Here’s a sad bit of Tech. news that’s now rapidly being broadcast around:
China iPhone man commits suicide
By Chris Hogg
BBC News, Beijing
A young Chinese worker suspected of stealing a prototype for the fourth generation iPhone has committed suicide.
Sun Danyong worked for Foxconn, one of Apple’s largest manufacturers.
The Taiwanese firm has begun an investigation following claims made by the worker’s former classmates that he had been beaten by security staff.
Apple says it is saddened by the death and is waiting for the results of the investigation.
Sun Danyong was 25. He threw himself off a 12-storey building last week.
He worked for Foxconn in the southern city of Shenzhen and was responsible for shipping 16 iPhone prototypes to Apple.
One went missing. Sun reported the loss, and the company launched an investigation.
Three days later the worker jumped to his death.
Sun’s former classmates have told Chinese newspapers that during that investigation he was beaten, his house was searched and he was locked up in a room alone.
They say he described the experience in an online chat with them as one of the most humiliating experiences of his life.
Rest of article here.
Here’s the thing: it’s easy to just lay the blame entirely on the product manufacturer (Foxconn), but observers are already pointing out that Apple is in some part indirectly responsible for this. Some folks have suggested that it’s Apple’s obsession with pre-product security that’s resulted in pressure being exerted towards equipment manufacturers towards securing its prototypes in order to build up product hype.
Either way, it sure is tragic.:(
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