Linked List: October 28, 2020

Wednesday, 28 October 2020

The Verge: ‘Inside Foxconn’s Empty Buildings, Empty Factories, and Empty Promises in Wisconsin’ 

Josh Dzieza, in a devastating investigative report for The Verge:

In 2017, President Donald Trump and the Wisconsin GOP struck a deal with Foxconn that promised to turn Southeastern Wisconsin into a tech manufacturing powerhouse.

In exchange for billions in tax subsidies, Foxconn was supposed to build an enormous LCD factory in the tiny village of Mount Pleasant, creating 13,000 jobs.

Three years later, the factory — and the jobs — don’t exist, and they probably never will. Inside the empty promises and empty buildings of Wisconn Valley.

The hallmarks of the Republican Party, exemplified by the Trump administration, are incompetence, corruption, and lies. All three are at play in this story, but it’s hard to say in what order. The promises were all false — some combination of outright lies and utter failures — but the results are very real to the people of Wisconsin:

That illusion has had real costs. State and local governments spent at least $400 million, largely on land and infrastructure Foxconn will likely never need. Residents were pushed from their homes under threat of eminent domain and dozens of houses bulldozed to clear property Foxconn doesn’t know what to do with. And a recurring cycle of new recruits joined the project, eager to help it succeed, only to become trapped in a mirage.

“All people see is the eighth wonder of the world,” said an employee. “I was there and it’s not real. I mean, it’s not. This is something I can’t talk about ever again, because people think you’re crazy, like none of this could ever happen. How could this happen in the US?”

We all know how it happened. We made a terrible mistake in 2016 that we’re set to fix next week.

I can’t say enough good things about Josh Dzieza’s reporting and writing for this story.

Reuters: ‘Apple Supplier Luxshare Unnerves Foxconn as U.S.-China Feud Speeds Supply Chain Shift’ 

Yimou Lee and Josh Horwitz, reporting for Reuters, two days before The Information’s aforelinked report alleging the souring of Apple’s relationship with Foxconn:

Apple’s top iPhone assembler, Taiwan-based Foxconn, has set up a task force to fend off the growing clout of Chinese electronics manufacturer Luxshare, which it believes poses a serious threat to its dominance, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The project was initiated by Foxconn’s founder Terry Gou, according to one of the sources, to target Dongguan-based Luxshare, which is little-known internationally but is poised to become the first mainland China-headquartered firm to assemble iPhones — a turf until now dominated by Taiwanese manufacturers.

The task force, which the sources say was created last year, has been looking into Luxshare’s technology, expansion plan, hiring strategy and whether the company — which currently makes only 5% of Foxconn’s revenue — is supported by any Chinese government entity.

I would think Apple would want to detangle its manufacturing from China, not entangle it further, but this might show how large China’s advantages are in this world.

The Information: ‘Inside Apple’s Eroding Partnership With Foxconn’ 

Truly remarkable report by Wayne Ma for The Information:

In 2013, demand for the iPhone 5C, a budget model with a colorful plastic shell, was so weak that hundreds of thousands of the devices piled up in Foxconn warehouses, according to two former Foxconn employees in its iPhone unit. Foxconn executives complained to Apple that they couldn’t keep storing the phones for free, but Apple had no incentive to take them because it doesn’t have to pay for its products until they leave the warehouse, they said. Apple cut short the iPhone 5C production schedule, while Foxconn began giving out the phones as gifts to employees, one of the people said. Apple eventually drew down the remaining inventory, the person said.

This is the best confirmation I’ve ever seen that the iPhone 5C was a dud sales-wise. I mentioned this a few weeks ago (on a podcast?) and a few people disputed it, but only with anecdata. I liked the 5C, and I know it was popular with Apple’s own employees, but I never saw many in the real world and, most tellingly, Apple never again made another iPhone anything like it.

In another incident, according to an internal Apple presentation reviewed by The Information, Apple accused Foxconn of giving employees of rival Google a tour of a factory in China that made the metal frame of the 12-inch MacBook, which was released in 2015. When Apple security managers learned of the Google visit, they asked Foxconn for security footage and visitation logs, but Foxconn refused to cooperate, according to the presentation.

Foxconn has taken other liberties with its Apple relationship, former employees said. In 2015, Foxconn used idle factory equipment that Apple owned to work with other clients, according to two former employees. These people said they shipped dozens of Apple-purchased machines for radio-frequency compliance testing to another Foxconn site, where they were used to test smartphones made for Huawei, an Apple rival based in China.

The Apple-owned equipment was shipped back to its original location before Apple audited the production lines, these people said. The practice became harder to get away with after Apple started attaching RFID tags to some of its equipment to keep track of where it was going, according to four former Apple and Foxconn employees.

All sorts of other allegations in Ma’s reporting, including Foxconn billing Apple for employees it never actually hired. One can only imagine how much Foxconn has tried to get away with this year, with coronavirus travel restrictions keeping many Apple employees out of China.

Tim Culpan, longtime Bloomberg columnist who has covered Foxconn extensively, finds the allegations credible and explosive.

Philadelphia District Attorney Krasner to Donald Trump: ‘Leave Philly Alone’ 

Statement from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner:

The Trump Administration’s efforts to suppress votes amid a global pandemic fueled by their disregard for human life will not be tolerated in the birthplace of American democracy. Philadelphians from a diversity of political opinions believe strongly in the rule of law, in fair and free elections, and in a democratic system of government. We will not be cowed or ruled by a lawless, power-hungry despot. Some folks learned that the hard way in the 1700s.

Hell of a statement from America’s best DA.

MacOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Beta 1 Is Out, Despite Big Sur 11.0 Not Being Out 

Mr. Macintosh:

MacOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Beta 1 was released on October 28th, 2020. The release comes about 2 weeks after Beta 10. We were expecting Beta 11 or a GM seed, so it’s strange that we are getting 11.0.1 Beta. It’s possible that Apple Silicon Macs (currently in active production) will have 11.0 installed on them. When they arrive they will see 11.0.1 as an available update.

The only explanation that makes any sense is that 11.0 was “shipped” as the factory OS for some new hardware, which may well be the first Apple Silicon Mac(s), queuing up for a pre-Thanksgiving announcement. There could be new Intel Macs in the pipeline too — there almost certainly are — but you would think those might not require Big Sur.

Apple’s secrecy around hardware announcements makes their OS releases seem nutty. (Last month we had betas of iOS 14.2 without ever seeing betas of 14.1 because 14.1 was the build that shipped as the GM for iPhones 12.)

Jon Stewart Returns With a ‘Current Events’ Series for Apple TV+ 

John Koblin, reporting for The New York Times:

Mr. Stewart, the former anchor of “The Daily Show,” has reached a deal to host a current-affairs series for Apple TV+, the company announced on Tuesday. Apple TV+ said it had ordered the series for multiple seasons. It will feature one-hour episodes, each dedicated to a single topic. Apple did not describe the format — whether it would be an interview series or something closer to John Oliver’s weekly HBO series — or specify how many episodes it would have per season. Apple did not set a premiere date, either.

When one company dominates an industry, especially one whose meteoric rise to the top remains fresh in everyone’s minds, it’s human nature to measure all competitors through a filter skewed by that leader. In streaming premium video content, that leader whose meteoric rise remains fresh-in-mind is Netflix. “How does Apple TV+ make sense for $5 a month when Netflix is like $13?” That’s a question a lot of people asked. Me too! There are competitors who, whether they admit it or not, are trying to out-Netflix Netflix, and are probably (and in most cases, definitely) going to fail. Netflix is popular and successful because they’re really good at being Netflix.

Apple TV+ isn’t trying to out-Netflix Netflix. They’re out-HBO-ing HBO — while HBO, newly-owned by AT&T, the Pepsi of phone companies, is hamfistedly pissing away what made HBO HBO by trying to out-Netflix Netflix. I swear that’s probably half the reason they went with the name “HBO Max” — Netflix has an X at the end of their name, so should we.

M.G. Siegler suggested this “Apple TV+ is the new HBO” notion on my podcast last month and I’m convinced he’s right. Apple has even recruited ex-HBO leadership. From Koblin’s report for The Times:

The Apple TV+ show will be produced by Mr. Stewart’s Busboy Productions and Richard Plepler’s Eden Productions. Mr. Plepler, who was chief executive of HBO when the network made Mr. Stewart’s deal, has had a production deal with Apple TV+ since late last year.

“What business does Apple have making original content?” is another reasonable question raised by their foray into TV and movies. If you buy into the theory that the model for TV+ is what HBO used to be, Tim Cook offered a justification in July, in his prepared statement testifying before the House Judiciary Committee:

Motivated by the mission to put things into the world that enrich people’s lives, and believing deeply that the way we do that is by making the best not the most, Apple has produced many revolutionary products, not least of which is the iPhone.

The best not the most. That was HBO, and that seems to be the model for Apple TV+.

Study Shows Republicans Closely Resemble Autocratic Parties in Hungary and Turkey 

Julian Borger, reporting for The Guardian:

The Republican party has become dramatically more illiberal in the past two decades and now more closely resembles ruling parties in autocratic societies than its former centre-right equivalents in Europe, according to a new international study.

In a significant shift since 2000, the GOP has taken to demonising and encouraging violence against its opponents, adopting attitudes and tactics comparable to ruling nationalist parties in Hungary, India, Poland and Turkey.

The shift has both led to and been driven by the rise of Donald Trump.

By contrast the Democratic party has changed little in its attachment to democratic norms, and in that regard has remained similar to centre-right and centre-left parties in western Europe.

This is rather obvious and rather terrifying. But it’s the sort of thing that can make those who sense it doubt themselves. Sometimes things that sound like hyperbole are the plain truth. You’re not crazy if you see this and it scares the hell out of you.

This Is the Coronavirus Election 

Ed Yong, writing for The Atlantic:

And yet, the pandemic is not impossible to control, contrary to what White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows recently suggested. Many other nations have successfully controlled it, some more than once. Masks can stop people from transmitting the virus. Shutting down nonessential indoor venues and improving ventilation can limit the number of super-spreading events. Rapid tests and contact tracing can identify clusters of infection, which can be contained if people have the space and financial security to isolate themselves. Social interventions such as paid sick leave can give vulnerable people the option of protecting their lives without risking their livelihoods.

The playbook is clear, but it demands something that has thus far been missing — federal coordination. Only the federal government can fund and orchestrate public-health measures at a scale necessary to corral the coronavirus. But Trump has abdicated responsibility, leaving states to fend for themselves. In May, I asked several health experts whether governors and mayors could hold the line on their own. Most were doubtful, and the ensuing months have substantiated their fears.

I’d never hold myself up as anything even vaguely resembling a parenting expert, but I do have one piece of advice I’ve shared with friends who’ve had kids after I did. It’s about the word discipline. I grew up and spent the first decades of my life thinking discipline was a near-synonym for punishment. It’s very commonly used that way. You act up in class and you get sent to the principal for “discipline”. But that’s a euphemism, for situations where we don’t want to but should just say punishment.

The discipline that kids need from their parents is self discipline. They don’t have enough control over their emotions, their bodies, or just general common sense. Parents need to instill discipline in their kids because they lack their own. Sometimes punishment for misbehavior is part of instilling discipline — but only when it’s too late. Kids need small doses of discipline that have nothing whatsoever to do with punishment all day every day. That’s the exhausting part of parenting. Just teaching kids how to sit still and be quiet. What they’re allowed to do and touch and not do and not touch. That sort of thing.

Political leadership is like that. Citizens aren’t children and political leaders aren’t parents. But true leaders instill virtues. We, collectively, are clearly low on patience with this fucking coronavirus and all the behavioral and social restrictions surrounding it. We all miss so many people, and so many places. Real leadership can and will instill collective patience that many lack or are simply running short of individually. A sense that we’re in this together, and that the quickest (if not only) way out is via short-term collective sacrifice. Wear masks, stay apart, don’t gather. Find more patience.

We got through 4 years of World War II. We got through decades of a Cold War where nuclear annihilation was a constant threat. We did that through leadership. It matters.