Tomorrow's Roundtable: Could Apple build iPhones in U.S.? | Apple - CNET News

Tomorrow's Roundtable: Could Apple build iPhones in U.S.? | Apple - CNET News:

Two great pieces of journalism on Apple and its place in the manufacturing economy appeared recently: First, there's a series developing in the New York Times that kicked off in the Sunday, Jan 22 edition: How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work. A follow-on piece, In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad, ran yesterday.

You must read these stories.

Second, listen to the This American Life episode, Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory. In this gripping program, playwright and performer Mike Daisey tells of his trip to the Foxconn plant in China, where iPhones are made.

You must also listen to this podcast.

After you've done your homework, you will have questions. About Apple and all other electronics companies, about your ethical responsibility when it comes to buying gadgets, and about America's place in the world economy and whether or not it will ever be possible to bring modern manufacturing jobs back home.

On Reporters' Roundtable tomorrow, at 10am Pacific Time (live link), we'll be talking with Charles Duhigg, one of the authors of the New York Times series, and Mike Daisey as well. I'm excited to get these two journalists together to discuss the ongoing issues that their stories reported on. I'm sure this is going to be a fascinating discussion.