More Macbook users at HKU

I've been using Mac for seven years. There's something interesting about what's going on recently, especially among university students.

Sitting at the HKU library, using a Mac always gets some attention from onlookers. Not so now, I've noticed that more and more HKU students use Macbook. I'm not sure how many of them actually use their Macbook because they appreciate the OS or they simply want to look cool. Anyway, as shown in some recent statistics, the amount of Mac desktops and laptops sold has been rising steadily. I think this has got something to do with Windows Vista, which has been labelled as a lame system. One of my colleagues actually wants to replace Vista with XP. I've tried to help, and I simply found it difficult to use. And he said that his coming laptop will be a Mac.

Fake Apple products

China has been famous (or infamous) for being the "Factory of the World". The foods, garments, machines or electronic gadget that you have bought were probably made in China.

I've just come across a website which amazed me a lot. Take a look at this website from a Shenzhen "Technology company". It is selling an electronic music playing device which looks very similar with Apple's iPod Nano. Here's the link.

Unsurprisingly, the "Technology company" is also selling another electronic device called "A88" which carries the Apple Inc.'s logo and the name "iPhone". If you're not smart enough, you might think this website is an online distributor of Apple's products. Here's the link.

They are also selling a device which is really similar with the previous generation of iPod Nano. Here's the link.

iPhone

There have been more and more people using iPhone in Hong Kong. In a place like Hong Kong, where people replace their phones every few months, it is not difficult to understand why many of them are so eager to get one. For me, I don't really like the ideas that my phone is not supported officially. Also, there is always a high possibility that the iPhones from those dodgy shops at Sin Tat shopping mall are faulty once you step out of the store. I think I have to keep on using my Nokia E61 which looks like it is a product from the previous century.

Amazon MP3 Beta disappointment

As mentioned before, it is not easy to get legal online music in Hong Kong. Forget iTunes store, Apple is not really interested in the Asian markets, Japanese not included. "Moov" is simply ridiculous as they are for Windoze users only. I've just heard from the podcast Macbreak Weekly that Amazon's MP3 store is up and running. Their initial response is rather positive. So I headed on to the Amazon site to take a look. Great! Lots of albums for me to choose from and the quality isn't bad at all. Most important of all, they are all DRM free. So, I tried to download Pavarotti's The Best. It's just about HK$70. I thought it was good deal as it would cost much more to buy the same CD at HMV. After downloading the Amazon "downloading program", I headed on to pay, but I couldn't. I simply couldn't. They insisted on asking me which "state" I reside in. For God's sake, I found out later that the MP3 songs are for US domestic purchase only. To be honest, I dun want to share my purchased DRM-free songs with some unknown users on the internet. I just want to get the damn songs. They just impose just stupid restriction. So, what did i do instead? I ended up getting the songs from another not quite legit source. What a bummer!!

Apple TV, what's the point of having it?

People who live in Asia are a bit disappointed by the fact that we're not going to have any iTunes store in Asia. They've got the new  TV out and I am rather shocked to find out that the Hong Kong Store also has it. What's the frigging point? Seriously, if we can't get any video content in Hong Kong from the online store. How many non-tech savvy people will actually undergo the process of transforming their DVDs into the  TV format?

If Apple Inc. wants to do better business in markets like Hong Kong & Singapore. They shouldn't treat people in Asia as pirates. There are quite many people in Hong Kong own Apple products. As far as I know, there are more and more people owning Mac systems. iPods are hugely successful in Hong Kong. They can tap into a big market quite easily. People like me are sick and tired of the TV programs we can get locally. We want to have more varieties. People at Apple should reconsider what they're offering to the rest of the world.

Accessorise your iPod in HongKong

If you want to accessorise your iPod(s), there is no where better than Hong Kong. I just bought a crystal case for my iPod Nano 1G. It cost HK$25, which is about US$3.20. If you want to buy a remote for your iPod, there is a wide range of choice for you to choose from. They cost about HK$45-60 (US$5.7 - 7.7). One thing for sure is that these accessores don't have any "Made for iPod" logo. The manufacturers are not bothered about paying Apple for making iPod accessories. Just go to one of the many computer malls in Hongkong and search them for yourself.

Yahoo! Knowledge

Even for websites like Yahoo! HongKong, they are not aware of the fact that there are browers other than MSIE. I have to use Opera instead to read the content of their "knowledge".