How do you actually go about buying a new smartphone nowadays? Do you evaluate products online or you just head over to the nearest store and take a closer look at the range of products available?
In case you are using the first method and searching online it becomes increasingly effortless thanks also partly to specific search platforms that allow for price comparison to access an interminable list of devices that are offered at prices so low that makes you wonder.
Some popular Chinese brands go for just about the same amount as you’d pay for your favorite chewing gum.
Yet these devices have reached a level of performance that is striking considering that the most expensive or recent models usually cost half the price of an iPhone.
Well, not all that is retail cheap is exactly produced in a fair and human rights compliant way.
It’s a matter of fact if we truly want to change the way things go for issues such as illegal immigration and overall inequality maybe we should change the way we buy first?
The blood ran machines
It’s a warm summer day, the end of july 2019 and Mr. Elon Musk is unveiling his next greatest thing yet, a neural interface that is set to change medical industry and the medical professions in the coming years and possibly so much more.
While we are concerned of whether it is possible that a singularity will indeed happen and we will all wake up as machines one day, Mr. Musk and his brilliant team of engineers take our sights and minds off something that is happening on daily basis leaving less room to imagination, which is the barbaric exploitation of children for the sake of some big brands growth such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Renault and Tesla to name a few.
We are talking about something that is saddening as it is angering.
Children as young as four years old forced to slid themselves thin in creeks that are just big enough for swallowing them.
Indeed between the highly polluted air, filled with dust that is lingering from these pits caused by the continuous friction for digging, and toxic bodies of water where the muddy rubble is washed off, in a desperate search for the most sought after ore in the tech industry which is cobalt.
The truth is that in order to save that dollars or euros we seem to be willing to shun the lives of these people quite thoughtlessly.
So it is and has been like this for most of us in the “civilized” world, all it takes is a look at the numbers to find out how companies such as Samsung, Huwaei or Xiaomi have amassed their quick fortunes at the expenses of these poor people.
It is not only criminal, it is inhuman.
Nowadays Huawei is contending the industry-leading title by sales alongside Apple which on the other hand has gone above and beyond to comply with strict standards for human rights and took consistent action to avoid any cobalt illegal mining practice supplying to their factories by eliminating the middlemen.
Concerning the mining what is mentioned above are just some of the rather morbid details that have been unfolded in this article by the Guardian, go ahead and learn more if you can stomach children dying trying to fetch ore for you to be on facebook sharing your favorite selfies and recipes or playing that fancy video game that you enjoy so much.
Here at DesignDiverso we’ve had it, enough is enough as per usual the big players are just charading around and in the end using their clout to cover up their senseless acts.
Just a couple of companies are really doing something to tackle this crisis.
Even though we are not nearly as powerful, we’re already working on a framework that will allow you the buyers to directly express opinions on these brands and whether you feel they’re taking decisive action or not towards a safer, fair, human rights aware supply chain process for cobalt mining.
Conclusion
If there ever was a time more critical for an awakening of consciousness and conscious ethical buying, this is it.
While you steer that wheel or you tap on those screens, it’s as if almost simultaneously a child dies buried alive, or poisoned under one of those tunnels in Congo.
And if you watch closely with the right kind of eyes you can see that blood dripping out of your devices or cars.
So what is the real price of cheaper tech such as Huwaei or Samsung devices?
You should have a better understanding by now.
Here is an article including a ranking of the companies from the most to least committed to taking actions towards a sustainable and fair supply chain.
It’s only up to you being strong and aware enough to save up for fairly and ethically produced tech instead of craving that latest model device so bad right away when is rolled out in the market, wanting to spare that extra bucks, without thinking for a minute about the dire consequences of your actions.
We can only hope to shed some light on this topic that companies such as Huawei or Microsoft try so hard to hide from the public by investing billions in advertising and promoting their politically correct image slogans as brands.
It’s only a matter of time before the next device or car model comes out, now you have a choice to make and we sincerely hope you will make the right one.
