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FOLLOWING the death of billionaire Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, on the 5 October this year, the media has filled headlines with praise to the inventor of the iPod and lamenting the loss to society that his death has brought.

It is true that Jobs’ creations have revolutionised the music and technology industries, but to idolise him, is clearly wrong. Jobs once said, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them”. This could be interpreted as the words of a technology genius, who is already one step ahead of public consciousness, who knows what the people want and will be the man to bring it to them. But to my mind, this shows Jobs as a hard-headed capitalist, who knows how to market his products to convince the public they need them. Apple’s recent iPhone4 TV ads reinforce this message: “If you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t have the app store, so you don’t have world’s largest selection of apps”. If you don’t have an iPhone, you have nothing!

Apple convinces you that you need an iPod, so you buy an iPod. A year later it’s broken, but luckily there is an improved model you can upgrade to. So is the nature of technological advancements under capitalism – extremely rapid improvement of designs, yet consistent low quality of products, forcing consumers to continually upgrade their phones, laptops and music players, while companies such as Apple rake in eye-watering profits.

What has been less publicised than Jobs’ death is the treatment of the workers who actually produce the gadgets Jobs designs. The Foxconn factories in Taiwan, where Apple products, such as the iPhone and the iPad, are manufactured have been described as “labour camps” due to their inhuman working conditions. In 2010, fourteen of its workers committed suicide. Working two hours overtime every day, on top of a standard seven to twelve hours, six days a week, employees can’t talk to their co-workers due to the high intensity of the job and are left alienated, lonely and depressed. Many pass out on the job. In response to the string of deaths, Foxconn installed suicide-prevention nets and all are now obliged to sign a contract pledging they won’t kill themselves. The scarce reports on Foxconn in the media demonstrate how under a capitalist system more value is given the individual with the initial idea, than to the combined lives of the people responsible for creating the final products.

It’s OK to love Apple products; they are undeniably amazing pieces of technology. But the thousands leaving flowers outside iStores must be reminded that Steve Jobs is just another member of the ruling elite that oppresses, under-pays and exploits us every day. If Jobs truly were a hero, iPods would last years without breaking and wouldn’t cost a bomb. This is perfectly possible to achieve, but  Steve Jobs couldn’t have made himself a tasty $6.7 billion fortune that way.

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