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Article: Can’t Get An iPad 2? Blame It On Asians

KittyKatta

KittyKatta

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 24, 2011
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Gizmodo Article: Can’t Get An iPad 2? Blame It On Asians
NY Post Article: 'Under cover' buyers. Paid line-waiters snatch up all the iPads
"We knew people in Asia were paying people in the US to line up for iPad 2s to ship overseas, but we didn’t know it was this bad. The New York Post says more than half of the 400 people in line at 8am gave their iPads to a guy in a BMW X5 for cash."​
Click to expand...

I'll start by saying I'm asian and also point out that Gizmodo writer Jason Chen is asian. I point that out because the problem isn't Asia or Race, the problem is Apples decision to look away from a problem happening right in front of their eyes forcing CONSUMERS to handle the CORPORATE problem of International Resale. When a large portion of domestic products are being sent overseas then the consumer isn't only fighting weather, lines and inventory shortages, they are also fighting Apple themselves.

ipadhk.jpg


This may not concern those who already got theirs but what people who havent experienced the post-launch lines miss is that every morning you're up against the SAME 10-20 cash weilding resellers who purchase 2 each and claim 90-100% of daily shipments. On the 4th day (when I finally got mine) I saw an escalade driven by the guy handing out envelopes to the line mules and after the sale I saw them go back to hand over their bags. Apple employees are aware of this but are powerless until Apple Inc makes a corporate decision that will favor the customers over resellers. Temporary limitations that they've used in the past like 1 per customer, no cash, 2 per household etc would make it harder for the resellers and more fair for the customers who simply want an iPad to keep.

I get it. Apple defenders dont want Apple blamed for this but consider the impact to Apple with first time customers. A new Apple/iPad customer may want an iPad today, a case next week and maybe a Mac Pro next month so they are long term customers. Resellers arent coming back to buy an overpriced iPhone Jacket or check out the new Macbook Air, so why should Apple put their needs over the US consumer?
 
S

Steviejobz

macrumors 68020
Jun 19, 2010
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SoCal
I don't get what all the crying and whining is about. Resellers are allowed to buy and non-resellers have the same opportunities to get theirs. If you set an alarm clock on the 11th, you would be enjoying your iPad 2 by now by ordering online.

Apple sets limits since they know these things happen. This stuff happens with concert tickets, sporting events, and anything else where demand > supply.

But the constant crying on these boards about it is out of hand and has unfortunately degraded into racist rants by some. No person of any race prevented you from getting on line early as possible or, if that was too early for you to get dressed and go outside, order one from http://www.apple.com

The fact that the NY post is on the story proves its not newsworthy.
 
S

SiMBa37

macrumors regular
Jul 5, 2010
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New York
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

@KittyKatta
This was one of the best written and most thought out posts on MRF re: the scalper problem. I wish Apple had people like you in their sales division. I encourage you to email Steve Jobs, seriously.
 
asleep

asleep

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Sep 26, 2007
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I want to know how much BMW X5 guy paid each person for standing & buying?

What premium over cost+tax was paid?
 
T

thenobody

macrumors member
Mar 16, 2011
86
30
MSUSpartan said:
That's quite a racist headline on the Gizmodo article.
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No it's not. Nothing racist about it at all.
That words being well overused now for the slightest things. Like heroes.

Instead of asians would you prefer a description is used? Unless you find describing features racist too
 
M

MSUSpartan

macrumors 6502
Jul 13, 2008
400
0
thenobody said:
No it's not. Nothing racist about it at all.
That words being well overused now for the slightest things. Like heroes.

Instead of asians would you prefer a description is used? Unless you find describing features racist too
Click to expand...

How about "resellers"? It's just that the resellers getting the most attention are the ones in large cities (mostly NYC) happen to be asians where there is a large population. You don't hear about the resellers in North Dakota, Maine or Oklahoma who are selling these things on eBay or craigslist. No doubt the asian resellers are buying a large number of iPads but I wonder if the number they buy is dwarfed by the overall numbers being resold on craigslist and eBay everyday.

Also the title is just blame the Asians, not blame the Asian Resellers. There's a big difference. You don't have to go around shouting "ching chong ling long ting tong" to be called a racist.
 
E

egonpax

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2010
330
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asleep said:
I want to know how much BMW X5 guy paid each person for standing & buying?

What premium over cost+tax was paid?
Click to expand...

We knew people in Asia were paying people in the US to line up for iPad 2s to ship overseas, but we didn’t know it was this bad. The New York Post says more than half of the 400 people in line at 8am gave their iPads to a guy in a BMW X5 for cash.

So what’s the deal? Each person got paid $US100-$US200 for two tablets each, and they were gathered up and shipped out to places like Hong Kong where they sell for twice the going rate here. If you negotiate a decent shipping strategy, that’s a pretty large profit for one morning’s line-standing. Sometimes, as the Post says, you can even sell it for three times the price here, since Apple has not rolled out the launch in other countries yet.

Apple has had a problem with people – especially Asian folks – lining up and exporting iPhones and iPads before. The problem is worse in New York, where Apple has larger stores and a bigger stock, coupled with a larger Asian community. Apple wanted to do something about this problem, but:

…the office of then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo warned the company that holding Asian customers to a higher degree of scrutiny was illegal.
 
G

GadgetAddict

macrumors 6502
Jul 10, 2010
391
1
Brooklyn, NY
I guess the state officials have once again done a great job...

Last year, when Apple tried to crack down on the practice, the office of then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo warned the company that holding Asian customers to a higher degree of scrutiny was illegal.
Click to expand...
 
iPhone1

iPhone1

macrumors 65816
Apr 2, 2010
1,152
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Apple can fix this but has refused so thus far. Last year for the iPad launch they required that you pay with a credit card and allowed only 2 iPads per user lifetime.

It must have caused an uproar though as they have abandoned such policies. They are stuck in a bad position. Hopefully things will calm down once the international release happens.
 
Phil A.

Phil A.

Moderator emeritus
Apr 2, 2006
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thenobody said:
No it's not. Nothing racist about it at all.
That words being well overused now for the slightest things. Like heroes.

Instead of asians would you prefer a description is used? Unless you find describing features racist too
Click to expand...

Of course it's racist - the shortage has nothing to do with the Asian race and everything to do with resellers. The fact that a large percentage of the resellers appear to be of asian descent is irrelevant: It's their reselling practice that's causing the problem, not their race. What about the scalpers / resellers who aren't asian? Are they not contributing to the problem too?

The title should have read "Can't get an iPad 2? Blame it on the resellers" or even "Can't get an iPad 2? Blame it on the scalpers"

As it's worded, it's placing the blame for the shortage at the foot of the asian race and implying the problem is with "The Asians", not "The Resellers". This clearly makes it racist.
 
J

jedolley

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2009
1,780
7
I'm 1/2 Asian (not sure why that matters), and I am not overly concerned about this. I think the OP's post was very well thought out and written...

Unfortunately, I don't see things changing. Many members have been stating that Apple needs to do something to fix this, but i'm not convinced that there is much they can do. The OP mentions steps Apple has taken in the past, like "1 per customer, no cash, 2 per household etc", but there is a reason Apple has eased up on those policies. They didn't work, and they caused more grief than good. Scalpers/Resellers are going to find a way to get the product to sell. They have more resources (people, time, and money) than your average consumer. Even if Apple makes it more difficult for them, they will still get the product even if it costs them more it will just mean they will resell it for more (and people will still buy them). The ones that will suffer the most from these "restrictions" will be the average consumer.

All I can say is ride it out... Things should get better once it releases internationally.
 
O

OceanView

macrumors 65816
Sep 16, 2005
1,094
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I don't blame the mules, I blame Apple for screwing up this launch.
They should have taken preorders online a few weeks in advance like they did last year. Most people could have ordered and avoided these crazy lines.
 
M

MSUSpartan

macrumors 6502
Jul 13, 2008
400
0
OceanView said:
I don't blame the mules, I blame Apple for screwing up this launch.
They should have taken preorders online a few weeks in advance like they did last year. Most people could have ordered and avoided these crazy lines.
Click to expand...

Agreed. They are wasting so many people's time and energy tracking these things down.
 
W

WMuntean

macrumors regular
Aug 23, 2007
178
0
Phil A. said:
Of course it's racist - the shortage has nothing to do with the Asian race and everything to do with resellers. The fact that a large percentage of the resellers appear to be of asian descent is irrelevant: It's their reselling practice that's causing the problem, not their race. What about the scalpers / resellers who aren't asian? Are they not contributing to the problem too?

The title should have read "Can't get an iPad 2? Blame it on the resellers" or even "Can't get an iPad 2? Blame it on the scalpers"

As it's worded, it's placing the blame for the shortage at the foot of the asian race and implying the problem is with "The Asians", not "The Resellers". This clearly makes it racist.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's more than pejorative. Resellers are the the actual problem and using heuristics to stereotype a race is, by definition, racist. It is a tactic to get more hits, undeniably, but it's also racist. Period. I'm not asian, nor does one have to be to understand semantics and definitions.
 
M

Mr. Biggles

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2009
352
1
Western New York
Phil A. said:
Of course it's racist - The title should have read "Can't get an iPad 2? Blame it on the resellers" or even "Can't get an iPad 2? Blame it on the scalpers"

As it's worded, it's placing the blame for the shortage at the foot of the asian race and implying the problem is with "The Asians", not "The Resellers". This clearly makes it racist.
Click to expand...

The resellers are Asian. Period. Pointing out the fact that they are Asian is a statement of fact. Nothing more.

Anyone that reads more into it than that has thin skin.
 
Phil A.

Phil A.

Moderator emeritus
Apr 2, 2006
5,799
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Shropshire, UK
Mr. Biggles said:
The resellers are Asian. Period. Pointing out the fact that they are Asian is a statement of fact. Nothing more.

Anyone that reads more into it than that has thin skin.
Click to expand...

The more important fact is that they are unauthorized resellers, and that is the fact that should be in the headline.
You say that "The Resellers are Asian. Period." so, you've checked every single unauthorized reseller in the USA and they are all, without exception, Asian are they?
The problem is caused by all the resellers, not a percentage (however large) of them and the headline is therefore not a statement of fact at all.
 
DizzyV6P

DizzyV6P

macrumors regular
Mar 11, 2011
188
10
It really doesn't matter if the writer is Asian AMERICAN or not. Many Asian American's that I know are completely ignorant about the basics of Asian American history and discrimination in America.

If they put a headline that said "Can't Get An iPad 2? Blame It On the Blacks" I can assure you that the NAACP would have filed a lawsuit against Gizmodo and the New York Post. Even using the PC term of "African-American" wouldn't save them from a lawsuit. Why? Because most newspapers know better than to go after the African American community. Unfortunately, the same doesn't hold true for the Asian American community.

But somehow its OK to scapegoat a particular race simply because they don't have the political clout to protect their own civil rights. It's sad that race-baiting newspaper tactics are still accepted in this country. I still remember when some news media reported "American beats out Kwan!" Completely ignoring the fact that she's AMERICAN and could also be identified as Asian American and that Tara and Kwan were both teammates on Team USA.
http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services-miscellaneous-business/4702772-1.html

Seriously, its the 21st century and American media still think its acceptable to raise the whole "Yellow Peril" thing again?
 
B

BadMoon

macrumors 6502
Jun 21, 2010
456
0
Phil A. said:
The more important fact is that they are unauthorized resellers, and that is the fact that should be in the headline.
You say that "The Resellers are Asian. Period." so, you've checked every single unauthorized reseller in the USA and they are all, without exception, Asian are they?
The problem is caused by all the resellers, not a percentage (however large) of them and the headline is therefore not a statement of fact at all.
Click to expand...

See any white folk in this line? ;)

17.1n012.ipadscheme1--300x300.jpg
 
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