Monday, January 12, 2004

Inside cheap DVD players

The Seattle Times has a <A HREF="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001828701_ptch">fascinating story</A> about how the ultra-cheap DVD players we've been seeing at Wal-Mart and other large retailers are able to be so inexpensive. Things I didn't know: according to the article, all DVD players are made in China (I'm not sure I believe that some other asian countries aren't in the game), cheap DVD players are often produced without paying royalties on patents (saving $10-15/unit), and to get these produced at these low prices, slave-like labor needs to be used. So, do we buy or not? Read the article. The author's as conflicted as I am.

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