It still seems to me like it boils down to cheap labour, just the right kind. I mean, how many Americans would want that job, for that salary, working under those conditions, and had the skills necessary for it? Too few, obviously.
One thing that I found interesting was the number of people who place the blame on Apple for making these choices even as Americans outsource every day when they purchase products that say clearly “Made in China”.
Yup, pretty much. It is called eating the cake and having it. Purchasing power rules. But people are greedy, and want the "best" they can get for the lowest price. So other concerns like environment and working conditions go out the window. So very "economic man".
Hell, I just got the 4S in december myself. But you don't hear me whining about working conditions. Every now industrialized country in the world has gone through the same phase where massive manufacture output is bought with the sweat and blood of workers. China is no different, and it is no more abhorrent in China than anywhere else where it occurred.
I, for one, am glad to help out China's growing wages and its emerging middle class. And if I can get an excellent product while doing so, well, that's just a sealed deal, isn't it?