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Posts: 134

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Q: iphones and ipads

Ive been wondering this for a while.....
We all know how obsessed chinese people are with all things apple and what a status symbol it is, and Ive read about how much hassle some of you guys are getting from your gfs for Ipads, but my question is how do they work here as I was told that itunes is banned and it seems that none of my chinese collegues ever buy anything from itunes store. Im also assuming that you will need an international credit card for payment.
I gave my gf my old iphone from uk, it was locked to a network so she very easily unlocked it and they applied all sorts of weird chinese OS to it.. I assume jailbreak, it all cost 100yuan.
So am I to beleive that every ipad and iphone that is sold in china is running a jailbreak OS? WTF, whats the point of even buying an ipad, half of the appeal for me is that i can buy stuff from itunes, sync with all other devices, auto d/l songs and movies, stream media to appletv etc. Effectivelty they are only buying half a device...

12 years 7 weeks ago in  Web & Technology - China

 
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Posts: 3025

Emperor

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Maybe one day you will understand what a "status symbol" is all about.  In China, today, anything that had Steve Jobs hand on it somehow is an instant status symbol, increases "face" to the user, even if it does not work.

I have a friend, Chinese, male, in his 40's, who has an Apple iPad, and only uses it to play Chinese Poker.  For anything else he uses his (of course) Apple Mac laptop.  But he fills "in' and proud to have them, and it is my guess he is just showing off, like back home would be having a Rolex President warch on your wrist. 

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 134

Governor

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Ok i get the "face" and status symbol, maybe not to the full extent that is is here, but i do understand  that people want stuff that makes them feel "in", powerful, cool whatever. But my question is also a bit more technical in nature than that. i am wondering if ALL iphones and ipads are running cracked software, if so what versions, how do they do it/get it from, is it the same jailbreak that we use, and are any of them running some sort of itunes workaround.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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everything here is about appearance, no care or concern about function or quality

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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According to some Norwegian sociologist, people who make money in otherwise extremely poor communities tend to show off their affluence in every way possible, whereas people who grew up in affluent communities tend to be more descrete.

Which makes plenty of sense, if you think about it.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Despite how common it is, this is not just a Chinese behavior. My best friend's mom does stuff like this...and she lives in Philadelphia. She'll buy something nice (like a new phone or clothing) or she'll buy stuff and lie and say it's worth more than it really is, just to show off. She didn't even buy it with her own money, just the money of whoever she was dating at the time. Some people feel that face is really important, whether the people around them care or believe them is another story.

As for the technology side, whether they've installed Chinese software or whatever, it still can't be used to its full potential because China doesn't have a 3G network? I'm not sure if that's what it is, but I know that it's not as advanced or widespread as in Western countries.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can walk into just about any store that sells them and they will download cracked copies of anything and everything onto it for a small amount of money.

When I bought an iPad here for my kids, the store uploaded about 10 gigs of software for free.

You want music?  No problem, it is all downloadable from the internet for free.

Latest apps?  Also no problem.  They are cracked within hours of hiting the market and are avaialble on many sites for free.

Add the status level to the whole thing and you have why people here go nuts for them.  If they actually had to pay for apps or music, the desire would drop by 90% overnight.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Do any of you even own an iPhone or at least used one in China?  How ridiculous to think that you must jailbreak an iPhone to use in China! In a country with many official Apple stores, don't you think Apple is clever enough to provide fully functioning phones (with appstore access) to their biggest market?  And China has had a 3G network for many years now.  Let the misinformation stop!!!!  China Unicom sells iPhone 4's on contract.  Fully functioning!  Not jailbroken.

On the other hand, it's true that the Chinese are status driven and Apple crazy in particular.  Apple designs world class products - the best quality phones and user interface, it's notebook computers are second to none, and the iPad made the tablet computer mainstream.  Although I don't own an Apple product (I bought a Meizu phone and Asus tablet), Their status worldwide, not only with Chinese, is justified.

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Its not fact that all iphones/ipads are jailbreaked....
More than 75% of my friends having ipad/iphone are using it normal way...me too.. itunes is not banned in china... also credit card is not required to make an itunes account... also icloud comes free... the number of free apps available in Appstore is uncountable... so no need to spend money for decent use of iphone/ipad... Dont just think that all iphones/ipads are status symbols... i am using ipad only at home.. not shown off to everyone around... i just feel its comfortable to use... to browse web.. see movies in youku.. check emails...play games... etc etc.. all without jailbreaking...

iphones are status symbols... but still i would say.. the use of iphone is just satisfying enough for me compared to money i spend to buy nokia N97 (which is a shit phone)... its just the best.. useful.. "Status symbol" is a bonus!!! 

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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
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Apple and Apple products SUCK.

If you're a fanboy or girl, I will make you a simple proposal to prove my point:

Change your battery.  Go ahead.  I dare you. A lithium-ion battery is good for 300-400 full charges - your average user will burn through this in about 13 months to 2 years.  Then the efficiency will drop to about 80% or less meaning that your power drainage will give you about half the usage time as when you bought it.  If you are a heavy user, well, good luck.  Maybe a year later YOUR IPHONE DOESN'T WORK.  It's cheaper to go buy a new one then to send it to Apple and have it replaced because it's soldered in!

Apple sucks.

xinyuren:

You're welcome to your opinion, but if that is your only proof of your point, then you should have just kept quiet. There are many design and engineering reasons for that decision to make the battery unreplaceable by the user, and it is an unpopular one with many (including myself), but that alone does not make a product or a company suck.  And if any company made a phone that went dead after a year,  they certainly would not be a status icon like Apple is today.   Go back to the drawing board, pal, and come up with something better than that.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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MrTibbles:

Challenge accepted, fanboy :D. Please note some of these things will be technical - I know it looks shiny and cool, but here we go: No USB or SD cards? What? Really? Oh, I can buy an adapter to use something that is STANDARD ON EVERY OTHER SINGLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE IN THE WORLD? Thanks Apple. You suck. No Flash support. Thanks again Apple, I don't want interactive media content without having to jailbreak your pieces of crap and installing 3rd party hackware. How about supporting a web-standard technology that's been around since, oh, 1997? Oh, I have to download HD youtube videos? I can't watch them online? Oh yeah, because it's in FLASH. Hence, APPLE SUCKS. Apple sucks at security. Siri had a MAJOR flaw that let ANYONE access a locked iPhone - took them forever to fix. Got an iPad2? I can access whatever you left running on it just by using a smart cover. Stupid. Sure, everything has security flaws sometimes, but these are just insane. In 2008, Apple shipped iPods that came with a virus that infected Windows users AND BLAMED MICROSOFT for "not being hardy enough to handle viruses". That's just..... unprofessional. Apple lies about it's accomplishments. Firewire? Nope, not Apple - they just promoted and sold it - didn't invent it. They also didn't invent the mouse, tablet computer, GUI, or anything else fanboys try to credit them with. And then Apple has the audacity to SUE OVER PATENT RIGHTS to stuff THEY DIDN'T EVEN INVENT. You know what Apple is good at? Taking existing technologies, dumbing them down so "it just works" (by removing anything remotely useful to people who actually understand programming) and marketing. Then they get credit for all of these things? Why? Oh yeah, that's because APPLE SUCKS. Most digital camera that record video today use the H.264 and a .MTS wrapper. Apple doesn't like this because it's not THEIR format (.mov wrapper). Great, so industry standard formats won't work AGAIN unless it's crApple to crApple without 3rd party hacks. What does Apple do? If you answered "Suck", you get 2 points. Hey, want to change the sound your iPad or iPhone makes when you get an email? Oh, you can't without a 3rd party hack. Not an app, a hack. Everytime I hear that sound it reminds me of dial-up AoL's "You've got mail!". You can select "on" or "off". Ever been sitting around with 8 people with iPhones? That sound goes off and they ALL look. Amazingly, this is why custom ringtones and system sounds have been features on phones since, well damn, a really long time. I guess they added a few options to change to on the new iPhone4 - like 10 choices - I'm sure on the iPhone5 these will be "pay extra money to Apple for an ability that's on an 85rmb crap phone" - but hey, they're shiny and neat! It took TWO YEARS for Apple to implement CUT AND PASTE ON THE iPhone- an amazing technology that Apple didn't think users would need. Repeat: TWO YEARS. Hell, you couldn't even run background apps on their crap until recently. Who needs multitasking? Don't even get me started on their threading technology that would have been useful in 1999 when I had a "huge" 4gb hard drive that I thought I'd never fill. I think it's AWESOME(sic) that it allocates updates to one file at a time even though they tout having dual cores and things like that. SUCKS. Oh, I can keep going. And going. And going... But one final thing just because it's funny as hell: From Apple's iTunes app license agreement: "You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear, missile, or chemical or biological weapons. " Really? This needs to be in the agreement? Check it out: http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html#SERVICE .

12 years 6 weeks ago
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xinyuren:

Oh crap, you are one of those techo-geeks i read babbling on and on at engadget.com. None of what you wrote up there matters. My Cadillac CTS-V had a crappy sound system, serious axle hop at full throttle starts, a suspect rear differential and many other things that bothered me.  But you won't find a person who appreciates real sports sedans say that it "sucks".
The fact of the matter is the iphone is a slick, well designed product. It does what it's market wants and it does it with great style. Apple products have defined their markets and continue to innovate and redefine. You can babble until the sun goes down about what you perceive as technical shortcomings, but it doesn't change the fact that Apple rules this market and every other company is aiming for the standard that Apple has set. This does not happen by accident. And please don't say it's because of advertising or because millions of consumers are just plain stupid. For the record, I own a Meizu Android device and an Asus Windows 7 tablet (never owned an iphone or iPad) and I try to buy Chinese products when I find one that is worthy. But I have played with many Apple products and being a designer, I can easily recognize the superiority of their designs. They may be expensive and they certainly aren't  for everyone (what is?), but they are wildly popular precisely because they do what the majority of their customers want.  I don't even know why I'm replying to you.  Apple doesn't need me to defend them. Their products speak for themselves. And of course there is Apple's bottom line. So if that what you mean when you say Apple sucks, I wished I sucked!

12 years 6 weeks ago
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MrTibbles:

Apple is no longer the "market leader" - Android phones outsell iPhones around the world. Apple is the "profit" leader. They turn a 30% profit margin (which is HUGE and the envy of other companies) because they build their components at FOXXCONN and then overcharge for their crap because it's "the" thing to have. They're fantastic at marketing and convincing people that other companies' ideas and hard work are THEIR ideas and they convince people that because it's on an iPhone/iPad, it's "new" and "innovative". Sorry, I don't like the company. and I feel completely fine saying their stuff is crap. If you sold me a Maserati with a tricked out Yugo engine in it, even if it "just worked" was simple and did what I wanted it to, it's still a Maserati with a Yugo engine.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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xinyuren:

lol, regardless if you like or dislike the company, Apple is the market leader. I'm sorry if you can't tell the difference between an operating system and a brand. Android is an OS. Apple is a brand.  Everyone looks to Apple, compares their products to Apple, and markets to Apple's customers.  That's because everyone (except you, apparently) recognizes their leadership position.   It takes all the companies who sell Android phones to outsell Apple, just one company.  Noone has anything that sells as nearly as well as the iPad.  MacBook is king of the hill.  Your posts reveal that you are young and know nothing about business.  You seem to be long on complaining, but a little short on your economic knowledge. Maybe that's why you think Apple products suck.

Apple has the biggest profits because they sell the most devices (which are priced about the same as other company's high end phones). They sell the most phones because people like their products, not their commercials. Commercials may get customers in the door, but the product gets customers to buy, and satisfied customers return to buy again. And what is this nonsense about Foxconn???  You aren't aware that many companies products are made by Foxconn?  Sorry you don't like it guy, but Apple is a great tech company. You don't have to invent everything to be great. You just have to do it better than everyone else. That is what they do, plain and simple. You can choose to buy or not buy, but saying they suck for the reasons you have given is just stupid and ignorant.  There's plenty of your kind at Engadget.  You should rant there instead.  No more replies to you.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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MrTibbles:

Thanks for calling me stupid and ignorant because of my opinion.  FYI - Samsung's Galaxy Nexus OUTSOLD the iPhone in Q4 of 2011.  Market leader...  Not anymore.  I stated multiple times that Apple is good at marketing - they've created an image that makes them in demand.  It in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM means their products are awesome.  I find their products useless for what I need a "smartphone" to do.  But then again, I'm just a young ignoramous with no understanding of business, so what would I know.  How could I be so silly for not wanting to buy an overhyped $500 Angry Birds player...

And FYI again, I was part of a development team that INVENTED applications that Apple claims is theirs and is suing other companies like Google over.  But I'm 12 and stupid, so it's ok.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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xinyuren:

Aha! I promised I wouldn't comment further, but i find your last words soooo amusing! Now I understand your bitterness toward Apple. It has nothing to do with the quality of the iPhone but because of some slight toward your employer. LOL! Thank you for the laugh. Apple sucks because they have taken your apps as their own. It's all clear now. You have indeed convinced me that your judgement is without biaswink...and i didn't call you stupid. I said your comments were ignorant and stupid. Yes, you are young and your comments reveal to me no knowledge about the business end of consumer electronics. Especially if you believe the Nexus is the market leader and everyone is shooting for Samsung's benchmark. Ok, this really is my last comment. Again, thanks for the laugh.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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MrTibbles:

This is like trolling a wall, but I'm having such a good time with it, I just can't stop. Ok, please tell me which of my reasons for thinking Apple sucks is "stupid and ignorant". The lack of USB and SD cards? No Flash support? Their IP THEFT? The FACT that their major selling point is "you're too dumb to understand technology, this is easy to use?". The FACT that they want to monopolize the entire market by keeping you in a walled-off "Apple Sphere"? That it took 2 years to add basic functionality like CUT AND PASTE to this "marvelous invention"? And I can't change a battery? These are stupid and ignorant complaints? Because I want my devices to be customizable to do WHAT I WANT THEM TO DO? Because a scumbag company with a legion of idiots who feel superior because they are stupid enough to buy into the crap they spew and iPhones are shiny tell me I'm wrong? And please, I am 40 years old. I've owned 3 companies, working on my 4th, 2 of which I've sold for major profits. Somehow not agreeing with Apple means I don't know anything about business? Again, please. If you knew anything about business you'd understand the concept of IP THEFT and how it's A CRIME. Maybe you'd even have some idea of the sleazy legal tactics Apple is using trying to block other phones from markets because they "infringe on patent rights" such as "black and shiny". But I won't discuss that here, as you are the master of business and marketing and understand that Apple is "not scared" of Samsung or HTCs INCREDIBLE GROWTH recently in the market and how it seriously jeopardizes their market shares. Laugh about this one if you want too, but when Windows 8 phones come out, they're going to shift the market. A lot. As another FYI, I have hated Apple long before the "slight" as you like to call it. That just cemented my opinion. I thought they sucked long before they decided they could rip developers off simply because they have a lot of money now. Also, having a "good laugh" at someone for getting robbed of their hard work and lively-hood is poor form and reveals a lot about your character. Add another reason why I think Apple sucks: the people who defend them.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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12 years 7 weeks ago
 
Posts: 332

Shifu

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now,i use my blackberry playbook write down follow words: l like apple stuffs but i don't want buy it,because those little things too expensive to me.cool

xinyuren:

I love the playbook, icerock. Things aren't going well for RIM. I hope they can get their act together so they can continue to develop the playbook.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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icerock:

yes, me too. it is look like RIM lost their direction. i hope they can do their best to catch up with their opponents, otherwise he maybe broke down.

12 years 6 weeks ago
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12 years 6 weeks ago
 
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