First robots have arrived in plan to replace 1 million Foxconn workers

Ultimately all progress in human material conditions comes from "eliminating jobs". Back In The Day it took 80% of the US population just to keep everyone fed. When tractors came along most of the population went into manufacturing, and with robots people go into services. You can't have more stuff without finding ways to produce the current level of stuff with less people.

Personally I think this will generate some social unrest in my hometown where foxconn has a factory. Those robots will drive millions of young workforces out of a basic job. I'm pretty concerned about the near future.<p>In the long term though, this seems to be the only way to go: automate boring jobs.

Anyone else is happy about that ? When everything will be done by machines we will have to think about what it means to exist in this world without being a little hand.

So if the Chinese are just replacing people with robots why can't America, or really any nation, do that now? Or why didn't they do that sooner? If we want to bring back manufacturing why not start with robots? It might not bring back the mass amount of jobs, but it will bring back more exports and stabilize the trade deficit. The robot repairmen will stay busy that's for sure.

I submitted a story last week I was a little disappointed got no comments or upvotes, but if this (<a href="http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/11/06/evil-high-speed-robot-hand-proves-humans-doomed-to-be-servants-to-our-coming-borg-overlords/?fromcat=shareables" rel="nofollow">http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2012/11/06/evil-high-speed-...</a>) is what robots in labs can do no, then things will continue to be exciting and interesting as these technologies get commercialized, become hackable and find new uses.... what COULDN'T robotics like this be used for? (that link was the one I submitted if that wasn't clear)

I guess we'll see an increase in robot suicide rates.

Does this mean the robots can be installed in the US and we made iPhones and iPads here in the US, at least the robot service jobs will be local.

<a href="http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm" rel="nofollow">http://marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm</a>

According to the article that is 83.3% of their workforce that will no longer need to be paid. It will take about three years to recoup costs, which means more profit for Foxconn and Apple and more subsistence farming for previously Foxconn employed Chinese peasants.<p>Labor Problem Solved™!

"these robots are manufactured in house"<p>Wow, that's just… mean. Being tasked with building the machine that will put you out of job.