“Draft:Shift (company)”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

After studying IT, design and philosophy and finishing his course with his diploma thesis "iWorld" in 1999, Carsten Waldeck caught the attention of Apple Managers, who sponsored a scholarship in the USA.^[4] However, Waldeck didn't pursue a career with Apple. Together with his brother Samuel Waldeck, he started the project SHIFT7 on German crowd-funding platform Startnext. The inventor already gained experience on Startnext with his iCrane-project.^[5]^[6] Within three months, the SHIFT7 project reached 140% of its funding target and could be realized. Carsten and Samuel started Shift GmbH, a company with limited liability by German law. Further smartphones were launched with model series SHIFT4 and SHIFT5 in 2015. The one-man project grew into a small company with 13 workers in Germany which collaborates with the Chinese production coordinator company "Vstar and Weihuaxin" in Shenzhen.^[7]

Philosophy

Cycle Economy:

In 2016 SHIFT GmbH introduced a device deposit for all SHIFT products. In order to reduce waste, end users can send their broken devices back to SHIFT for proper disposal or reuse as second or third life device.^[8]

From the beginning, customers had the upgrade option, to inexpensively upgrade their device to a different model at any time, independent of their device's condition. The objective is, to bring unused devices back to life. Returned Shiftphones are repaired if necessary, and sold second hand.^[8]

Sustainability:

SHIFT follows a modular concept for their devises. Shiftphones are built in a modular manner to allow the customer to easily change parts and repair the device without voiding warranty. Videos support and encourage the user in repairing their device, explaining step by step how to open it and how to change certain modules. The use of alternative operating systems like Android with and without Google, or Sailfish OS, is actively supported by SHIFT.^[9]

Human Rights and Workers Care:

The employees in China don't work more than 50 hours a week when it is common for people to work up to 90. Compared to the average Chinese worker in production business, staff is provided with insurances.^[10] SHIFT keeps the use of conflict materials minimal and refuses the use of tantalum which is won from Coltan.^[1] Coltan is used to make components for mobile phones and other electronic devices. A huge part of the ore is won from mines in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). "Much mining has been done in small artisanal mining operations, sometimes known as Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM). These small-scale mines are unregulated, with high levels of child labor and workplace injury." Approximately around 50.000 children work in Congo's Coltan Mines, some of which are just seven years old. Workers hardly have any protection and often work underground in self-made shafts.^[13]

Environmental Care

ASM of Coltan occurs within protected areas in Congo's Tropical Forests, in habitats of endangered or threatened species. The last livelihood areas of the Eastern lowland gorilla population are affected. They are the largest primates on the planet and only found in the DRC. Large mammals like the gorillas are being poached indiscriminately for bush meat to feed hungry miners and militia troops in remote areas. Their population decreased from around 17,000 in 1995 to 3,800 in 2016, and they were added to the critically endangered species list with a very high risk of extinction.^[11] Another problem is the contamination of soil and water around the Coltan Mines.^[12] Through avoiding the use of Coltan, SHIFT tries to keep environmental damage small and raises awareness about the background of modern smartphones. Their concept of cycle economy and sustainability keeps resources on the market and extents the durability of their products.

Criticism

The journal c't criticized the transparency of SHIFT. They argue that there was no evidence that cobalt is not used in Shiftphones. According to c't, the SHIFT partner company "Vstar and Weihuaxin" did not provide information about conflict-free material used in Shiftphone. Unlike Shiftphone, Fairphone provides detailed audit reports about component suppliers through a Chinese agency, and also facilitates detailed information on problems and compromises in the supply-chain. Besides, c't described the Shiftphone Shift5 as "technically nothing special" and a typical cheap smartphone.^[7]

References

1. ^¹{{Cite journal|last=Neubauer|first=Dr. Uta|date=December 2017|title=Faire Handys aus Hessen|url=https://www.technologieland-hessen.de/mm/TLH_Ausgabe_01.pdf|journal=Technologieland Hessen|volume=|pages=47|via=}}
2. ^{{Cite journal|last= Johannsen|first=Thomas|date=June 2017|title=Oberklasse Shiftphone Shift5.2|url=|journal=Tablet und Smartphone|volume=|pages=11|via=}}
3. ^{{Cite news|url=|title=Mehr als fair|last=Knödl|first=Karsten|date=August 2017|work=Heimatnachrichten Fritzlar/Homberg|access-date=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|page=|pages=|nopp=|at=page 5}}
4. ^{{Cite journal|last=Peters|first=Rolf-Herbert|date=November 2015|title=Handy mit Moral|url=|journal=Stern|volume=|pages=134|via=}}
5. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.startnext.com/icrane|title=Icrane-Project on StartNext.com|last=|first=|date=2012|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}
6. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.startnext.com/shift7|title=Shift7-Project on StartNext.com|last=|first=|date=2014|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}
7. ^¹{{Cite journal|last=Wölbert|first=Christian|date=September 2016|title=Vertrauensfrage. Das angeblich faire Android-Smartpone Shift 5.1|url=|journal=C't|volume=|pages=64, 65|via=}}
8. ^{{Cite journal|last=|first=|date=January 2018|title=Nachhaltigkeit von Geschäftsmodellen in der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik|url=https://www.duh.de/fileadmin/user_upload/download/Projektinformation/Kreislaufwirtschaft/Elektroger%C3%A4te/180115_DUH-Studie_Nachhaltigkeit-IKT-Industrie.pdf|journal=Deutsche Umwelthilfe|volume=|pages=8,18|via=}}
9. ^¹{{Cite journal|last=Hugen|first=Wiebke|date=March 2018|title=Wegweiser in Sachen Fairness|url=|journal=Guter Rat|volume=|pages=55|via=}}
10. ^{{Cite journal|last=Holtkemper|first=Lennart|date=March 2017|title=Fairphone und Shiftphone: Nachhaltig produzierte Smartphones|url=http://www.connect.de/ratgeber/fairphone-shiftphone-smartphone-fair-nachhaltig-3196949.html|journal=Connect|volume=|pages=|via=}}
11. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-gorillas/illegal-mining-hits-congo-gorilla-population-conservationists-idUSKCN0X30T2|title=Illegal mining hits Congo gorilla population: conservationists|last=Stoddard|first=Ed|date=April 2016|newspaper=reuters|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}
12. ^¹{{Cite web|url=https://www.verbraucherzentrale.nrw/wissen/umwelt-haushalt/nachhaltigkeit/rohstoffabbau-schadet-umwelt-und-menschen-11537|title=Rohstoffabbau schadet Umwelt und Menschen|last=Behnke|first=Andrea|date=September 2016|website=Verbraucherzentrale NRW|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}