Comments on: China Blocks the iTunes Store

By: Buying an iPhone in Shanghai | Sinosplice: Life

Buying an iPhone in Shanghai | Sinosplice: Life — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:11:07 +0000

[...] Let me know if you have any questions about the experience. I was initially somewhat wary of buying 水货, but the company subsidy was just the push I needed. After learning a lot about the iPhone in the past week, I’m quite pleased with the purchase and with the iPhone’s functionality in China, even despite a recent iTunes Stores block. [...]

By: John

John — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:42:31 +0000

Mark and Kellen,

I was referring to sales made through the (online) iTunes Store. It's a big part of the Apple strategy... to create physical products which drive sales through the virtual store, and vice versa. I don't think the iTunes Store is getting much traction in China, though. If that's the case, Apple is probably less bothered by the recent blocking than they might be otherwise.

By: John

John — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:38:57 +0000

Thanks for the proxy/VPN suggestions, guys, but the whole point is to complain about the blocking.

By: Kellen

Kellen — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:40:56 +0000

is it a legit iphone or one cracked while in china? i've heard they'll just brick if you try to use the hacked ones on the actual apple services.

as for how much business they get, there are authorized dealers all over, many of which are legit. i see their notebooks all over and iphones every time i get on the subway in shanghai. and actually from what ive heard, less than 3/5 of the iphones sold in the US actually got registered with AT&T, presumably because they're sent elsewhere. so there's certainly money to be made. otherwise they wouldnt have just moved back into hongkong.

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:33:30 +0000

Just try to be a little more careful when leaving comments on people’s blogs.

That's the beauty of censorship in action, right there: it's self-policing! And that's why certain governments use censorship -- not so a handful of people can't read something, but so that 99% of the population will learn to censor themselves, so much so that it just becomes second nature. FEAR: it's what for dinner.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:37:48 +0000

I wonder how much business Apple USA gets from China

I don't know about Apple USA but I do know iPods -and probably other Apple products- are assembled in China. At least that's what I could read on mine. So I guess this explains why the iTune store might be blocked temporarily on a whim... Fortunately wink wink and pssst pssst are here to save the day!

By: Matt@occidentalism.org

Matt@occidentalism.org — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:05:47 +0000

Try using hotspot shield.

By: xyz

xyz — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:48:18 +0000

coljac Says:

What a strange overreaction. It just makes the regime look silly and desperate.

Beijing won the bid for hosting a most stunning Olympics. Are they really "silly and desperate" as they seem to be? Think twice.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:58:59 +0000

Oh, and Dave Matthews. Ew.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:58:18 +0000

In the government’s defense, the “Songs for Tibet” compilation is horrible. Just awful stuff. If Alanis Morissette, Sting, and Moby agree on something, they are probably wrong.