Flying cars come at a cost

With parents who grew up with "The Jetsons" and students with "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century" we all have a similar idealization of the future of electronics. We demand flying cars and robot butlers, but never take a moment to think of where that technology actually comes from, let alone the gadgetry we have now.

As a kid who has grown alongside computers, video games and the blossoming of the internet – I'm the same way.

Imagine my surprise when a copy of "WIRED" magazine showed up at my door, my usual gateway entry into continually advancing electronics, with a bold and chilling cover story that practically grew hands and shook me.

"1 million workers, 90 million iPhones, 17 suicides," it read, picturing workers slaving away in their protective white-uniforms on an OCD-driven looking assembly line. None look particularly thrilled to be there. "This is where your gadgets come from. Should you care?" it concluded.

I can't even begin to describe how horrifying it is for a technology nerd like myself to receive this at their door. My co-worker owns an iPhone, an iPad and an iPhone Touch, and here I am with my brand new iPod nano. Whether it's an Apple product or computer graphics card, all of these originate from the company the magazine describes: Foxconn.

The article speaks of overly long work hours and accusations of sweatshop conditions, things my father used to joke about when I would receive an action figure "Made in China," but never something I associated with the electronics I love so much.

It is difficult to think the things so vastly incorporated into our daily lives, be it the iPhone we use to look up pictures of cats or the newfangled video game system laying on our floors, are made by the foreign equivalent of a burger flipper.

Nobody wakes up and decides Burger King is what they would like to do with their lives, and I'm betting working on an assembly line for 12 hours a day is no higher on the list.

Will this stop me from buying the Xbox 720 or the 50th generation iPod? Of course not. But that doesn't mean there won't be guilt lurking in the back of my brain while I promote said consumer-electronics industry.

The electronics we so glorifyingly use for our own escapism and realization of dreams might be crushing the dreams of those overseas, and, consequently, ending their lives.

Just thought you'd like to know.

For more information, read "My Gadget Guilt" by Joel Johnson in the March 2011 issue of "WIRED."