Steve Jobs on Blood Minerals: “It’s A Very Difficult Problem.”

John Brownlee ()

Steve Jobs on Blood Minerals: “It’s A Very Difficult Problem.”

Responding to a recent New York Times piece linking the horrific warfare in the Congo with the minerals used in our gadgets, Steve Jobs wrote a new iPhone 4 customer explaining Apple’s policy in dealing with mineral purchases:

We require all of our suppliers to certify in writing that they use conflict few materials. But honestly there is no way for them to be sure. Until someone invents a way to chemically trace minerals from the source mine, it’s a very difficult problem.

That’s a refreshingly blunt admission of relative impotence: Apple’s doing what it can, but ultimately, their suppliers are in turn supplied by people who could well be lying about their source. Short of a way to independently verify where minerals are coming from, Apple’s got to take people at their words.

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About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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Posted in News, Steve Jobs |

  • Joshua Welborne

    While many times we have no choice but accept that some very bad things happen during the creation of certain products we should never grow complacent of that being the norm.

  • Machete9236

    Steve Jobs seems to really be enjoying sending e-mails. I envision him as a god-like figure sitting in a white chair suspended by a single, tall chrome pedestal, holding his iPad and picking the people of his empire whom he will grace with a response.

  • Crusader

    Bottom line, Steve Jobs to the people of Congo – tough shit your lives mean nothing compared to the ILIFE!!!

  • Porkchop1234

    I don’t know why the writers of this site bother with these stories. After some of the user responses concerning the tragedies at Foxxconn it’s quite obvious that very few people who come here couldn’t care less as long as they get their iPhones cheap their happy. I commend you Brownlee for trying to write articles about tech and how it effects the human experience of other cultures but I think it’s a huge waste of time on your part because as long as it doesnt directly effect them most people who come here just don’t care.

  • Gilbert Wormac

    Wow, between the Foxconn suicides and now Congo Warlords, Apple seems to be on a monumentous killing spree..

    This kind of link-bait, sensationalism is just bad. From the New York Times, all the way down.

  • itsthejman

    Why does steve never respond to my emails about tabs in the finder though?

  • porkchop1234

    @itsthejman
    because he thinks you’re a idiot and for the record I agree with him

  • jhohner

    There is a way to verify legit sources, it’s called chain of custody. True, it requires a custodial agency that is somehow funded to verify source claims, but it can be done. Ever seen the FSC logo attached to paper or wood products? It stands for the Forest Stewardship Council, a Canadian group funded by industry that audits forestry products from harvest to manufacture to vouch for their sustainability. Numerous organic food certifications also come to mind. Sounds like the electronics industry is ready for something similar!

  • Siedna

    And to think I was a bout to by the iPone 4 this week. A little more research is in order before I give apple my money.