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angelmb · Mar 17, 2005, 06:00 AM

no words...

http://www.ebigchina.com/ebcps/4/pd/1324336.html

Randman · Mar 17, 2005, 06:08 AM

I like the iPod mentions in the google ads with it.

Psychonaut · Mar 17, 2005, 07:04 AM

I like how Apple can't do much because it's a Chinese company, but I admit I don't know much about international copyright laws. Anyone want to speculate on what can be done?

There'll always be knockoffs in developing nations, or in this case, even a rival superpower (with a nefarious human rights record, but that's a rant by itself.)

That said, it's ugly as ****, though I'd like to see if they copied the iPod OS as well. Just look at the visible screws and cheap plastic used for the "scroll" wheel.

Sometimes I wonder if Asia is made entirely of its own plastic. Do they take the same pride in "生产在中国" stickers as we do in "Made in the U.S.A."? (No offense intended, I just don't like exploitation of third-world countries.)

ManOfSteal · Mar 17, 2005, 07:08 AM

Absolutely awesome! I never knew that the iPod mini killer would indeed be the IPOD mini itself...

zizban · Mar 17, 2005, 07:57 AM

Apple Pro Underwear · Mar 17, 2005, 10:04 AM

how can you copy it and make it worse?

why the extra 2 bottome buttons?

*sigh*

DeathToWindows · Mar 17, 2005, 10:16 AM

where is that retching smilie

ManOfSteal · Mar 17, 2005, 10:19 AM

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
why the extra 2 bottome buttons?

The button on the left phones Apple Lawyers, the button on the right zaps the owner for not buying a "real" iPod mini from the start...

Millennium · Mar 17, 2005, 11:03 AM

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
how can you copy it and make it worse?

By not actually copying the scroll wheel; it's just a round faceplace for four separate buttons.

why the extra 2 bottome buttons?

They're the Play and Menu buttons. If you look closely at the pictures, the top and bottom spots on the "wheel" aren't Play and Menu, but Up and Down. It's not a wheel at all.

MilkmanDan · Mar 17, 2005, 12:59 PM

Good old China. Making such high quality products.

Eug Wanker · Mar 17, 2005, 01:11 PM

Originally posted by MilkmanDan:
Good old China. Making such high quality products.

You mean like my real iPod mini?

JohnSmithXTREME · Mar 17, 2005, 01:21 PM

Frankly, I like these Chinese companies that copy Apple. $100 for a piece of plastic with 4 buttons? Thanks, but I'd sooner buy a Chinese "Super Shuffle". The mini, while fashionable, is also a rip off, and I hope these Chinese companies can take a chunk out of Apple's sales in order that iPod prices may be brought down to a reasonable level (wishful thinking).

Eug Wanker · Mar 17, 2005, 01:33 PM

Originally posted by JohnSmithXTREME:
Frankly, I like these Chinese companies that copy Apple. $100 for a piece of plastic with 4 buttons? Thanks, but I'd sooner buy a Chinese "Super Shuffle". The mini, while fashionable, is also a rip off, and I hope these Chinese companies can take a chunk out of Apple's sales in order that iPod prices may be brought down to a reasonable level (wishful thinking).

The 4 GB mini costs as much as the standalone 4 GB MicroDrive.
The 6 GB mini costs $50 LESS than the standalone 6 GB Microdrive.

mitchell_pgh · Mar 17, 2005, 01:48 PM

Originally posted by JohnSmithXTREME:
Frankly, I like these Chinese companies that copy Apple. $100 for a piece of plastic with 4 buttons? Thanks, but I'd sooner buy a Chinese "Super Shuffle". The mini, while fashionable, is also a rip off, and I hope these Chinese companies can take a chunk out of Apple's sales in order that iPod prices may be brought down to a reasonable level (wishful thinking).

ugh... the iPod are reasonable in price if you speck them out against other players. Are they the best? No, but who said Apple must make the cheapest thing on the market?

Why am I not surprises JSXTREME goes against the norm.

Psychonaut · Mar 17, 2005, 02:46 PM

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
Why am I not surprises JSXTREME goes against the norm.

JSXTREME doesn't just go against the norm, he goes to the XTREME!

You gotta admit: he's one radical, gnarly dude. Totally tubular!

BasketofPuppies · Mar 17, 2005, 02:55 PM

Originally posted by JohnSmithXTREME:
The mini, while fashionable, is also a rip off, and I hope these Chinese companies can take a chunk out of Apple's sales in order that iPod prices may be brought down to a reasonable level (wishful thinking).

Who needs the Chinese? Creative, Dell, Rio, and iRiver are already working on it.

Spliff · Mar 17, 2005, 04:02 PM

Originally posted by MilkmanDan:
Good old China.

That country annoys me.

BasketofPuppies · Mar 17, 2005, 04:23 PM

Originally posted by Spliff:
That country annoys me.

I don't like Lake Superior much, but you don't see me derailing threads with comments about it.

olePigeon · Mar 17, 2005, 04:24 PM

China has no real copyright laws. You can make an almost exact duplicate of a product but change the color by 1/2 a shade (or make it 1/2mm taller) and you're ready to go.

You'll also notice they don't have any software piracy laws either. Microsoft usually sells about 500 copies TOTAL to the entire country of China, where companies there make duplicates and resell them to everyone else.

All Apple can do is prevent the items from being sold in America, but they're SOL in China.

Xeo · Mar 17, 2005, 05:39 PM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
All Apple can do is prevent the items from being sold in America, but they're SOL in China.

What about the rest of the world?

analogika · Mar 17, 2005, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
China has no real copyright laws. You can make an almost exact duplicate of a product but change the color by 1/2 a shade (or make it 1/2mm taller) and you're ready to go.

You'll also notice they don't have any software piracy laws either. Microsoft usually sells about 500 copies TOTAL to the entire country of China, where companies there make duplicates and resell them to everyone else.

All Apple can do is prevent the items from being sold in America, but they're SOL in China.

The reason for this of course being that when you're under technology trade embargo, as China and many other East-bloc nations were for a long time, you HAVE to copy, since you have no way of importing the originals.

-s*

olePigeon · Mar 17, 2005, 06:40 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
What about the rest of the world?

Only countries that acknowledge U.S. Copyright, or, if they have existing Copyrights in other countries that will uphold them. They're probably save in most parts of Europe.

Oisín · Mar 17, 2005, 07:08 PM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
China has no real copyright laws. You can make an almost exact duplicate of a product but change the color by 1/2 a shade (or make it 1/2mm taller) and you're ready to go.

Not true. China does have functional (as in more than just for show) copyright laws, though they're nowhere near as strict as those in mnay Western countries.

The problem isn't a lack of laws, but rather too much corruption, enabling companies such as this one to circumvent the laws and do as they please anyway.

Sometimes I wonder if Asia is made entirely of its own plastic. Do they take the same pride in "生产在中国" stickers as we do in "Made in the U.S.A."? (No offense intended, I just don't like exploitation of third-world countries.)

Yes, they do. Chinese people are very proud of the fact that all the good stuff is produced in their country - it lets them walk around saying that they're the most technologically advanced country in the world.

Of course, the crap outnumbers the good stuff about a billion to one, but still...