Charges Filed After Chinese Teenager Sells Kidney to Purchase iPhone and iPad

[William.Mantle]

Such a sad story

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I read through 4 pages of comment, and maybe TWO of you had any idea or sympathy about how it is like being piss poor.

Agreed... Too many people with a lot of love for their merchandise but little to none for humanity.

Such sad times we live in

 

[the read]

I do realize that, China has been shockingly made a great progress in the last decade. Their only mistake is having 1.35 billions of population. Make it half and China would have been #1 economy giant. Western countries should think about this fact.

I believe a large % of the population in China is over the age of 60. Or at least they are concidered OAP's. The population your referencing will be reduce over the next 10-20 years. The 1 child rule has also been lifted with families now having the option the have more than one child. Infact their is a concern that China will have problems if families don't start to expand.

 

[Sonic]

So, the myth is of people selling body parts for consumer items is actually true ...?

 

[swagi]

What the hell does this story have to do with Apple or its products? The point is that the idiot sold his organ for money; what he intended to buy with it is pretty irrelevant.

Well - actually you have to post something as the people have accustomed to the once working "X sues Y"-posts that had those fanboy-battles raging.

I wouldn't be too surprised if we see mentioning of Samsung's stellar quarter in one of the next Macrumors news.

Keeps the fanboy-war going and the page-views skyrocketing.

Haven't heard of Samsung's stellar quarter yet? Visit http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57353624-17/samsung-handset-sales-make-for-best-4th-quarter-yet/

edit:
Aaaah - At least AppleInsider has the news up for flame-baiting. Would've been a surprise if they hadn't. All Mac news sites are going downhill these days. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/04/06/samsung_announces_estimated_40b_in_revenue_5b_in_profit_for_q1_2012.html

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

I read through 4 pages of comment, and maybe TWO of you had any idea or sympathy about how it is like being piss poor.

Considering there's only one kidney left and the urinary sickness that followed, his piss surely would be poor. That is what you meant, right?

Hey, come on, it's a funny topic on the surface, laugh a little!

 

[rkahl]

"You can take that one to the People's Court!" -Chris Rock

 

[Luis Ortega]

The kid is clearly a dumb-****...

He's the quintessential fanboy.

 

[JohnStrass]

They say they cost and arm & a leg but a kidney....

I've heard people say "i';d give my left nut for this" but the left kidney si bit extreme.

Seriously, I suspect the full truth will probably be the following:

"...further investigation reveled that the Kid, as part of a grown network of illegal organ traders' victims, received the going market rate for a kidney donation in the third world ($10,000 for example). of which he uses a portion to buy an iPad."

Less sensational, left headline grabbing, but more in line with the sick reality of our world

 

[felt.]

It should be allowed.

 

[gnasher729]

Thank you!! Couldn't have said better myself. Its a damn shame people don't see the tragedy that it is. Desperation can bring anyone to their knees and it will make you do things you never thought possible.

If you're desperate you are not going to buy an iPhone and an iPad. The other way round, if you buy an iPhone and an iPad you are not desperate. It's called "severe error of judgement". Happens plenty of times. Selling a kidney for money is a mistake that will cost this teenager dearly. Getting drunk and then getting into a car has cost many teenagers worse. So has taking drugs for the first time.

 

[MH01]

This guy goes down as most hardcore apple fan of all time.

And you thought sitting in line for 24 hrs was hardcore...

Pffft.... LTD sold his soul to Apple for free.... Maybe an iPod nano...

This guy is just a chump who is about to get a shock that apple roughly refreshes thier products every 12 months, and organs do not regrow

 

[Flitzy]

you know your products are good when people would trade their organs for them

Yeah, with Android you just have to sell your brain for one.

Which is kind of odd since most people who want an Android are already missing a brain.

 

[MH01]

Really? Can you sink any lower?

Steve is dead, he left a legacy that changed the world forever. What have you done?

Changed the world forever ?? You need to get out more I thank him for making apple successful and producing some very nice products, but there are much more important things in the world then gadgets....

 

[rocknblogger]

If you're desperate you are not going to buy an iPhone and an iPad. The other way round, if you buy an iPhone and an iPad you are not desperate. It's called "severe error of judgement". Happens plenty of times. Selling a kidney for money is a mistake that will cost this teenager dearly. Getting drunk and then getting into a car has cost many teenagers worse. So has taking drugs for the first time.

I wasn't talking about buying an iPad or iPhone. Clearly there must have been other motivations. The kid spent about half of what he got. It's the other half that could have been motivating factor. Who knows what he or the family needed money for? We don't know the full story so I don't think we can judge him based on some sensationalist "news" headlines.

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

Changed the world forever ?? You need to get out more I thank him for making apple successful and producing some very nice products, but there are much more important things in the world then gadgets....

Follow me on this...

Mr. Henry Ford is gadget manufacturer who changed the world we live in simply by automating the assembly line to allow for affordable mass production of the car for the common man. Mr. Thomas Savery in 1698 first patented his gadget, the steam engine, which was later perfected by Mr. James Watt in 1765 and help spark the global industrial revolution. Mr. Eli Whitney produced the first cotton gin in 1794, a gadget that modernized agriculture.

Of course all of these affect society in negative ways including pollution, natural resources, jobs and of course death. And how could Mr. Whitney know his invention would later be cited as one of the key causes for the US Civil War?

What distinguishes Steve Jobs, a true gadget man, as a historic figure, for better or worse, is best summed up by John Markoff of the NY Times who noted:

"Mr. Jobs helped usher in the era of the personal computer and led a cultural transformation in mobile communications and music for the digital age."

I personally think Jobs will be noted by historians for innovating where no one thought innovation could happen and basically changed the way we share our lives with others. His gadgets were not as important as the impetus for these kinds of changes to life as we knew it before these gadgets existed.

Now I'm not a fanboy, as I fully agree there ARE more important things in the world and life than mere gadgets. I just want to be clear that gadget men throughout history have had a tremendous impact beyond the stereotype. Jobs is certainly one of these men, and his contributions go far beyond being "nice products" and deserve the respect due as the how they influence and change our life and world. For better or worse.

The kid with the kidney exchange for the Apple gadgets falls under the category of "worse" possible impact, but the whole point of my diatribe here is that you would be a fool not to recognize this impact at all. This incident speaks volumes to it, as crazy it is seems.

 

[Flitzy]

Changed the world forever ?? You need to get out more I thank him for making apple successful and producing some very nice products, but there are much more important things in the world then gadgets....

You mean like bringing tablets/handhelds into the mainstream which make it easier for doctors and other such professionals to help out others and perform their jobs?

 

[2IS]

Really? Can you sink any lower?

Steve is dead, he left a legacy that changed the world forever. What have you done?

Yeah, I always get mad when a stranger on the Internet pokes fun of a stranger in china and a famous deceased stranger too.

Relax. It's not that serious.

 

[gnasher729]

I wasn't talking about buying an iPad or iPhone. Clearly there must have been other motivations. The kid spent about half of what he got. It's the other half that could have been motivating factor. Who knows what he or the family needed money for? We don't know the full story so I don't think we can judge him based on some sensationalist "news" headlines.

If you are in such dire need for money that you sell a kidney to get it, then you don't pay around $1,000 for luxury items. You put all the money that is left in a very safe place, in case there is again a dire need for money and you have no body parts left to sell.

 

[faroZ06]

And by slowing down you mean still the fastest growing economy on the planet by far. China is only starting to show its growth. I'm not sure if you have ever visited China in the past 3 years, but I would seriously suggest everyone should vist. The wests view of China is shockingly out of date it. Their infrastructures within cities puts London, New York and any other capitals in the west to shame.

I'm not saying China is problem free, but today it is the land of opportunity. China has evolved beyond the sufistication concidered norm in the west.

Next time your late to work because of a traffic jam, or your on a tube system so expensive, crowded and outdated its dangerous, know China has evolved to solve many of these issues in their new cities such as Guangzhou. Think bullet trains traveling at 500 mph and streets with over 12 lanes of traffic.

The wests ignorance to China is shocking.

Their economy IS slowing, according to stock market reports. As a result, the US markets and some commodities had a bad week recently.

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If you are in such dire need for money that you sell a kidney to get it, then you don't pay around $1,000 for luxury items. You put all the money that is left in a very safe place, in case there is again a dire need for money and you have no body parts left to sell.

But there's inflation. It's better to sell it when you need money.

 

[unlinked]

streets with over 12 lanes of traffic.

12 lanes of traffic isn't exactly a magical future.

 

[irun5k]

There is likely MUCH more to this story.

it sounds like others involved got quite a bit more money than he got. Likely he was pressured into this and to cover it up they slid him a few bucks and came up with a story about how he did this to himself to buy gadgets.

It is not hard to believe that someone in one of the poorest regions of China could be exploited by those who have more power.

Not hard to believe that when some government official in China needs a kidney, a limo might roll out into the ghetto and roll back with an organ inside an igloo cooler....but of course that sounds bad. Sounds much better to say a kid did it voluntarily to buy Apple products... as an added benefit this adds a bit of smear to the "greedy capitalists" at Apple.

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Such a sad story

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Agreed... Too many people with a lot of love for their merchandise but little to none for humanity.

Such sad times we live in

Not just being poor, but being poor in a place where you truly have no other option. We've all met people in the US that have overcome incredible obstacles to succeed... but there are parts of the world where this level of opportunity simply does not exist.

 

[smoledman]

How sad that some Chinese teens are so desperate for material goods that they will endanger their lives.

 

[2IS]

Just because someone sticks iPhone and iPad in the title doesn't mean it was a good idea. He probably also bought burger and fries, a pack of smokes and a pair of shoes, but that alone doesn't make a story. Fact is, he sold his organ for money. Just because he decided to spend some of it on an Apple device doesn't make it Apple news.

Well, it kind of does, actually.

 

[the read]

12 lanes of traffic isn't exactly a magical future.

I think your missing the point. Their building cities that will function well 100 years from now and with population growth in mind.

 

[unlinked]

I think your missing the point. Their building cities that will function well 100 years from now and with population growth in mind.

It would be a shame if 100 years from now 12 lanes of cars was part of the answer to any question. Anyway thinking you are building cities that will scale is easy enough. The hard part is actually doing it and few enough of us posting here will be around to know the result in 2110.