How do people show their fondness of information?

We complain about our oversupply of information. We treasure it nonetheless. We aren’t shutting down our e-mail addresses. On the contrary, we’re buying pocket computers and cellular modems and mobile phones with tiny message screens to make sure that we can log in from the beaches and mountaintops. These devices are fed by our ever-growing militia of information carriers.

Nobody likes to think his or her iPhone was made from minerals derived from a country where warlords and mass rapists profit from the mines. So a year ago, Apple made a bold claim: It had audited smelters in its supply chain and none of them used tantalum from war-torn regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The announcement about tantalum was an important step for human rights advocates who have long called for more transparency from international companies.