Funny thing is though that if they tried selling what they sold in China in America that they would be sued to bankruptcy but it's freely accepted in China.
I was basing my assertion on what I see- people crowding around street vendors to buy pirated versions of XP, and that no store I've been to sells Windows XP legit (there's some places selling "OEM versions" but that's as close to legit as I've seen). Of course, I haven't been to the lone Wal-Mart in Shanghai, so maybe they have it, but I have no clue where it is. Oh hell- even some of the big chains sell pirated games, just in prettier packaging- I've seen a box of all the GameHouse games pre-cracked loaded onto a CD together with instructions for each game in Chinese sell for only $2. It also happened to pretty much every downloadable game (the ones that require a serial number to register with) I've seen- I can buy a bunch of them in a box for far less than the price of a registration code for any one of the games. Same for emulators- I can buy a box with CDs containing the whole GBA library and a GBA emulator. China is an ideal place to live in if your income is a little lower than most people in the US- everything's cheaper (whether they be pirated for digital content or "excess product" for physical items).
Why not? I'd love to see a country with a majority of Apple users (or Linux, or any alternative OS). That or people will still use pirated versions of Windows. I don't know of any people who buy official versions of Windows in China, so the only legit sales they are getting are the ones that come with new computers. Chinese people won't get a new computer very often- I know people who still have computers running Windows 95.
The plate glass window was designed to withstand minor earthquakes. The "sudden jolt" type is hardly minor- I know, having lived in California and sleeping through most of the earthquakes that went through the state- except those "sudden jolt" ones.
Imports- when I get back to the States I'll want to have something that plays the Region 2 DVDs I picked up (I don't always buy pirated stuff despite living in China- I import because there are no local movies I want to watch, and while I have a multi-region DVD player, it's 220V and I don't know where to get a RELIABLE 220->110V converter). A DVD-capable Wii imported from Japan would be great (I know enough Japanese so if it's region-locked it won't be a problem- that or I get a modchip) to fill that purpose in the land of Region 1.
Now they might see more of a backlash from Westerners in China- They just blocked access to Myspace. The school I go to is now filled with complaints from students about this. The big thing here is that I go to an international school- the director of technology said that the school got unfiltered internet because it was a place with mostly Western people (that or he had the "connections" within the telecom to make their internet unfiltered) so it was a bit of a shock that they're making the Western access points restricted too (although most people here would say that's no loss at all since it was Myspace nbeing blocked after all...). Yes, at my school, during lunch, some people take the time to browse their friends' Myspaces.
Not me- I have to go through google.co.jp- the fact htat I need google sometimes for school and I can only get it in Japanese is motivation enough for me to learn Japanese.
Your experience may not translate to other countries. I've had far better experiences with a pair of Audio-Technica earphones than with anything Sony. Their noise-cancelling headphones I bought from Japan had some funky plug that didn't work with anything (had to get an adapter for it) and their earphones either have no bass, or no treble (the first pair of in-ear headphones I bought sounded high/flat- no "deep" sounds, while the second sounded "thick" where I couldn't hear the lyrics properly to my music- that's when I gave up and tried Audio-Technica). The worst fault was when I bought a pair (different model from the first two because I had given up on that model) and the left earbud didn't work. I knew then that Sony had fallen, and it was time to stop relying on them. So what if those were manufacturing defects? the fact that I went through 3 in a row (and the noise-cancelling headphones- the funky plug wasn't a defect, I'm guessing) means that quality control sucks (at least in China, where I live- the prevailing theory among people I've talked to is that QC failures are sold where they are manufactured to make them affordable to the locals, while the good products are sold in Japan/USA/EU).
Right- and I'm going to have to go to Japan to get an archival copy of every import game I have? Not likely. And if proof of purchase is required- good luck. I have receipts, sure, but they're not from Japan, they're from China. And really, this is why I went with the N64 when it came out, because what's easier to break- CDs or cartridges? And when the children in question are 6-7 years old, it can hardly be expected of them to learn straight away. When I was that age, the school I went to started using CD caddy drives (CDs contained in cartridge-like caddies so that they looked like big MiniDiscs) because the other children kept breaking them (I knew better than to do things like sit on CDs and throw them around, but then again, at the time I was considered to be smarter than most of my classmates). Even so, I had my stupid moments too (breaking a PSone game and a couple of PC games because I fell and grabbed for the closest thing to keep myself from falling- a vertical CD case). Of course, I'm in China now (and semi-happy that I left the US)- a replacement of an original would cost at most $1 because why go to Japan to get a replacement when the nearest "otaku shop" (personal term- shop selling anime stuff and games, usually pirated) is only half an hour away? If the original breaks, I'm not going to pay more than $1 for a replacement, so I pirate. So you're the typer of person that never has a single accident- good for you. Unfortunately, the same people who are clumsy to have accidents are sometimes the same people who can not pay for a replacement of a broken disk at prices like that (or the disk in question is an import). (Also, don't try to drag this into a political discussion- it seems that every time I bring up how China is better than the US in some way the person who replies inevitably counters with some atrocity of China's past)
Just 100 minutes for US$60? What about SoftBank? Free calls and mail within the SoftBank network for a little less than $30 (gack, missed the fine print- only 200 minutes allowed at night, but unlimited during the day, but "mail" means picture mail too). Heck, they even throw in 2 months (data usage and basic charge) free! See for yourself, if I'm not getting everything- sounds a lot better than you described it.
Sorry to be a little ignorant, but wasn't Sony Music supposed to be with Sony? How did Sony and BMG merge? I've been living in China for quite a while and have been bringing in CDs from Japan. The CDs (the ones from Sony Music) have always been from "Sony Music Japan", or did Japan get left out of the deal?
Then, I suppose that the answer would be creating one international standard (like the way CE is for Europe- or do the member states still need to apply their own individual certifications?) for the world that could at least be applied to "universal" devices- 100-240V means that electrical testing can be done on the same product no matter what voltage the destination country uses (well- some places in China I've seen 300V outlets, but those aren't meant for consumer electronics anyway- more for industrial equipment).
Right- I have heard of cases of Sony fighting the use of modchips on their consoles, while Nintendo has done nothing to prevent people from play games downloaded (I believe the method is to stream the game's ISO image over the LAN adapter from the computer to the Gamecube) or imported (modchip- I remember a store selling a Panasonic Q with the tagline "play GC games from anywhere").
The company that is getting a free pass at putting region lockouts into the Wii, while Sony gets no credit for making the PSP and PS3 region-free.
HOLD IT!
The PSP is not completely region-free (UMD movies) and last I heard the PS3 isn't completely region-free either (Blu-Ray movies). Besides- Sony cracks down on modchips, Nintendo doesn't (not as much as Sony, at least). Nintendo simply isn't encouraging breaking the region lock, while Sony has actively tried to prevent it before. I used to own a PSP- I loved to play with it. But, then I got a DS. Sure, I missed Drum Master (Taiko no Tatsujin) and Densha de Go (never released outside Japan) which I would have never been able to play on my American PSP had it not been region-free, but I had games like Mario Kart and Cooking Mama (don't forget Phoenix Wright!) to look forward to. I wasn't going to pay for a new PSP at the time either- web browsing wasn't any fun because of the lack of touchscreen or keyboard and with only 3 or 4 games that I wanted to play it was a better option to get something else. Sure I'm not going to be happy for buying a region-locked console (what happened to them saying that the Wii was region-free?) but I don't have $500 to spare.
*cough*SonyBMG is not Sony*cough*
What about Sony Music Japan? Is it also part of SonyBMG? They never did any of that rootkit business- I never even knew that Sony Music was doing such a thing outside Japan until I read it on Shashdot because I always bought CDs from their Japanese group (not anymore, though- I can get my J-Pop elsewhere now because of these recent events).
You're right- My Japanese DS lite only has Japanese VCCI certification- no FCC or CE. Then again, the same is true of my VAIO PCG-TR5, which I believe is sold in the US too. But, the important question is- if it isn't good enough for Europe (no CE marking) then why is it good enough for the rest of the world? They're pretty much saying that Euro standards are better than US/Japanese standards, which is somewhat worrying.
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more unfortunately, maybe I didn't beacuse I'm in China.
And of course, Jews/Christians/Muslims don't avoid paying taxes (at least it's not standard practice)
Funny thing is though that if they tried selling what they sold in China in America that they would be sued to bankruptcy but it's freely accepted in China.
I was basing my assertion on what I see- people crowding around street vendors to buy pirated versions of XP, and that no store I've been to sells Windows XP legit (there's some places selling "OEM versions" but that's as close to legit as I've seen). Of course, I haven't been to the lone Wal-Mart in Shanghai, so maybe they have it, but I have no clue where it is. Oh hell- even some of the big chains sell pirated games, just in prettier packaging- I've seen a box of all the GameHouse games pre-cracked loaded onto a CD together with instructions for each game in Chinese sell for only $2. It also happened to pretty much every downloadable game (the ones that require a serial number to register with) I've seen- I can buy a bunch of them in a box for far less than the price of a registration code for any one of the games. Same for emulators- I can buy a box with CDs containing the whole GBA library and a GBA emulator. China is an ideal place to live in if your income is a little lower than most people in the US- everything's cheaper (whether they be pirated for digital content or "excess product" for physical items).
Why not? I'd love to see a country with a majority of Apple users (or Linux, or any alternative OS). That or people will still use pirated versions of Windows. I don't know of any people who buy official versions of Windows in China, so the only legit sales they are getting are the ones that come with new computers. Chinese people won't get a new computer very often- I know people who still have computers running Windows 95.
The plate glass window was designed to withstand minor earthquakes. The "sudden jolt" type is hardly minor- I know, having lived in California and sleeping through most of the earthquakes that went through the state- except those "sudden jolt" ones.
Imports- when I get back to the States I'll want to have something that plays the Region 2 DVDs I picked up (I don't always buy pirated stuff despite living in China- I import because there are no local movies I want to watch, and while I have a multi-region DVD player, it's 220V and I don't know where to get a RELIABLE 220->110V converter). A DVD-capable Wii imported from Japan would be great (I know enough Japanese so if it's region-locked it won't be a problem- that or I get a modchip) to fill that purpose in the land of Region 1.
not really- I've found that only BBC News is blocked- the rest of the site works fine.
no- try news.bbc.co.uk- then see how fast you get blocked.
Now they might see more of a backlash from Westerners in China- They just blocked access to Myspace. The school I go to is now filled with complaints from students about this. The big thing here is that I go to an international school- the director of technology said that the school got unfiltered internet because it was a place with mostly Western people (that or he had the "connections" within the telecom to make their internet unfiltered) so it was a bit of a shock that they're making the Western access points restricted too (although most people here would say that's no loss at all since it was Myspace nbeing blocked after all...). Yes, at my school, during lunch, some people take the time to browse their friends' Myspaces.
You know, you're right- I wasn't completely awake when I posted that.
Not me- I have to go through google.co.jp- the fact htat I need google sometimes for school and I can only get it in Japanese is motivation enough for me to learn Japanese.
which have been completely wiped out by the chinese
and yet you have 3. Where did you get them, if they were wiped out?
Your experience may not translate to other countries. I've had far better experiences with a pair of Audio-Technica earphones than with anything Sony. Their noise-cancelling headphones I bought from Japan had some funky plug that didn't work with anything (had to get an adapter for it) and their earphones either have no bass, or no treble (the first pair of in-ear headphones I bought sounded high/flat- no "deep" sounds, while the second sounded "thick" where I couldn't hear the lyrics properly to my music- that's when I gave up and tried Audio-Technica). The worst fault was when I bought a pair (different model from the first two because I had given up on that model) and the left earbud didn't work. I knew then that Sony had fallen, and it was time to stop relying on them. So what if those were manufacturing defects? the fact that I went through 3 in a row (and the noise-cancelling headphones- the funky plug wasn't a defect, I'm guessing) means that quality control sucks (at least in China, where I live- the prevailing theory among people I've talked to is that QC failures are sold where they are manufactured to make them affordable to the locals, while the good products are sold in Japan/USA/EU).
Right- and I'm going to have to go to Japan to get an archival copy of every import game I have? Not likely. And if proof of purchase is required- good luck. I have receipts, sure, but they're not from Japan, they're from China. And really, this is why I went with the N64 when it came out, because what's easier to break- CDs or cartridges? And when the children in question are 6-7 years old, it can hardly be expected of them to learn straight away. When I was that age, the school I went to started using CD caddy drives (CDs contained in cartridge-like caddies so that they looked like big MiniDiscs) because the other children kept breaking them (I knew better than to do things like sit on CDs and throw them around, but then again, at the time I was considered to be smarter than most of my classmates). Even so, I had my stupid moments too (breaking a PSone game and a couple of PC games because I fell and grabbed for the closest thing to keep myself from falling- a vertical CD case). Of course, I'm in China now (and semi-happy that I left the US)- a replacement of an original would cost at most $1 because why go to Japan to get a replacement when the nearest "otaku shop" (personal term- shop selling anime stuff and games, usually pirated) is only half an hour away? If the original breaks, I'm not going to pay more than $1 for a replacement, so I pirate. So you're the typer of person that never has a single accident- good for you. Unfortunately, the same people who are clumsy to have accidents are sometimes the same people who can not pay for a replacement of a broken disk at prices like that (or the disk in question is an import). (Also, don't try to drag this into a political discussion- it seems that every time I bring up how China is better than the US in some way the person who replies inevitably counters with some atrocity of China's past)
Just 100 minutes for US$60? What about SoftBank? Free calls and mail within the SoftBank network for a little less than $30 (gack, missed the fine print- only 200 minutes allowed at night, but unlimited during the day, but "mail" means picture mail too). Heck, they even throw in 2 months (data usage and basic charge) free! See for yourself, if I'm not getting everything- sounds a lot better than you described it.
Sorry to be a little ignorant, but wasn't Sony Music supposed to be with Sony? How did Sony and BMG merge? I've been living in China for quite a while and have been bringing in CDs from Japan. The CDs (the ones from Sony Music) have always been from "Sony Music Japan", or did Japan get left out of the deal?
Then, I suppose that the answer would be creating one international standard (like the way CE is for Europe- or do the member states still need to apply their own individual certifications?) for the world that could at least be applied to "universal" devices- 100-240V means that electrical testing can be done on the same product no matter what voltage the destination country uses (well- some places in China I've seen 300V outlets, but those aren't meant for consumer electronics anyway- more for industrial equipment).
What, does it take a precedent in every member state before it becomes a directive?
Right- I have heard of cases of Sony fighting the use of modchips on their consoles, while Nintendo has done nothing to prevent people from play games downloaded (I believe the method is to stream the game's ISO image over the LAN adapter from the computer to the Gamecube) or imported (modchip- I remember a store selling a Panasonic Q with the tagline "play GC games from anywhere").
The company that is getting a free pass at putting region lockouts into the Wii, while Sony gets no credit for making the PSP and PS3 region-free.
HOLD IT!
The PSP is not completely region-free (UMD movies) and last I heard the PS3 isn't completely region-free either (Blu-Ray movies). Besides- Sony cracks down on modchips, Nintendo doesn't (not as much as Sony, at least). Nintendo simply isn't encouraging breaking the region lock, while Sony has actively tried to prevent it before. I used to own a PSP- I loved to play with it. But, then I got a DS. Sure, I missed Drum Master (Taiko no Tatsujin) and Densha de Go (never released outside Japan) which I would have never been able to play on my American PSP had it not been region-free, but I had games like Mario Kart and Cooking Mama (don't forget Phoenix Wright!) to look forward to. I wasn't going to pay for a new PSP at the time either- web browsing wasn't any fun because of the lack of touchscreen or keyboard and with only 3 or 4 games that I wanted to play it was a better option to get something else. Sure I'm not going to be happy for buying a region-locked console (what happened to them saying that the Wii was region-free?) but I don't have $500 to spare.
*cough*SonyBMG is not Sony*cough* What about Sony Music Japan? Is it also part of SonyBMG? They never did any of that rootkit business- I never even knew that Sony Music was doing such a thing outside Japan until I read it on Shashdot because I always bought CDs from their Japanese group (not anymore, though- I can get my J-Pop elsewhere now because of these recent events).
You're right- My Japanese DS lite only has Japanese VCCI certification- no FCC or CE. Then again, the same is true of my VAIO PCG-TR5, which I believe is sold in the US too. But, the important question is- if it isn't good enough for Europe (no CE marking) then why is it good enough for the rest of the world? They're pretty much saying that Euro standards are better than US/Japanese standards, which is somewhat worrying.
And why couldn't one judgment against Lik-Sang become an EU directive to be applied across the whole union?
Isn't it the European UNION? Why shouldn't one judgment apply across the European UNION?