Incommunicado

Today didn't go according to plan. I was expecting to be at a conference on communications, but it had been cancelled. No-one had thought to communicate that to the people that had booked for it, but thankfully I checked the diocesan website last night. Not all bad though - I had time to fix the Internet (i.e. our router). And I went to KFC (no, it stands for Kids For Christ) to meet the Bishop. Where we also had a chocolate fountain. And strawberries, which are healthy.

I had to call Netgear tech support to fix the Internet - an exercise in humility for me. I was quite embarrassed when they asked me how many computers did I have connected to the router. 3 desktops, 3 laptops and 4 other devices. There's really no excuse.

Bought an offline ("paper") magazine today: MacUser. Thought I'd give it a try. The editorial said,
"If the affluent millions who buy Apple's products were to equalise their income with those who make them, there would be no iPad, because no-one could afford it."
The context included a mention of the explosion at the Foxconn plant in China, where there is also a disturbing tendency for workers to commit suicide. It's used by Apple, amongst others. It's probably unfair to single out Apple, as at least they do have a code of conduct for suppliers. I suppose the ethical question is whether a Western Christian can justify spending their abundance of cash on buying things from producers that can never afford them. There are a lot of muzzled oxen in china. This isn't just limited to tech of course. There's also food and clothing for example. So why do we have FairTrade food and clothing but not tech stuff? Is there an opportunity there? Or is it worse because food and clothing are necessities but iPads aren't?
I've tried a day without food recently and also an incommunicado day without ICT. The fasting was far easier, but that's probably just me.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad. But I'm feeling bad about that today.

Location:Not Southport