did and pressing buttons which is not really needed. All the companies in China told me they are required by the government to maintain a person. China is about workers and keeping them working.
If Foxconn is allowed to do this, something else must be going on. I heard most factories in China are having a hard time finding workers especially ones which want and can do this kind of work. It the problem of the one child rule and those who grew up as a single child are not having kids themselves. It looks like China is loosing its labor force. Unlike the US where people do not want to work unless they get CEO pay.
What???--- I think this is too simplistic a statement. Almost all tasks--- including machining can be done by hand... just takes a year instead of 1 hour. How about Ric-shaws(sp) vs cars? Can you find an official translation of the intent you are stating?
If manufacturing becomes more automated and relies less on human workers, is there any reason to continue to do it in China?
Bring some back to the U.S.
The shift to China was gradual until almost all of our corporations sent their jobs overseas and the US became incapable of manufacturing consumer electronics, textiles and all sorts of plastic items. This time it is a little different where China is automating gradually but they have a head start and eventually they will have the same sort of monopoly in robots that they now have with human labor. If the US wanted those robot factories here they should have started years ago.
SJWs the world over deserve to lose their jobs! I am rooting for the robots!
I wrote last week that perhaps some assembly can be brought back to the USA. You don't have to pay an American robot a higher wage than a Chinese robot. We need millions of robots on US soil.
The next time that I step into a fast food joint, I would prefer to be served by a robot. Some fast food working humans have trouble counting 9 Chicken McNuggets, true story.
I think increased automation is technically a good thing. But what about those 10s of thousands of workers? What becomes of them and their families? If more and more companies like Foxconn do this, which seems to be the trend, isn't this going to end up in mass unemployment, riots and calamity?
One word: 'Post Capitalism' This has been discussed quite a bit across the interwebs and it is an interesting idea. (I may even have posted this here before). The link is to an article from the Guardian in the UK. I few paragraphs into the article is a video featuring the author (there is a book) which sums up the ideas. Fundamentalist Capitalists may not want to hear that capitalism as a system is no longer working but the evidence is clear and as automation continues social and financial inequity and consequently, unrest is inevitable. This is not about left wing politics but about pragmatism, in my view.
The high number surprised me. Well, I guess Trump was right. Like NeXT, such a factory could be built here and probably many more of those jobs could be eliminated. I knew there were potentials here as i watched prior videos of football sized factories of humans putting chips in slots, thinking, WTF... can't Robots do that?
We can build Apple stuff here, but it's going to be automated, not a bunch of wal-mart shoppers stuffing chips into slots.
Not much of this matters anyhow as the bulk of the revenue hits Cupertinos' coffers. What is the small fraction, paid to China (via workers) of the iPhone? It ain't much.
If manufacturing becomes more automated and relies less on human workers, is there any reason to continue to do it in China?
Some say yes but another news story of today is that Adidas fired all their Asian factory workers and moved their manufacturing back to Germany where all the sneakers will be made by robots. Once Robots start buying the sneakers, there really won't be any need at all to keep us around...
I think increased automation is technically a good thing. But what about those 10s of thousands of workers? What becomes of them and their families? If more and more companies like Foxconn do this, which seems to be the trend, isn't this going to end up in mass unemployment, riots and calamity?
yes. The world economy can't continue on this trend forever. Once everyone is out of work, who will buy the products the robots built? The robots will also replace call centers, IT, drivers, pilots, doctors, heck I can't think of who will NOT be replaced.
I think increased automation is technically a good thing. But what about those 10s of thousands of workers? What becomes of them and their families? If more and more companies like Foxconn do this, which seems to be the trend, isn't this going to end up in mass unemployment, riots and calamity?
yes. The world economy can't continue on this trend forever. Once everyone is out of work, who will buy the products the robots built? The robots will also replace call centers, IT, drivers, pilots, doctors, heck I can't think of who will NOT be replaced.
Comments
Wow, China's industralization is moving along very fast.
Skynet
It's unfortunate, but it is the individual's responsibility to adapt.
What???--- I think this is too simplistic a statement. Almost all tasks--- including machining can be done by hand... just takes a year instead of 1 hour. How about Ric-shaws(sp) vs cars? Can you find an official translation of the intent you are stating?
SJWs the world over deserve to lose their jobs! I am rooting for the robots!
I wrote last week that perhaps some assembly can be brought back to the USA. You don't have to pay an American robot a higher wage than a Chinese robot. We need millions of robots on US soil.
The next time that I step into a fast food joint, I would prefer to be served by a robot. Some fast food working humans have trouble counting 9 Chicken McNuggets, true story.
We can build Apple stuff here, but it's going to be automated, not a bunch of wal-mart shoppers stuffing chips into slots.
Not much of this matters anyhow as the bulk of the revenue hits Cupertinos' coffers. What is the small fraction, paid to China (via workers) of the iPhone? It ain't much.
yes. The world economy can't continue on this trend forever. Once everyone is out of work, who will buy the products the robots built? The robots will also replace call centers, IT, drivers, pilots, doctors, heck I can't think of who will NOT be replaced.
sure it's great that robots can be helpful. But it sucks that people's LIVES are hurt by this.