Don't buy Dell computers

[Traianvs]

hopefully this will make dells cheaper

Yeah right. It just means more profit for them


I don't think recycling costs too much, laptops have valuable material in it (such as coltan and stuff?) so I think it's worth it...

Besides don't think Dell cares about the environment!

for every laptop 10 tons of material (don't ask me exactly what because I don't know) is needed to finish the laptop.

The taxpayers would be paying the for food and lodging whether the prisoners are working or not.

True, but you could let prisoners work on recycling of other materials such as garbage or waste, or paper,... whatever the state has to worry about...

It is unfair for a multinational with a whole ****load of $$$ to have this cheap labour... What about the smaller companies then, I don't see them have cheap labour this easily!

Conclusion:
-This is simply unfair.
-Prisoners can also perform other useful tasks except work for multinationals

[MRT144]

i can hope cant i?

[Traianvs]

You can hope yes, but it is simply not the way capitalists think


If they see a way to reduce costs and get more revenues, they'll take the opportunity, which is logical of course, in the business industry!!!

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Trajanus
It is unfair for a multinational with a whole ****load of $$$ to have this cheap labour... What about the smaller companies then, I don't see them have cheap labour this easily!

What evidence do you have that Dell is the only company benefitting from this, or that some smaller companies don't in some way use prison labor?

[Wraith]

--"for every laptop 10 tons of material (don't ask me exactly what because I don't know) is needed to finish the laptop."

Critical thinking lesson 101: Always sanity-check your assumptions.

A quick glance at some laptop sales figures (http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/...owerbook.shtml first result on google) gives me a rough estimate of 27 million laptops sold a year (numbers from 2000, probably large margin of error, but good enough for a rough estimate).

Multpily by 10 tons.
Note that a 2003 Honda Accord weighs about 1 and a half tons.

Wraith
A child of five could understand this -- fetch me a child of five

[Dinner]

I like my Dell computer and I really don't care who recycles it after I throw it away.

[SpencerH]

There are quite a few examples of the growing use of prisoners to provide labour for private companies. The companies benefit by getting cheap labour, the state benefits by getting money, and the workers benefit by getting jobs and in some cases, job skills. In most programs I've seen, the prisoners line up to get the jobs. Its a privilege that promotes good behaviour.

Despite all the plus-es, these systems are rife with the potential for corruption and abuse. In Birmingham, 'vagrants' (not just blacks) were arrested to provide labour for the ironworks. Despite some misgivings, I think that these programs are a benefit from a pragmatic standpoint, but need to be monitored.

[Spiffor]

I have an Inspiron 8200, and I'll recommand Dell computers to anyone I can recommand them : they simply are the least crappy computers you can find. Serious guarantees, and testing the product before shipping it makes for a great quality (even if it's more expansive)

I agree with Che that those jobs should be given to unconvicted people, rather than underpaid prison labor. However, it is not enough for me to boycott my favorite brand of computers. I cannot imagine buying (or recommanding) a Packard Bell or an Acer

[Dinner]

I've owned five different computers including other major name brands but the Dell desktop system I;m using now has been the most trouble free I've owned. Hands down the best.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Trajanus
I don't think recycling costs too much,

LOL.
Yeah, recycling computer components is dirt cheap!

[Sava]

I don't see a problem with prison labor... put those damn convicts to work ... anyways, in terms of the job-stealing aspect, while I respect the fact that there are sometimes economic downturns, and lack of trying is not a reason for unemployment; I must say that as a prospective worker, it's your responsibility to make yourself most attractive in the job market. There disadvantages to being unskilled labor. In America, the only thing keeping an unskilled-laborer from being skilled is a lack of effort and drive to educate. Yes, I recognize that there are fundamental flaws to this idea, but if my dumbass can get an edumacation(), then there's no reason anybody else can't.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Hell, from what I see here, 10% of you bums are going to BE prison labor sooner or later. So do not get pissy on it now.

[Sava]

those coppers will never take me alive!