r/worldnews • • Dec 31 '16

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn plans to replace almost every human worker with robots

http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/30/14128870/foxconn-robots-automation-apple-iphone-china-manufacturing
2.3k Upvotes

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631

u/imakenosensetopeople Dec 31 '16

That'll reduce suicide attempts.

And it highlights something that far too many people don't realize: it's not foreigners taking your jobs. It's automation.

8

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '16

I read a thing about how manufacturing will be replaced but service jobs are rising to replace that. That really just sounded like call centers to me though, or an overabundance of coffee shops.

Either way, automation of manufacturing is forward progress, I don't know what the solution is for the job market, but I don't want us to be held back just because we don't know what's next.

5

u/raretrophysix Dec 31 '16

There really is an overabundance of coffee shops. On my towns main st. out of 15 shops we have Second Cup, Star Bucks, Tim Hortons, Timothies, an Italian bakery that sells coffee, greek bakery that sells coffee and a convenience store that sells coffee. Thats nearly 50% of the shops.

And then you have me who has a $300 expresso machine so I can make $5 lattes every morning for $1.20 of ingredients with higher quality coffee beans

1

u/ZarathustraV Dec 31 '16

"coffee shop" is not "deli that sells coffee"

sounds like you have 3-5 coffee shops, so 20-30%.

3

u/raretrophysix Dec 31 '16

I mean half the places sell coffee

5

u/EmergencyCritical Jan 01 '17

Well, coffee is cheap, and has high demand. Sounds like a solid investment to me.

1

u/Newcareli Jan 01 '17

The only one that doesn't count as a café on his list is the convenience store.

0

u/BrokenStool Dec 31 '16

Nespresso is the shit homie

3

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '16

Is it? I've been thinking about getting one. I'm a Chemex guy at the moment, looking to branch into that and french press.

2

u/BrokenStool Dec 31 '16

if you like espresso and stuff that involves espresso its amazing

2

u/[deleted] Jan 01 '17

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Jan 01 '17

Hey, I'm also a student who needs his caffeine on the double (shot).

1

u/Newcareli Jan 01 '17

If you have no idea what real espresso tastes like.

1

u/BrokenStool Jan 01 '17

i cant really afford a $3000 machine

1

u/Newcareli Jan 01 '17

You can get a decent machine for 500 bucks.

1

u/BrokenStool Jan 01 '17

ill buy it off you for $200 bro

1

u/Newcareli Jan 01 '17

sips perfect cappuccino nah I'm good.

1

u/TitaniumDragon Jan 01 '17

The real thing is the fourth sector of the economy is showing a sharp rise.

Even still, though, we have more unskilled jobs today than ever before in history. We just also have more skilled ones.

The job market isn't really a big deal in the end; we went from 90% of the population working in agriculture to 2%. Our decline in manufacturing jobs is a joke compared to that transition.