3/11/2011 Hong Kong's iPad 2 Launch

[thesiren]

If you see a large group of people of the same ethnic background is there ANYTHING that can be said without it coming across racist?

Sure. You could have said "people". Why bring race into it at all?

I said "asians" because they are "asian", as in from the continent of Asia. I injected absolutely no stereotype or degradation of any kind.

Of course you did. You implied the following:

- that they were all Asian.

- that they were all buying iPads for the sole purpose of shipping to and reselling in Hong Kong--for a profit.

- that by doing this, they were taking away perfectly good iPads from all the honest, hardworking Americans like yourself who are more deserving of an iPad.


You do realize that not everyone who looks Asian, is Asian, right? And that not everyone who looks Asian is actually f r o m Asia?
You cannot assume that just because they are of Asian descent they automatically have ulterior motives that include plans to resell in Hong Kong. That, in a nutshell, is racism. You assumed the worst of complete strangers simply because of their apparent (but not given) ethnicity.

Theres a difference between noticing where someone is from and disliking someone from being from a particular place. I just find it wrong for people to horde things and take away from who they were intended for. I could care less who is doing it I just find what they're doing ethically wrong.

Wow. "take away from who they were intended for" ? Again, more racism. Exactly who do you think the iPads were INTENDED for? You? Non-Asians? White people? The rich?
You are leveling accusations against complete strangers based on their ethnicity because of an article you read in the NY Times. By referencing the article, you're implying that because there are people of Asian decent in New York reselling iPads in Hong Kong, ALL Asians in iPad lines must be doing the same-- most especially in your line-- and how dare they!

You have absolutely no evidence with which to back these racist claims: you have no idea who these people were, who they were buying their iPads for, or what they intended to do with them.
And rightly so, because it's NONE of your business.

I work and I have a life. I can't camp out for days in front of a store. They sold almost 1k that night. If it was a line solely made of people who actually wanted one vs. someone trying to make a quick buck then every single person who wanted it would have one right now. There were hundreds and hundreds of people behind me so I wasn't a slouch in getting there.

Once again, more racism. A line full of Asians can't possibly be a line full of people who actually wanted one. Nope, they must be reselling, for a profit. Taking away precious iPads from the more deserving, the "intended"..

You are making accusations against these people based solely on their apparent decent. You are a bonafide entitled racist.

But that still doesn't change the fact that you got in line too late.
Suck it up and move on.


Edit:

I guess you're right. I really have no answer to the problem, but it doesn't make it less of one.

/thread

 

[PhoenixMac]

Sure. You could have said "people". Why bring race into it at all?



Of course you did. You implied the following:

- that they were all Asian.

- that they were all buying iPads for the sole purpose of shipping to and reselling in Hong Kong--for a profit.

- that by doing this, they were taking away perfectly good iPads from all the honest, hardworking Americans like yourself who are more deserving of an iPad.


You do realize that not everyone who looks Asian, is Asian, right? And that not everyone who looks Asian is actually f r o m Asia?
You cannot assume that just because they are of Asian descent they automatically have ulterior motives that include plans to resell in Hong Kong. That, in a nutshell, is racism. You assumed the worst of complete strangers simply because of their apparent (but not given) ethnicity.



Wow. "take away from who they were intended for" ? Again, more racism. Exactly who do you think the iPads were INTENDED for? You? Non-Asians? White people? The rich?
You are leveling accusations against complete strangers based on their ethnicity because of an article you read in the NY Times. By referencing the article, you're implying that because there are people of Asian decent in New York reselling iPads in Hong Kong, ALL Asians in iPad lines must be doing the same-- most especially in your line-- and how dare they!

You have absolutely no evidence with which to back these racist claims: you have no idea who these people were, who they were buying their iPads for, or what they intended to do with them.
And rightly so, because it's NONE of your business.



Once again, more racism. A line full of Asians can't possibly be a line full of people who actually wanted one. Nope, they must be reselling, for a profit. Taking away precious iPads from the more deserving, the "intended"..

You are making accusations against these people based solely on their apparent decent. You are a bonafide entitled racist.

But that still doesn't change the fact that you got in line too late.
Suck it up and move on.


Edit:




/thread

Please close this thread the best post has already been posted.

 

[iArch]

I'd be willing to bet than far fewer legitimate buyers were miffed about not being able to pay cash the last time around, than are currently miffed at not being able to buy one at all this time around. Apple should go back to no cash and limit in store sales to one per customer per visit. Anything less is just an invitation to what's happening now, and whether one feels that it's morally right or wrong, it's hard to argue that the current situation isn't unfair to a large number of consumers. The intent was to debut a product here, not to supply foreign black markets.

 

[bmat]

Gosh, get up earlier. Or just wait.

 

[MSUSpartan]

It's not like Apple won't sell you one if you get up earlier than them. If people feel so strongly about it maybe they should get up earlier and buy up all these iPads and reselling them to blue eyed blonde hair white males only at MSRP, then there'd be justice in the world.

If there's anyone to blame, blame Apple for selling these things too cheap and creating this secondary market. Raise the iPad price by $200 and watch the demand fall closer to the supply level.

 

[yodaxl7]

Next Friday, Apple is launching the iPad in Canada. Can I say, roadtrip??

 

[tsekh]

Gosh, get up earlier. Or just wait.

Exactly. That exactly my point earlier. Apple doesn't give priority or any special treatment to Asian people. The only reason they got the iPads, and not you, was that they started waiting earlier. I bought iPads both in store and online successfully. How? I set up an alarm clock to get up at 2:30am, placed an order, and then went back to bed. How hard was that? The next day I went to the Apple Store together with a friend. I didn't need to because I'd already ordered mine online, but I wanted to go just for fun and to get one for my dad. Queued only for 2 hours and got the model I wanted to get, not hard at all.

Now excuse me, I have to pack these iPad 2's and mail them back to Hong Kong. One for my dad, and one for my sister who just escaped from the crisis in Tokyo and got back to Hong Kong. Oh right, someone here thought that there are no Apple users in HK, only resellers. Think again.

Would you get up early or queue for hours to get iPads for your family members? Forget about it, you didn't even bother spending time to wait to get one for yourself. Just grow up and stop all these greed and Asian talk.

 

[hohoho125]

I think we can't just blame those Hong Kong people who line up early and got all the iPad back there and sell. Everything is about supply and demand. Why you people won't blame on Apple but little bit being racist and call on a group of people? If Apple can just push out their product (iPad) everywhere in the world on the same day as US launch, I bet you there won't be such long line with these resellers trying to get as much as they can. I mean if Apple can do world wide launch, just make everyone happy...

 

[yodaxl7]

I think we can't just blame those Hong Kong people who line up early and got all the iPad back there and sell. Everything is about supply and demand. Why you people won't blame on Apple but little bit being racist and call on a group of people? If Apple can just push out their product (iPad) everywhere in the world on the same day as US launch, I bet you there won't be such long line with these resellers trying to get as much as they can. I mean if Apple can do world wide launch, just make everyone happy...

Only if these foreigners here illegal, then it is up to the government, not apple. Apple is launching to 27 other countries next friday. Sony and Microsoft can't do world launch and us at the same time and it is usually a couple months in between. Example, Nintendo launching 3ds this month and had already launched in Japan months ago.

 

[deadwalrus]

limit one per customer is not going to work, they will just have 120 people in line to get the ipad...Apple is making money either way, i m sure they don't care as well..What are you going to do....if you know you could sell it for $1000 a piece, i am sure you will do the same thing...

Of course, this cuts their margins in half. Also requiring purchase through credit card would pretty much kill their business model.

 

[deadwalrus]

I walked down to the flagship Apple store in SF. An employee confirmed that they are passing out tickets and selling early in the morning. I would also note that at 8:30 pm, there was already a line of about 30 people, 28 of whom were elderly Asian women speaking mandarin, FWIW.

 

[yodaxl7]

I walked down to the flagship Apple store in SF. An employee confirmed that they are passing out tickets and selling early in the morning. I would also note that at 8:30 pm, there was already a line of about 30 people, 28 of whom were elderly Asian women speaking mandarin, FWIW.

Nice profiling! What about the other 2 people?

 

[GadgetAddict]

It is wrong that this thread became an issue of race. I don't care about race, ethnicity etc, scalpers don't have my sympathy! And if I decide to get in a line and one of them approaches me, he's gonna get a mouthful! Just to let it all out.

 

[mgchan]

What can Apple really do? For iPhones, Apple restricted cash sales, but some people got angry about that. It's not really Apple's business to investigate as to why each purchaser wants an iPad, nor should it be it's business.

How about not releasing a product until they can at least somewhat meet demand, and/or releasing the product in other countries at a similar time?

If it was easier to get in the US, people wouldn't mind so much, and if people in Hong Kong knew they would get the iPad in a week or two there wouldn't be such a big market.

People knock the Xoom for being released before promised features (i.e. Flash) were available, but ALL of the features of the iPad are unavailable to many customers for weeks.

 

[toshibauser]

I am an Asian American who has been living at New York City for many years, and I want say something here about my iPad 2 shopping experience. There is something everyone should have known before making any comments.

On Friday morning, while I was waiting in the line in front of the 5th Ave store, I had a chance to chat with a Chinese woman who was a mother of a 10 year old boy. Here was what she told me in Chinese: " I am a mother of a 10 year old boy from Fujian province, China, and has moved with my family to the United States for few years. Unfortunately, I lost my job three months ago from a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, and it is very hard to get a job because I don't speak English. Early this month, a Fujianese electronic reseller offered me a deal that if I could get iPad 2 for him on 3/11, and I would be rewarded for 100 dollars per unit. Therefore, I wake up around 4 am in the morning and commuted from Brooklyn to Manhattan. It is quick money, 200 dollars for two iPad 2." After telling this story, she begged me to get an extra ticket for her. Because I planned to get one only for my own use, I got an extra ticket for her.

After reading all the posts above, I want to say that it is not how many of you think that all the Asians are making lots of money by purchasing a great number of iPad 2. There are only few Asian resellers making profit by selling iPad 2 to China. It is true that they are selling about 1600 USD for the 16GB model in China during the first week of its release, but a big portion of that profit goes to the pockets of few Chinese resellers. The primary reason is that Apple has no plan to release iPad 2 in China in the coming future, and iPad 1 has been out of stock in many places in China. If people don't want to see lots of Asians buying iPad 2 and sending them to China, please ask Apple to sell more units of iPad in China. However, if Apple sells more units in China, are we going to be happy in the United States? I don't think so.

 

[deadwalrus]

Nice profiling! What about the other 2 people?

Fanboys.

 

[deadwalrus]

From my perspective, it is not a matter of being unhappy with them because of their race. It is simply that because (1) they are elderly and (2) they are foreign makes it appear that it is a coordinated effort by a mastermind to buy up all the iPads and resell them for a massive profit. I personally would have nothing against a lone reseller standing in line to sell his stuff on ebay. Nor do I have any problem with the people waiting in line, per se. I do not particularly care for the idea that someone is paying these people (surely a pittance) to wait in line and buy up all of the ipads for resell, often simply across the street from the back of a van. It is annoying. The fact that they are are asian/foreign makes it seem to my to be a higher probability that they are working under the control of a mastermind. Maybe not. It's not a huge deal. But I would rather Apple just mark their product up temporarily so that they could keep the extra cash, rather than some exploitative weasel.

 

[joltaxt]

I can't believe I breathe the same oxygen as some of the ignorant people in this thread. smh...

 

[Maaz]

Very true. A guy in front of me bought 3 of the last white iPads.

 

[Jnava420]

Really?

Bwahahaha! You didn't get what you want and you didn't like the experience. God dammit there are people in this world who live on streets from no fault of their own, people who have no choice but to sleep rough, people who queue for hours not for an iPad but for water.

Dude leave the guy alone he's expressing his opinion, and obviously you really care about needing water while trolling people here.

 

[EricNau]

Many comments in this thread were deleted for violating forum rules. Please read our Rules for Appropriate Debate, namely:

Insults. Slurs and insults against groups of people based on negative-stereotyping and obvious generalizations fall into the category of trolling and will be treated as such.​

You're entitled to your opinion, but please be respectful of other cultures.

Thanks.

 

[KoukiFC3S]

Isn't assuming anyone asian is from Hong Kong pretty racist?

Just kidding. I'm asian (and also a pretty good driver) and I dont get hung up on race. But I do feel bad for those missing out due to resellers.

They all say they're good drivers.

 

[yodaxl7]

Good god dude seriously? If you see a large group of people of the same ethnic background is there ANYTHING that can be said without it coming across racist? I said "asians" because they are "asian", as in from the continent of Asia. I injected absolutely no stereotype or degradation of any kind.

Theres a difference between noticing where someone is from and disliking someone from being from a particular place. I just find it wrong for people to horde things and take away from who they were intended for. I could care less who is doing it I just find what they're doing ethically wrong.

I work and I have a life. I can't camp out for days in front of a store. They sold almost 1k that night. If it was a line solely made of people who actually wanted one vs. someone trying to make a quick buck then every single person who wanted it would have one right now. There were hundreds and hundreds of people behind me so I wasn't a slouch in getting there.

So, every time you see a group of Asians in a line, you'll assume they are scalpers? Why not a group of British people? Oh, you can't tell if they are British because they know how to American like Hugh Laurie. On a smaller scale, there was a white guy in my line who said that he is buying 2 and sell them on eBay. Guess, if you want it bad enough, you would go early and wait for 12 hours. I waited 7 hours and got what I wanted.

 

[treebark7182]

So, every time you see a group of Asians in a line, you'll assume they are scalpers? Why not a group of British people? Oh, you can't tell if they are British because they know how to American like Hugh Laurie. On a smaller scale, there was a white guy in my line who said that he is buying 2 and sell them on eBay. Guess, if you want it bad enough, you would go early and wait for 12 hours. I waited 7 hours and got what I wanted.

I'm assuming they were scalping because there were a few people going up and down the line with large envelopes stuffed with cash and supplying them to purchase them. *GASP* If you were to say "I was at the store and a bunch of british people were in line" or " I was waiting in line and a bunch of people from michigan were in line" would it sound racist in the least? This has nothing to do with ethnicity. It could be a line full of leprechauns for all I care. I have no problem in the least if people bought them to send to family members because theyre expensive there etc etc etc. but these are supposedly going back overseas to be sold in stores.

 

[blevins321]

Of course, this cuts their margins in half. Also requiring purchase through credit card would pretty much kill their business model.

Unfortunately it wouldn't. They'd just go to every grocery store, pharmacy, and gas station in the city and claim all of the $3 prepaid Visa card and preload them.