Slashdot Mirror
Idle: Four Injured In iPad Fight At Beijing Apple Store
fysdt writes "Four people were taken to hospital and a glass door smashed as a near-riot broke out at Beijing's top Apple store among crowds rushing to snap up the popular iPad 2 tablet computer, state press said Sunday. Angry consumers began rushing the store on Saturday afternoon after a 'foreign' Apple employee allegedly stepped into the crowd to push and beat people suspected of queue jumping, the Beijing News said."
Product in short supply. Crowds rushing to get shiny product and trampling others in the process. Poorly trained employees.
It's just like Black Friday at Walmart.
Um no. I didn't see any morbidly obese people.
The trampling in China is much gentler because of the small normal weight people. If this happened in the US, many many people would have been crushed and there would have been an Earthquake with the resulting tsunami.
I just read this article on China Daily this morning about the mad rush for iPad 2s' today, saw a clip of this story on CCTV News half an hour ago, then come to read Slashdot only to find out that this story is the top of the front page. I've been reading Slashdot since 1997, and I'm used to stories being submitted days, weeks, months, and sometimes years after the fact. Apple fans going crazy for new products is too trite for news nowadays, but Slashdot being current is a rather creepy occurrence... I'm not sure whether to be pleased or to expect Duke Nukem Forever to be released next...
A more interesting article from the site is the wearable cat ears that move to your expressions. How long before all of the Cosplay girls start adopting these?
If capitalism were a success, we'd all be working fewer hours and adults would be living significantly longer.
Proof? I could just as well claim "if socialism were a success we'd be building homes on Mars by now", but that wouldn't prove anything other than my own ignorance of socialism and martian home-building.
No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
I think the perspective of the propaganda writer who fabricated this piece was probably that the iPad 2 is a continuation of the opium wars. Oh, terrible capitalism, forced on the innocent bosom of the Chinese people, who are clearly and totally represented by their beloved government which in no way whatsoever suppresses or manipulates its people!
Society needs the ability to call people out for this kind of counterproductive crap. Thanks for helping to set back Star Trek another hundred years, unnamed propaganda writer. You could be working against nationalist prejudice, and trying to unite humanity, but instead you have to look at life like a competition. I hope that some day a stock market crash is named after you and your ilk.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
People just don't line up in China, period! This Apple store incident does not come as a surprise to me.
I visited Shanghai two years ago and was waiting at the subway stop. I was the first waiting in line to get into the subway car. When the subway arrived, people behind me just rushed in, instead of waiting for the passengers in the car to exit. Needless to say, I was the first in line, and ended up not getting into the subway car. And Shanghai is suppose to be the most civilized city in China!
By contrast, when I was in Taiwan the same month, I also took the subway in Taipei. Everyone lined up according to the direction. They waited politely for passengers to get off, and entered the car one by one. People also yield their seats to elders or pregnant moms.
Having people camp out at Apple Store may be a good idea in other countries, but not in China. In China, people just would not patiently wait in line. They would try to cut the line whenever they could. They would elbow you or shove you out just to advance their queue.