Steve Jobs seems to have polarised many people in terms of their opinion of him and his legacy.
Undoubtedly he revolutionised the world of personal computing and the music industry.
At what cost however?
Although he always said it was never about the money (drawing a salary of only $1 a year) a MacBook Pro will set you back a couple of thousand in what ever currency you choose whilst those manufacturing the product were doing so for a pittance and often at extreme risk to their health and well being.
The cost of manufacturing an iPod can't be that high.
Would Steve's legacy have been better if rather than emancipating the developed masses from the shackles of Windows and IBM (who incidentally helped the Nazi Party create a super fast early computer system to track Jewish ancestry) he had instead paid a fair wage to those doing the work?
He talks in his Stanford address about the importance of not living someone else's life, emancipating ourselves to do what we love - not much chance of that in China.
Admittedly Apple isn't the only company but does this bring us back to the argument against share owning in a global corporation?
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