Chinese iPad 2 fanboiz in frenzied fight A favourite Apple strategy for creating fake media buzz around its products has backfired, with four people reportedly injured in a fight over iPad 2s at a Beijing Apple store. Cupertino loves the sight of its fanboiz queuing in the street for each and every new release, like Muscovites queuing for bread in the Soviet era, so …
Who let this person write on El Reg? Does he take his own article for real? Also a bit offensive to El Reg's readership, as given the tech enthusiasts it's very likely part of them were in the position the author unjustifiably calls "suckers".
The article also makes a bad argument, surely if Apple could ship the necessary millions of units for launch day they would still get the queues PLUS would be able to announce huge millions of units sold within the first n days, thereby netting even more media publicity.
As for the actual news Chinese scalpers were already buying units in the US in large quantities to take to China, it's unfortunately not really unexpected the situation would warm up even more in their home country. There's a lot of profit to be made by the scalpers and I suspect most are part of various chinese triads, with corresponding turf wars as well.
WTF indeed! over a decade of Apple product ownership, i STILL cannot understand when people who clearly have something AGAINST Apple feel they need to utter such nonsense in order to gain publicity - maybe Apple pays more of your wages than you think eh?
I'm all for critical evaluation - not for sitting down and deciding that because i don't like something, it can't be right for everyone else.. The word extremist comes to mind - if you don't like it, move along now...
Awww wazzamatta, did Richard Chirgwin insult your widdle iToy? Diddums.
Also, you'll find that the vast majority of the tech-aware readership here see Apple stuff for the overpriced, overhyped shit it really is, as witness the huge amount of upvotes on any comment rubbishing them, and the huge amount of downvotes on anybody singing their praises.
I'll start the usual trend here by downvoting yours for starters...
I can only guess that the Apple-loathing masses haven't actually OWNED and USED an Apple device long enough to 'get it' - but each to their own right?
The point i'm trying to make is that objective writing is a lot more attractive generally than highly-biased brand-slating.. I am highly tech-aware - i've had and still own and use a vast amount of tech-bits from all manner of brands, i am educated in and work in IT, and have a genuine interest in the overall positive impact IT has and can bring to everyone, if they give it a chance.
EOTD it's dirt off my shoulder whether you believe ME or not - just wanted to say that being a lemming and following the down-voting actions of others maketh a wise person not ;)
I owned an IPhone 3GS for 18 months. (The first and last Apple product I will ever own). It was not only the worst phone I have ever owned, it was the worst electronic device of any kind I have ever owned. I now use own an HTC Desire and am extremely happy with it.
Apple produce over hyped, over priced shite and the fanboi's rabid desire to drool all over Steve Job's latest offerings is matched only by their blind insistence that naysayers don't 'get it'.
"....as witness the huge amount of upvotes on any comment rubbishing them, and the huge amount of downvotes on anybody singing their praises."
Maybe Apple-haters are of low esteem with nothing better to do... Just a thought...
I'm not an Apple lover, but I'll await your inevitable downvote and, if it makes you feel better, tell everyone in the office how you've just totally, like, pwned me.
Feeling better now?
As much as I rail against Apple (not as much as I rail against ms), a few things I DO like about Apple -- but which have not caused me to buy an Apple product for my own use-- are:
-fantastic battery life (upwards of 8 hours? not sure about thei 18"/21" range Macbooks, though)
-- thin, light chassis, lighter than my 17" Gateway P6031 (IIRC, but from Dec 2007) and my 17" HP Pavillion dv7 -3065dx
--- magnetic power cord, which as a whole is a much lighter power supply than my Gateway or HP p/s's (but, I don't like the UFO'looking white charger looks), and detaches easily if tripped over
---- super agressive battery saving schemes which I cannot get out of Linux on my laptops, probably and particularly because I'm running windows inside VirtualBox...
Both my GW and HP laptop batteries went to crap, keeping only 10 minutes to 5 minutes of charge. The GW crapped out after a year. The HP crapped after only 10 months. It's infuriating, and I'm thinking of buying a Macbook JUST to spite HP and other PC makers. Yes, I know Macbooks are overpriced PCs running MacOS which is a closed variant of BSD/etc.
IFFFFF I could afford a 17" or 20-ish" Macbook (I do CAD stuff and treasure a huge, flat, portable screen and long battery life) and IFF I could still get 6-8 hours of life running VBox to contain win 7 and IIIIFFF I can run PCLinuxOS inside a Vm on a Macbook, I might bite.
To get that size AND battery life, won't I have to pay close to $2,000 anyway on a PC laptop?
But, I would probably loathe being forced to have an iTunes account. I just want a friggin' machine that runs well, has lasting battery life
While I agree that the term "sucker" is inadvisable and should not have been used, you seem to be missing the entire point of the article - in that Apple is creating artificial shortages *for publicity's sake*.
Read that again - *publicity*.
Because, in the long run, the news of "limited numbers" will always guarantee more demand for your product than simply having it available, as P.T. Barnum quite admirably demonstrated one day when he helped a shopkeeper sell his wares by placing a "strictly one per customer *only*" sign in the shop window.
Let's be objective here guys,
"fanboiz" = I think any reasonable person on the street, and certainly in the industry, would consider someone spending hours if not days queuing outside a store, like some movie premiere, in order to own a product would be considered a fanatic. I wouldn't be surprised if the people in the queues would also be proud to be labelled such!
"scalper" = did anyone actually read the linked articles? Not only did they use the word scalper but they used it in exactly the original sense of someone prepared to be turnover a product for profit. Xinhua actually quotes the scalpers hawking their offers, "Stop queuing for the device! You exchange 300 yuan for five hours", i.e. let the scalpers and their families queue for you in exchange for 300 yuan on top of the original price.
"suckers" = this could refer to fanatics and/or scalper customers, but arguably, anyone who is prepared to lose substantial time or money to own a product they could later pick up shortly after release, e.g. in the evening or following days at the original price, is easy to take advantage of and therefore a sucker.
At the end of the day, don't forget this is El Reg, the Vulture, "Biting the hand that feeds IT" and this article is entirely in keeping with this ancient tradition! :)
Bit harsh there... As far as I can tell, this did happen, or something very like it.
I rather enjoyed the bit where the shop attendant beat a customer with an iron bar (by implication, for queue jumping). Many is the time I' be been in a queue and wished for a bot of iron bar therapy for some bayard who had just cut in.
The first headline says "fanboiz". The second says "scalpers". It's amazing anyone at theregister let this article hit the web, considering how immediately self-contradictory it is. These two descriptions are polar opposites; a fanboi would buy and hold onto the purchase for dear life. A scalper cares nothing for Apple and is going to resell the item as quickly as they possibly can. There is nothing whatsoever of value in this article. So perhaps it was just published as link bait? If so, that really diminishes theregister in my eyes. I used to find quality reading here. No more.
Here in Toronto I could see the suckers lined up across the street from my office. They stood outside the store for hours to buy their new toy. It didn't even sell out, I could have walked over after work and bought one if I wanted. Even if it did sell out, big deal wait a couple of days till they get more.
If you fall for the media hype and line up you ARE a sucker!
If they did run out of stock, you wouldn't have been able to brag for a couple of days "I got mine before you", like kids comparing their tiny twiddles in the playground.
And even if they didn't run out of stock, the guy who waited in line might have had a unit with a serial number lower than yours! And then, what would you say? Wouldn't you feel and look sorry?
How does any of that matters? Don't ask me, I don't know! The same night I was busy shagging my wife, and I freely admit that the thought of queeing in the night for a gizmo that I wouldn't use didn't cross my mind. That and because I'm a cheap ass who hates being ripped off (it's in my genes).
In their defence, you shouldn't bash the Apple fanboys too hard: don't some people queue overnight for a PS3 or XBOX 360? Or for a Nokia N-Gage... bad example. But hell, some people even queue overnight for the latest Harry Potter. Did I mention what I was doing that night? Can't do, we're talking Harry Potter now.
Some of the smaller of electronics products ought to be vacuum-picked, bunny-tube-delivered from the stock floor upstairs to the customers standing 5-abreast. Then, hurry up and rush them out of the store upon confirmation of receipt of goods that are in good working order, finish, workmanship, and nothing is missing from the packaging.
Something should be done about hoarders and scalpers. But, as much as I may want to buy something unique, I won't rush to be first in line.
There is another writer (Cade Metz) who throws rubbery barbs at everything 'Apple' on occasion but it never goes to the point of making it personal (Attention grabbing headlines don't count). But to label anyone, no matter what race or tech background 'fanboiz' for buying a particular product without even knowing 'who' they are, within the boundaries of your publication, I deem personal & readably offensive. Also assuming a company for withholding a requested popular product for publicity gains is a low unsubstantiated blow.
I opted to let everyone see my objection instead.
Leave the personal attacks and such to us readers, thanks.
You really haven't been reading el Reg very long, have you? The Register traditionally has an adversarial relationship with Apple, ever since St Jobs of Cupertino excommunicated The Register and it's reporters from Apple press junkets after a mildly critical article (I think it was about the Beta of OSX). I have read far worse than this article, yet somehow both Apple and The Register survive. Ironically, some readers seem to be under the impression that The Register is actually being far too kind to Apple recently.
I generally enjoy El Reg's bashing of anyone and everyone as it's done with subtlety and humour, but this article is, quite frankly, pathetic and humourless.
On top of that, the obvious irony is your "writer" has given Apple even more publicity by highlighting the queues in China and in so doing has become a pawn of the Apple machine that he clearly despises so much.
Also, surely it should be iRiot, not i-Riot (pretty basic error, there!)
On second thoughts, maybe we should cut the author some slack as it seems that he's having some issues coping with puberty and that can make you a bit uptight (the only explanation I can think of for writing like a 12 year old is being a 12 year old...)
I find the article pathetic. It degrades anyone who has bought any Apple device just for buying Apple. With regards to the "overpriced, overhyped shit" comment, I have a MacBook Pro which I bought in early 2006 and I use every day. In fact I'm typing this comment on it.
I'm unlikely to replace it until next year and even then it will only be replaced if the performance due to memory limitations (max 2GB memory) becomes a significant issue. 5 years -and counting- of daily use. Thats not bad for a piece of "overpriced, overhyped shit".
Before anyone starts, the Mac shares desk space with a Windows 7 PC. Both platforms have their merits. Just because you own one does not make you a fanboiz.
Good point, Andy. Like many folk on this forum, I use a mac, pc and Linux-based machine. I've also got an iPod, but an Android phone. Ironically, I ended up queuing longer for the fecking PC than I did for any of the other items. Also, the PC is the only device I've had to update in the last 5 years as it's the one that's shown the greatest evidence of being outdated.
Nope, not a mac fanboi. Don't agree with a lot of the Apple politics, but the kit does the job, lasts ages and is easy to use. Job done.
Still, in order to create buzz, El Reg has to churn out a controversial piece of tat-reporting to keep the forums alive.... ho-hum.
So what sort of anti-Apple product dick downvotes a measured quote about the fact that a peice of usable IT kit is just that irrespective of the marketing hype...
I also have some apple kit, M$ PC and run Linux where appropriate, I also have an Xbox and PS3 (though I'd dearly like a refund on that now please Mr Sony) I am not a Fanbois of ANY of these products what's with this anti-fanbois big endian-little endian polarisation shit, you want to start an apple jihad?
Sorry, rant over, nurse can I have my pills now...
"Just because you own one does not make you a fanboiz."
I think "fanboiz" is the plural form, ergo "a fanboiz" is grammatical.ly incorrect. I personally fancy the singular "fanbuoy", but I hear that "fanboi" is considered canon in certain circles. Web 2.0 grammar appart, owning an iPad doesn't necessarily make you a fanbuoy (though it might reasonnably be considered as a strong risk factor), but lining up several hours before the store opening time is pretty damning evidence. That's what the article is about.
I'm glad to know that you posted your comment using a macbook; you could have started by _reading_ the article. I'm sure your macbook allows you to.
Given the venomous hatred and much spleen being vented to anyone who so much as looks at any Apple product, am I to assume that as an Apple user ( home only ) I am to start wearing an armband with said fruit on it, so you can segregate from my fellow humans of which I am now not worthy to be in the company of?
FUCK ME! It's just a fucking tool to be used to do stuff! So what if it's over priced? It's my fucking money, I sweat all fucking week long as a Solaris admin/Oracle DBA to earn it why can't I buy something shiny which makes me happy for a few minutes a day? Jesus it's hard enough to find anything in this world that doesn't make you scream and want to thump people, one little thing that makes life just a little easier to cope with!
War, death, plague, famine, disease stalk our lands like lots of stalking things, a few shiny things make me happy. I hate buying clothes preferring rock and metal t-shirts and camo-shorts and prefer to cook my own meals from scratch, so I don't waste money on either of those two things. My car is 13 years old, it works and I'm happy with it why change it.
Perhaps the real problem is that a few us, not just the Apple people but Windows and Linux fans included here, we have all found something that makes us happy and that gets up the nose of all you sad fuckers who never seem satisfied with your lot?!
Flame away!
I came to the comments section looking for lively jibes about iPad related kung fu action and all i get is a bunch of haters/fanboi's moaning at each other??
Think of the material you have to comment on FFS.
"iKung Fu demonstrated at iPad2 launch" maybe or how about "Jobsian smack down Chinese style for rioting fanboys" - You no at front of queue! get back or i smack you with my iLead pipe *THOCK* *WHAM* *POW*
No deserving Apple employee would be doing it. It's common knowledge that Steve Jobs favourite method of attack are ninja stars:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-14/steve-jobs-stopped-at-japan-airport-over-ninja-stars-spa-says.html
So sorry but I don't buy this story. It's far more likely it was a Samsung employee with the lead pipe, which is an understandable confusion as they've probably copied the Apple store uniform as well.
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