The flurry of news around the recently released iPhone is astounding. In the end it is only a phone - even if it has all sorts of attractive bells and whistles on board.
FP records in this piece the geopolitics of the almost iconic iPhone. For example, in relation to metals:
"Although Australia mines the most coltan by far, it's the Congo that has borne the brunt of the electronics industry's hunger for the material. The Congolese see almost none of the profits from the coltan trade because rebel groups backed by neighboring Rwanda and Uganda routinely loot the mineral to finance their own operations. High-ranking government officials from both countries were implicated in a 2001 U.N. report (pdf) on the ongoing regional turmoil that, by some estimates, has killed nearly 7 million over the last 12 years. As attention to conflict minerals expands beyond gold and diamonds, expect "blood coltan" to become a much bigger topic of discussion. For its part, Apple issues a non-denial denial when it comes to addressing coltan (pdf), saying that the company requires its suppliers to certify that the materials they use have been produced in a "socially and environmentally responsible process." Apple adds that the supply chain is long and complicated, and that it supports efforts to map and regulate that chain."
FP records in this piece the geopolitics of the almost iconic iPhone. For example, in relation to metals:
"Although Australia mines the most coltan by far, it's the Congo that has borne the brunt of the electronics industry's hunger for the material. The Congolese see almost none of the profits from the coltan trade because rebel groups backed by neighboring Rwanda and Uganda routinely loot the mineral to finance their own operations. High-ranking government officials from both countries were implicated in a 2001 U.N. report (pdf) on the ongoing regional turmoil that, by some estimates, has killed nearly 7 million over the last 12 years. As attention to conflict minerals expands beyond gold and diamonds, expect "blood coltan" to become a much bigger topic of discussion. For its part, Apple issues a non-denial denial when it comes to addressing coltan (pdf), saying that the company requires its suppliers to certify that the materials they use have been produced in a "socially and environmentally responsible process." Apple adds that the supply chain is long and complicated, and that it supports efforts to map and regulate that chain."
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