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Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

businessinsider.com

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Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#51

Post by tokenizer »

mikeash wrote: post #45
tokenizer wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That you're just making threads toxic with your white knight attitudes. Saying that BI is racist because they generalize the Asian market is what's wrong with the world. Not only do you generalize an entire continent by reducing it to race (racist against all Asian races?), but you then go on about how they can't generalize. Almost all markets generalize. They need to. It's how you do business. If target age 24-32 fe…

"White knight"? Sure, because I couldn't possibly be directly affected by issues like these. Until and unless the assertion is actually supported , it's racist BS. I read the article. It completely fails to support its assertions. It talks about behavior the entire world appears to be engaging in, but singles out Asians for no reason. They're telling a story they've basically made up, and are taking advantage of the…

>Personally, I think pointing out how casual racism is tolerated and ignored in certain situations is quite a bit more useful than the other comments on this article.

The real ignorance spawned when you compare Asians (multi-racial, genetically diverse, many cultures) with black people (colour of skin). That is racist. You are generalizing a continent of people into one homogenous ethnicity.

Of course the author wouldn't group "black people" into a category. Firstly, "black people" are the most genetically diverse group of people on the planet. Africa is also home to again, many, many cultures.

I think you attempting to be PC, has clouded your judgement. Look at your upvote/downvote ratio. Do you believe most people are just "ignorant" to your "valid and true" beliefs on political correctness? You said it yourself that this is just casual racism. And to many (including me) it wasn't that at all. If anything, you were the one who brought race and conflict into this discussion. Ask yourself if you're truly right.

The story is simple. Apple got sold out of their gold iphones in parts of Asia. You're right, everybody likes gold. They state that in the article. Let's see the articles sources shall we?

> gold in Asia is perhaps even more fetishized than in the West.

Wow, talk about bias! Perhaps!?!?!?

> said Mr. Lian, who works at a local TV station. "Chinese people like gold."

What?!?! A Chinese person generalizing their society?!?!? Hold the phone. We got a self hater here says mikeash...

Now this is just hurrible... Of course this POS article doesn't have contrary opinions... Oh Wait!

> 28-year-old Chris Wong who works in marketing. “I think the metal casing looks much better.”

And there you have it. A different opinion.

But yes. The article is racist. I'm racist. The people who downvoted you are racist. The whole word is racist. How about you take your white knighting to tumbler social warrior! We'll miss you!!!!

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#52

Post by mikeash »

tokenizer wrote: post #51
mikeash wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"White knight"? Sure, because I couldn't possibly be directly affected by issues like these. Until and unless the assertion is actually supported , it's racist BS. I read the article. It completely fails to support its assertions. It talks about behavior the entire world appears to be engaging in, but singles out Asians for no reason. They're telling a story they've basically made up, and are taking advantage of the…

>Personally, I think pointing out how casual racism is tolerated and ignored in certain situations is quite a bit more useful than the other comments on this article. The real ignorance spawned when you compare Asians (multi-racial, genetically diverse, many cultures) with black people (colour of skin). That is racist. You are generalizing a continent of people into one homogenous ethnicity. Of course the author woul…

"Apple got sold out of their gold iphones in parts of Asia."

"Parts"? Apple sold out of gold iPhones everywhere.

"You are generalizing a continent of people into one homogenous ethnicity."

Where the hell did I do that?

"If anything, you were the one who brought race and conflict into this discussion."

Excuse me? Race is in the fricken headline of the article we are commenting on.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#53

Post by cocoadog »

mikeash wrote: post #20
lnanek2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is racist about saying one product type appeals to a certain set of cultures more than others? It is well known the Korean culture values extra settings and controls as a sign of status, for example, and that Koreans value replaceable batteries more and carry them around more often. Is it racist to say replaceable battery phones sell better in Korea than elsewhere? There are already OEMs that make differ…

It's not racist if it's backed up by data. So far I have seen no data whatsoever to back up this idea that Asian people prefer gold more than other people in the world. Articles like these simply take a racial stereotype and run with it to the conclusion they want to reach. That's racist.

Is "Asians love gold" a common racial stereotype? Serious question. Is it common for racist non-Asians to think, "Them Asians, they sure do love cat chow mein, blonde women, and gold"? [EDIT: If you like, substitute "math, martial arts, and gold". I'm asking only about the existence of a stereotype, setting aside how demeaning or inflammatory it's considered to be.]

I've been hesitant to assert cultural differences in another thread, but I think it's safe to say the color gold, like red, has a different significance in China than in the West. (Less sure about other Asian countries.) It's possible some people stupidly associate the preference with race, as if it's genetic, rather than cultural; I've just never encountered that stereotype.

Before the announcement, my overwhelming impression from American writers was not that they love gold. Quite the opposite: they did not expect to like the color, and were trying to come up with an explanation for why Apple would go that way. They were flailing for some conclusion, not rationalizing a conclusion they particularly "want[ed] to reach".

I'm skeptical of the theory myself, for a couple of reasons, but it doesn't strike me as racist. It might if I were convinced the racial stereotype was a common one that I happened to be unaware of.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#54

Post by mikeash »

the_watcher wrote: post #42
mikeash wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This article takes a racial stereotype (Asians love gold!) ignores confounding factors (turns out, lots of people like gold, even non-Asians!) trots out a token Asian (some of my best friends are black!) and produces no evidence whatsoever to support its claims. In fact, the article itself basically admits that the entire premise is full of shit: "...gold in Asia is perhaps even more fetishized than in the West." "Pe…

Throughout this thread, people have posted links to evidence that there is a higher demand for gold in Asia than the rest of the world. Ignoring them doesn't chang e Business Insider's piece definitely could be improved by adding some more context beyond "My friend says.." anecdotes, but not everything that is poorly researched is racist.

Not everything that is poorly researched is racist. But everything about race that is poorly researched is racist. This is poorly researched, and it's about race, QED.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#55

Post by cocoadog »

mikeash wrote: post #20
lnanek2 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is racist about saying one product type appeals to a certain set of cultures more than others? It is well known the Korean culture values extra settings and controls as a sign of status, for example, and that Koreans value replaceable batteries more and carry them around more often. Is it racist to say replaceable battery phones sell better in Korea than elsewhere? There are already OEMs that make differ…

It's not racist if it's backed up by data. So far I have seen no data whatsoever to back up this idea that Asian people prefer gold more than other people in the world. Articles like these simply take a racial stereotype and run with it to the conclusion they want to reach. That's racist.

> So far I have seen no data whatsoever to back up this idea that Asian people prefer gold more than other people in the world.

I too would like to see data that supports the theory that a gold iPhone should be expected to do especially well in China. For example, have other companies benefited from making the same decision for their own product lines?

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#56

Post by tokenizer »

mikeash wrote: post #52
tokenizer wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Personally, I think pointing out how casual racism is tolerated and ignored in certain situations is quite a bit more useful than the other comments on this article. The real ignorance spawned when you compare Asians (multi-racial, genetically diverse, many cultures) with black people (colour of skin). That is racist. You are generalizing a continent of people into one homogenous ethnicity. Of course the author woul…

"Apple got sold out of their gold iphones in parts of Asia." "Parts"? Apple sold out of gold iPhones everywhere . "You are generalizing a continent of people into one homogenous ethnicity." Where the hell did I do that? "If anything, you were the one who brought race and conflict into this discussion." Excuse me? Race is in the fricken headline of the article we are commenting on.

Again. Seriously dude. Asian is not a race you ignoramus.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#58

Post by the_watcher »

mikeash wrote: post #54
the_watcher wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Throughout this thread, people have posted links to evidence that there is a higher demand for gold in Asia than the rest of the world. Ignoring them doesn't chang e Business Insider's piece definitely could be improved by adding some more context beyond "My friend says.." anecdotes, but not everything that is poorly researched is racist.

Not everything that is poorly researched is racist. But everything about race that is poorly researched is racist. This is poorly researched, and it's about race, QED.

>> But everything about race that is poorly researched is racist.

No, it's not.

Re: Apple Ran Out Of Gold iPhones Because It Underestimated How Much Asia Likes Gold

#59

Post by medecau »

mikeash wrote: post #13

The pervasive casual racism when discussing the gold iPhone is just astounding. If news outlets were talking about black people this way, there would be riots in the streets. Why is this considered acceptable?

http://imgur.com/75VQJ2K
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