Apples and Oranges
Back in January Apple announced that it would not sell the iPhone in China. That hasn’t stopped them from flooding the marketplace. They cost a couple hundred bucks more than they do in the US, but all you have to do is hack the firmware, slip in your SIM card, and it will work perfectly with your China Mobile account. Three or four people in my office have them.
Today one of my coworkers told me about a really good knock-off iPhone. As you know the Chinese have no respect for intellectual property laws. They pirate everything, from clothes and purses to liquor (fake Jack Daniel’s) to cigarettes (fake Marlboros) to food (fake eggs—no, I’m not kidding), and now they’re pirating iPhones. This particular model is called the iOrgane. You can see YouTube videos of them in action here and here.
Here’s the great thing. Look at their company logo.
Notice the piece of fruit? It’s an Orange. O-R-A-N-G-E. Note the name of the spelling of their company: O-R-G-A-N-E. That’s right, folks. They’re smart enough to pirate the world’s most technically advanced mobile phone, but not smart enough to hire someone to proofread their Chinglish.
If you want one singular experience that sums up China, I can’t think of a better one than this.
