关注：电子产业链中无言的贡献者

偶然间在电视上看到一部由美国公共电视台(PBS)制作的纪录片《中国蓝(China Blue)》，内容叙述一个中国某牛仔裤工厂的14岁女工Jasmine。看过这部影片，很难不因为女主角看来是无奈得在一家环境不佳的中国工厂工作的艰苦人生抉择而动容。

这个故事的结尾是Jasmine想像着穿上她所制作之牛仔裤的人们的生活，而她想偷偷把一封信藏在牛仔裤里跟他们联络──如果她不会被老板抓到的话。

几个月前在某科技新闻网站上刊登的一篇报导，也对笔者所在的西方世界，与供应欧美消费者智能手机、平板电脑、3D液晶电视的“Jasmine们”所在的中国，建立了类似的连结。

该篇报导的作者详实记录了生产苹果的iPhone与iPad的富士康(Foxconn)工厂环境，也强调他们真的是该区域“狄更斯式历史(Dickensian history；编按：狄更斯为19世纪英国作家，擅长于以中低阶层人民为主角的小说故事)”的一个演进过程。

那位作者以深刻的反思为报导做结束：“我认为人类创造了一种集体潜意识，在工业时代的黎明为了这个星球上的资源交易而讨价还价，以寻求逃脱此地的机会；我们正处于这个决策形成与结论产生之间的过渡期。”

在科技产业界，人们常会抛出“生态系统(ecosystems)”这概念；所谓的生态系统通常是指因特定技术而形成一个社群的众多厂商，例如苹果生态系统，就是指那些生产iPhone机壳、iPad保护套等等配件，以及数不清应用程序的厂商，还有优秀的、辛勤工作着的那些厂商员工们。

但是，富士康的员工以及他们的同业，通常并没有在这些产业生态系统中被平等看待；这并不只是一个苹果事件。但在笔者主跑电子产业新闻的20年经验里，我从未听过有任何一家公司坦承这个现实──他们当然也不会歌颂这些产品背后的低廉劳工。

然而，那些劳工却是服务我们这个讲求成本意识(cost conscious)市场的关键角色；市场研究机构TechInsights的拆解分析专家David Carey最近发表的报告就指出，iPhone的组装工程就很像是瑞士表，有很多零件看来必须以人工花费精力来进行组装(参阅电子工程专辑报道：分析：苹果如何实现高科技低成本运作？)。

这时我想起我与其他科技产业线上记者，某些时候是如何地针对某样产品的高价格，抨击那些公司的高层主管。

在笔者将展开又一周的科技记者工作同时，我看到一篇猜测iPhone 5新功能的报导；这款苹果新手机可能有比iPhone 4更大的屏幕。在太平洋时间清晨六点，已经有67篇报导引述了这个猜测，毫无疑问，接下来还会有更多更多。

电子科技确实是强大又美好的力量，它驱动了医疗、太空探险的演进，而且带来纯粹的乐趣；我已经拥有两台试用的平板电脑，还有公司提供的笔记型电脑以及智能手机，还有一台最新的谷歌Chromebook即将送到我手中。

所以我想我可以利用这台工作电脑的一点点功耗，用这篇编辑观点来开始这一周的工作──至少为那些在我们这个电子产业生态系统中被遗忘的朋友们，致上小小的敬意。

点击参考原文：Hear the silent members of our ecosystem

《电子工程专辑》网站版权所有，谢绝转载

{pagination}

Hear the silent members of our ecosystem

Rick Merritt

Out of boredom late last night I flipped on my TV and chanced upon "China Blue," a PBS documentary about Jasmine, a 14-year-old girl in China working at a blue jean factory.

It would be hard not to be moved by the story of her tough life choices that made working in hard conditions in a China factory seem like a sad step forward. The story ends with Jasmine imaging the lives of the people who buy the jeans she makes, wanting to slip into the pocket of a pair of jeans a letter reaching out to them—if she would not be caught by her boss.

A recent story in Wired made a similar connection between our Western world of consumption and the Jasmines in China who supply us with our smartphones, tablets and 3-D LCD TVs. The author does a good job of documenting the conditions at Foxconn where Apple iPhones and iPads are made, noting that they really are a step up from the Dickensian history of that area.

He ends his piece with some pretty profound reflections.

"I believe that humankind made a subconscious collective bargain at the dawn of the industrial age to trade the resources of the planet for the chance to escape it," he said. "We live in the transitional age between that decision and its conclusion," he added.

In the jargon of the tech industry, people often throw around the concept of ecosystems. They typically mean groups of companies that create a community around specific technologies, like Apple's ecosystem of the companies who make iPhone cases, iPad covers, other accessories and a bazillion applications—good, hard, working people.

The folks at Foxconn and their peers often are not held up as equal members of these ecosystems. This is not just an Apple issue. In 20 years covering electronics, I have yet to hear any company acknowledge—let alone celebrate--the low cost laborers behind its products.

Yet these people play a critical role serving our cost conscious markets. Teardown specialist David Carey of TechInsights recently made the point in a public talk that the iPhone resembles a Swiss watch with many parts that must be painstakingly assembled by hand. I think of how I and other tech journalists have hammered on corporate execs for the sometimes high prices of their products.

As I start another work week as a tech journalist, I see one of the top stories of the day is speculation about the iPhone 5. It will have an even bigger display than the iPhone 4. At 6am Pacific time, there are 67 stories already posted on this rumor, and no doubt many, many more are yet to come.

Electronics technology is indeed a powerful and wonderful force, powering advances in medicine, space exploration—and just plain good fun. I already have two review tablets in addition to the notebook and smartphone my company provides, and a Google Chromebook on the way.

I thought I could use a little of this compute power to start my week with a story that at least helps in some small way point back to the forgotten people of our electronics ecosystem.