It’s already started and in many ways it’s already too late. The Mike Daisey controversy has turned into an ethical and moral hand-wringing about journalism art, and what it means, if customers should get their money back for the show. It’s also a battle of wrong vs. right, Apple vs. the media too.
People with a natural dispensation to support Apple use the stories of his lies as a stick with which to beat him. They are outraged at the things he said to belittle their beloved company. They’re not wrong, of course.
None of this helps build a better picture of the social impact or the realities of the lives of production line workers in China or elsewhere. All it does is keep the focus on Mike Daisey and what he did or didn’t lie about.
Apple works really hard on its supply chain issue and I’d happily tell people that, in many ways they are better than others, but it’s still not doing enough. Arguments over Mike Daisey and ethics don’t help to make the situation any better.
Look at Twitter and the usual blogs and you’ll find lots of news and opinion about Daisey, not much of it is about the supply chain issues or the plight of the people who work and live to build our electronics. That’s the real problem with this one man’s lies he’s hidden their plight.
