Is Nord an ethical manufacturer?

[Elias]

I don't know where they're at now, but Nord have come a long way since the original Stage where they used the bones of expired slaves coated in palm oil to make the white keys.

Oh, look who joined the thread. Thank you for being alive CountFosco

[JayDee]

Some guys feel that all Nord should worry about is designing and building world class keyboards, and that's fine. I am having trouble seeing how being an ethically minded mfg could be construed as a negative. "Dang, Nord pays their employees a living wage and cares about their manufacturing processes...It's too bad they're not made by what are effectively indentured servants...... better if they are in re education camps as well...better price""

[JohnT]

I am having trouble seeing how being an ethically minded mfg could be construed as a negative.

I don't see anyone making that argument here. Most just said making your decision to purchase a Nord or not based on "wokeness" was maybe not the primary criteria. And no one was arguing about price.

[mitya]

I bought a Nord because it was the best keyboard to fit my needs. Period. Why would you want an inferior product, just because the manufacturer is "ethical"? Boycott the "unethical" manufacturers and none of us will have instruments when they go bust. Thanks.

With respect, I find that attitude baffling. So you're saying that, hypothetically, if company A made the better product but was, for various reasons, shown to be unethical in its practices (let's say, tax avoidance, poor conditions for workers) and company B made a slightly worse (according to your needs) product but was ethical, you'd go for A? So you don't assume any moral responsibility for which companies you support?

[mitya]

Guys, threre's a few flippant, supposedly humourous replies on here. Just remember we're fortunate to live in the first world where we're never likely to work for shitty wages and in shitty conditions to make the world's electronics (Foxconn etc). It's easy to laugh when you're on the richer side of the fence. For many in the world this isn't a joke. A little compassion might help a few folks!

[JohnT]

With respect, I find that attitude baffling. So you're saying that, hypothetically, if company A made the better product but was, for various reasons, shown to be unethical in its practices (let's say, tax avoidance, poor conditions for workers) and company B made a slightly worse (according to your needs) product but was ethical, you'd go for A? So you don't assume any moral responsibility for which companies you support?

The quick answer is , no.
I take no "moral responsibility" for someone else's lack of ethics. I am not responsible for their actions. I leave that to the SJW crowd, of which I'm not a member.

[CountFosco]

Guys, threre's a few flippant, supposedly humourous replies on here. Just remember we're fortunate to live in the first world where we're never likely to work for shitty wages and in shitty conditions to make the world's electronics (Foxconn etc). It's easy to laugh when you're on the richer side of the fence. For many in the world this isn't a joke. A little compassion might help a few folks!

Guy, oh please please I hope you mean me. You found my answer humorous? Whoopee! It's very moving. It's almost incredible how many tosses I give about what a person with whom I've never before interacted thinks. And after 12 posts, I'm glad you're here to let me know how to moderate the words that I type. Be back soon, this is gonna be fun =)

[DJKeys]

Guys, threre's a few flippant, supposedly humourous replies on here. Just remember we're fortunate to live in the first world where we're never likely to work for shitty wages and in shitty conditions to make the world's electronics (Foxconn etc). It's easy to laugh when you're on the richer side of the fence. For many in the world this isn't a joke. A little compassion might help a few folks!

Having compassion is fine, but don't believe that because a company has a statement proclaiming compassion and fairness in their business practices that it means anything. You think Nike cares about the Uighurs in the labor camps? Nope, but they continue to manufacture in the country that allows them a large market and the largest possible profit.

-dj

[catosim]

Guys, threre's a few flippant, supposedly humourous replies on here. Just remember we're fortunate to live in the first world where we're never likely to work for shitty wages and in shitty conditions to make the world's electronics (Foxconn etc). It's easy to laugh when you're on the richer side of the fence. For many in the world this isn't a joke. A little compassion might help a few folks!

First: People joking around shouldn’t automatically be interpreted as disrespect or lack of compassion. This is a userforum wich provides a lot of help in different matters, and there’s always room for a good laugh


Secondly: I think the question you’ve asked is quite difficult to answer, but many have given it a fair amount of reflections in order to provide some help. No one here can answer on Nords behalf, but have shared some reasonably guesses.

[Schorsch]

With respect, I find that attitude baffling. So you're saying that, hypothetically, if company A made the better product but was, for various reasons, shown to be unethical in its practices (let's say, tax avoidance, poor conditions for workers) and company B made a slightly worse (according to your needs) product but was ethical, you'd go for A? So you don't assume any moral responsibility for which companies you support?

You assume that one has a choice between a product of a company which is known to be unethical in one way or another, and a product of a company which is known to be ethical. That’s a very clear situation and easy to take decisions, but with respect I don’t think that this describes correctly what we are talking about here. The situation is that obviously nobody knows if Nord is an ethical manufacturer or not because there is no sufficient information available about this. Does “not knowing” justify the assumption that they may not be ethical? I don’t think so, if this fact is not known I take my buying decision based on the facts I know, for Nord these are the quality and usability of the products, their support and the price. How dare I imply that they are unethical just because I don't know otherwise and therefore would decide not to buy from them?

The same kind of thinking could make me ask you “Do you know if the server which hosts this forum is powered by green energy, and if you don’t know why do you still make use of this forum?”