Will the world ever see Fair Trade iPads?

I like this idea, but I have to agree it would be unlikely for most people to pay $600 for a free-trade iPad when they can get the same thing for $500.

I think it would only work if the free trade version is the only one available.

"I like this idea, but I have to agree it would be unlikely for most people to pay $600 for a free-trade iPad when they can get the same thing for $500."

Then it should be made mandatory, so that no gadget could be sold in the market that is not made in fair trade conditions --even if it was made elsewhere. You should be competing on price by slashing your profit margins or finding some more efficient engineering/materials etc, not by turning wages and working conditions into a race to the bottom.

"If you’ve read the New York Times story from yesterday (...) you know that gadgets are often made in pretty harsh working conditions."

I have heard of this story and I am surprised it has not been post on HN.

How about the other million goods that are not fair trade? When are we gonna see "fair trade" those?

How about "fair trade" itself being a bullshit term, when the underlying conditions of "fair trade" producers are mostly as shit as non fair trade?