November/December 2008 Issue

Consumer Retorts: Hewlett-Packard

Any idea where in the world this printer came from?

Illustration: Mark Matcho

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CONSUMER RETORTS

Consumer Retorts

HEWLETT-PACKARD

Any idea where this printer came from?

FINDING AMERICAN-MADE electronics is hard enough without manufacturers actively thwarting your efforts. Surprisingly, the notoriously secretive Apple details right in its annual report where its iPods (Taiwan) and other products (China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, and California) are assembled. Technology giant Hewlett-Packard, on the other hand, claims that some of its products are made in the US, but won’t discuss which ones. This despite the fact that HP lists where each product is made right on the packaging. “It’s not that HP is trying to make things difficult for consumers,” a spokeswoman told me. “Our decision for non-disclosure is based on issues of competitive advantage, intellectual property and accuracy. Hope this makes sense, even if it’s not the kind of detail you are looking for.” It doesn’t, and it isn’t.

HAVE A PROBLEM? Oh yes, you do. Go to motherjones.com/consumer-retorts to vent about annoying products and corporate policies. Selected entries will get Mojo swag.

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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