The mysterious place that builds the stuff that fills our lives

What a marvelous phrase the ABC newsman uses to describe the amazingly large Foxconn factory complex that builds your iPhone.

At nearly 6 minutes long, this is about as in-depth a television news report you're likely to receive on the subject, at least from an American broadcaster. And...it's quite well done. Certainly, we can't trust Foxconn (or China) to reveal the full truth. But, America -- and Apple -- have grown far too dependent upon China and Chinese factories. The more attention we bring to bear on this issue, the better.

As I wrote yesterday, what Apple receives from China is far more than "assembly". Apple *needs* China. 

Which is bad.

We need these factories and their technologies and scalability back in America. At the very least, the *ability* to make the most advanced personal computers on the planet is something we ought to consider as a worthy national objective.

And Apple no doubt needs to make itself radically less dependent on China.

Most shocking to me is just how much of the construction of iPhone is dependent on human hands. This seems wrong, somehow. Though fascinating.

Overall, well done. Worth your time.

The other segments, including Apple's need to launch a PR assault on this issue are here:  http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline