# (6) 03 Mar 2010, 10:53PM: ZaReason Response:
As I mentioned earlier, I wrote to ZaReason to ask them about their manufacturing practices and their CEO, Cathy Malmrose, wrote back. I asked her if she wouldn't mind me posting her response here, and she said "Go for it!"
Thanks for contacting us.
Not only is Windows not installed, our hardware has *never* had it. Unfortunately,
some vendors will make a "Linux-only" laptop by using older prepackaged Windows
hardware, wiping it then doing an Ubuntu install. We get our components from the
individual OEMs who manufacture the individual components (wifi, HD, motherboard,
case, etc.) Since we don't have to build it to be compatible with both Windows &
Other we have the freedom to select whichever parts are absolute best for a
Linux-only system. No compromises needed.
From what we can tell, yes, but I'm sure we could dig deeper. Generally we use MSI,
ASUS, Shuttle, etc. They are the current standard suppliers. More below.
In Berkeley!
We're governed by State Labor Law, Federal Law (EDD), and all sorts of other
agencies. We even pay an Electronic Waste Recycling Fee. The money is funneled
through the State of CA Board of Equalization to the recyclers like ACCRC who then
follow best practices in recycling the hardware. (Although these regulations could
stand a lot of improvement.)
Labor standards: Our pay is good but not great since we are still small. It's the
going rate for a university town / Bay area. We try to compensate by giving our
employees benefits that are meaningful to them personally -- home office work for
research, flexible (very flexible) hours, etc. One of our dearest employees brings
her infant with her and it adds a sweet element to the office. We are a small shop on
Hopkins Street in Berkeley. We have 14 employees. We hire people who are good, kind,
and highly motivated to build hardware specifically for free and open purposes.
We are growing quickly and hope to open a second shop soon.
1. We do not have to navigate around license agreements. Not only do we not use
Windows, we also do not do deals with distros. Some distros approach hardware
builders with a "Please pay us $x for every system you sell." When that happens the
focus shifts from cool hardware to dollar and numbers sold. Not good. We do not have
any strings attached other than to our office staff and our customers.
2. We are privately owned, no investors and the board members actually work in the
shop. We put our laptops through a child-test, where we let a 7 yo (here he is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9609130@N03/2929692722/ ) and a 17 yo use the laptop for
a week. They are generally able to find any weaknesses in the case.
3. We have battery life equivalent to those of other builders. The ARM is coming out
soon which could and should shoot netbook battery length up to 12-14 hrs, but it is a
low power processor.
4. Thinner is better? We agree! Our Hoverboard is about as thin as the MacAir. The
Hoverboard is approx 1/3 the price.
Your message became a topic of conversation with a few of the builders when it came
in. Several said, "I'll reply to that one!" saying that they would gladly reassure
anyone that they have a lot of fun and are not only treated fairly, but fully respected.
Wow, that is an oversight. Thank you for mentioning it! We recently did a website
redesign, went live approx 12 days ago. The part listing our actual location did not
make it into the redesign... I'll chalk this up as yet another helpful comments from
the community. We also need to have a section on the site, possibly in Our Story /
About that addresses the questions you asked.
We are in a sweet little shop at 1647 Hopkins St, Berkeley, up the street from
Monterey Market and across the street from Goioa Pizza and Hopkins Bakery.
Thanks for asking,
--Cathy Malmrose, CEO ZaReason, Inc.
I really appreciate her candidness; it's refreshing to hear a CEO talk openly about what needs improving. And of course this kind of personal response is something I was never going to get from Lenovo, Dell, or HP.
Sumana,
* Come without Windows pre-installed (I'm sick of paying the Windows tax)
* Most or all components ethically sourced
* Manufactured/assembled someplace with real labor standards.
* General laptop desiderata (sturdiness, battery life, thinner is better)
All of our components are the same as those used by Dell, HP, System 76 and other
builders. The difference is:
An acquaintance pointed me to you. I'm glad you sell laptops
preinstalled with Linux and tested here in the States! But where do you
manufacture/assemble the laptops?
We do our assembly / partial manufacturing in the US, but the base components are
made in China. There are a few component "manfacturers" that have shops in the US but
nearly all actual manufacturing is done in China. We have seen the factories in
Shenzhen where they are made and we agree that there are many, many bad labor
practices, but the OEMs we have chosen are fully compliant when we view them. (That's
not to say they are compliant when we leave!)
Can I get assurances that the people who made the laptop were paid
fairly, and that the assembly process is reasonably environmentally
friendly?
I used to live in Berkeley myself so it would please me to get to
purchase a computer from you. Please let me know -- I looked on your
site but couldn't quite find any mention of the location where ZaReason
computers are assembled.
www.zareason.com
- Comments:
Posted by Yatima at 03 Mar 2010, 11:39PM
She's awesome and so is the seven-year-old. I should make my seven-year-old available for all kinds of stress testing! SHE WILL FIND YOUR WEAKNESS.
Posted by Eitan at 04 Mar 2010, 01:55AM
Wow.Great job. When you started researching I didn't think you would get that far. Let me know if you get the hoverboard, I would consider it myself one day.
Posted by maevele at 04 Mar 2010, 04:10AM
wow, if they made a netbook, they'd be top of my list when I am looking to upgrade.
Posted by Mackenzie at 05 Mar 2010, 09:26PM
My ZaReason (a model they no longer sell) has had case issues in two spots:
1. a hinge cover cracked & snapped off and then leveraged the hinge apart (ZaReason fixed the hinge under warranty, but I didn't figure out the super glue magic to put the cover back on)
2. The part of the laptop where your right wrist rests? The corner of that (like 3-4mm of it) cracked off. This doesn't surprise me. My Gateway did the exact same thing a few years ago. Apparently I'm really tough on the front right corner of my laptops *shrug*Posted by Mackenzie at 05 Mar 2010, 09:32PM
Maevele:
They normally do have a very nice little netbook. Possibly they've just sold out temporarily. It's called the Terra A20 and comes in both black and brown.Posted by Zed at 09 Mar 2010, 03:17PM
Their new website looks so much like the typical domain squatter page that I assumed I'd gone to the wrong tld.I once bought Ubuntu case badges from Zareason. And never used them. Doh!
