i always like the fact that i could hide in this gizmodo bubble where politics and problems don't exist.
there. you just burst my precious bubble. :-(

Thank you, you made me like gizmodo again. :D

Its actually refreshing to see something that's completely off-topic on here once in a while, and I'm glad that its something political. One of the things that bother me most is political apathy, so this is good to see.

I haven't kept up with this story, but its surprising that the Chinese have backed off completely all of a sudden. And you know its not because they've grown a conscience regarding Tibet. Or maybe this turning into an international incident (and that China is facing an image crisis in regards to hosting the Olympic Games)may have something to do with it.

Anyone?

No Apple for you them Blam!

*then

sure, there's that, and the fact they have no respect for others innovation. Not to down the human rights aspect (because it's obviously bigger and more important than what I will talk about) but they are fully of thieves. They copy all kinds of gadgets, and have no respect for copyrights or patents. They are the biggest video pirate region. I'm not just referring to downloads, no, they burn disks, put them in jackets, and sell for profit. MPAA and RIAA are bastards, don't get me wrong. But sell bootlegs is really wrong too. iPhone copies, thats wrong too. And really, the swarm of cheap products (some cheap, some inexpensive) is a real downer for the U.S. economy. I personally believe that far too much stuff made by sweatshops are imported. We even have a system in place to balance this, tarrifs. But that isn't politically correct anymore. Sure competition has driven down prices, but at some point we lost jobs.

Problem is: it's all being made in China these days. That's because the ideal capitalist playground turns out to be an autocratic, nominally post-communist, dystopia where workers are paid so little for the fruits of their labor, it's almost as if they weren't being paid at all, where environmental regulation is taken as seriously as a birthday party magician and where consumer safety is so lax that manufacturers routinely substitute cheap poisons for more expensive compounds in toothpastes and cough remedies in order to ramp up profits and meet price targets!

do you know the facts about the tibet riots?if not,please respect the facts

Good luck with all that. I personally need a new iPod. Perhaps people should be more ashamed of the crimes and things happening in their own country rather than worry about another?
Correct the situations at home before you try to correct the ones abroad.

I really think the Media has played a very one sided story here (check CNN's picture of the Army truck moving in, they don't show the 20 rioters throwing rocks at it...).

To put it in perspective, how would the US react if Montana decided to separate and went on a bloody riot ?
How would Canada react if Quebec decided to make good on its separation threats and started burning English speakers property and harming people (not to mention our native population...), i don't think our reaction would be that different from the Chinese one.

I definitely don't think that China has helped themselves by blocking out the media etc, but i think the story is probably not as we hear it from either side.

I bought a chumby a few weeks ago, and was sad to see it coming directly from China. I hate how this communist stuff is now shipped directly via UPS. I posted my thoughts on their forum, and they didn't care for the sentiments. Pretty disgusting situation.

Lots of little companies now completely rely on china..

Here's a random note:
Get out of Iraq.
Close Guantanamo.
Something something...
I don't come here to read some pre-pubescent rant on politics. I come here for news on electronical devices. Stick with it.

@Serolf Divad: As far as enviro regs go - ask Al Gore, Maurice Strong and everyone else who negotiated Kyoto why they thought it was a good idea to cripple industry in the more environmentally aware western world and move as much of it as possible to a place that is an environmental free-for-all. Supposedly the whole world is warming, yet your average Belgian can feel smug because his little postage stamp of a county has met its "Kyoto Targets" - ie exported all its polluting jobs to China. I happen to think that AGW from carbon is BS, but pollution from NO2, SO2 and other actual pollutants is very real, and they've also been growing massively in China to the point where some top athletes in things like marathon and cycling were already boycotting the Olympics on helath grounds.

We have an estimated 200K to 400K dead in Darfur, over 100K dead in Iraq caused by all the fighting there, we have the USA refusing to stop torturing its prisoners (e.g. waterboarding, rendition to countries that do even worse things), global warming, we're running out of oil etc. etc. and the one event you find bad enough to complain about is a comparatively (to e.g. Darfur) small riot in Tibet with less people dead than what die in car accidents in the USA in a single day, and people chime in with "yeah, the Chinese are so bad! They copy the iPod and iPhone!". Jesus H Christ people! Get some perspective!

And while on the topic, you do realize that it's not just Apple products that are being copied, right? And not just in China. I mean why do you just talk about iPods and iPhones all the time? That's really small compared to the cars, clothes, bags, TV's, VCR's, mobile phones of all brands etc. that are being ripped off all over Asia and have been for years.

Also, you do realize that if you'd make 500 USD per month as most Chinese do even if they live in more developed parts of the country, you might not be willing to spend 399 USD on an iPhone or 279 USD for Windows XP Professional. At that point a cheap and/or illegal copy seems like a pretty good deal. So before you think or call the entire Chinese population of 1 billion cheap bastards, put yourself in their shoes.

@Canoehead: The whole world isn't warming. 'Global Warming' is an incorrect term everyone throws around when they should be using the appropriate 'Climate Shift'. Not everyone is going to be warmer, some places will be colder, which is just as disastrous in its own way.

I am really not a supporter of the chinese goverment nor do i think that the human rights situation is the best in china.

And while i understand your argument i could also say : As long as the USA are in Iraq, dont buy any american goods. (or stuff designed in california).

The bible says it quite good "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?!" and while i dont think that the tibet / human rights situation is a mote in the eye, i also think that the US has lost a lot of its moral highground with iraq and guantamo.

So solve that first, then tell others how to behave. I am pretty sure and i firmly belive that the US will solve those two things a lot faster then china will solve its HR / Tibet probelms. Then you can stand here and say "Dont buy chinese goods"... before that ... forget it.

@Kim98:
"small riot in Tibet with less people dead than what die in car accidents in the USA in a single day, and people chime in with "yeah, the Chinese are so bad! They copy the iPod and iPhone!". Jesus H Christ people! Get some perspective!"

Er, this isn't just about the last couple of weeks you idiot. This is about China invading a sovereign country and brutally suppressing the culture and people thereof under the guise of "liberating" them by means of imposing a communist state. Thousands of Tibetans have died at the hands of the Chinese since the invasion. How's that for perspective? Tibetan culture is disappearing under assault from migrant Han chinese who are being encouraged by the central government to chinese-ify (ok, made that word up) Tibet. All the time ignoring all offerings of dialogue and peaceful resolution by the Dalai Lama, who se official position is not one of independence from China any more; all he wants is for Tibet to have more autonomy and for it's unique culture to be protected. Not too much to ask in a country the size of China. The Chinese regime should show how powerful it is and how much it wants to be treated like a grown-up in world political stakes by, well, growing up and treating the Tibet issue with the importance it deserves.

How about some balanced reporting from the western media first?

Peaceful monks throwing rocks and burning business district?

We are witnessing a racial conflict here, with suppressing information from the Chinese side as well as biased reporting from the Buddha loving western reporters like Mr. Lam.

There is just no simple answer and b/w picture.

Good luck with that, also don't forget to avoid the vast amount of food imported from China. Oh and don't forget we owe China big time, Iraq and Afghanistan aren't being payed with tax payer dollars but rather borrowed from China. Which means a heck of a lot of interest. Whether you like it or not, the United States and China are connected politically and we need them more than they need us.

I'm quite aware of the history of Tibet, thank you very much. The point is that Brian chose to complain now - due to the riots NOW. Not because of the thousands of people that have died earlier there and elsewhere. Not because of thousands of people that die from hunger every day. Not because thousands dead in Iraq. Not beacuse of the rape of Palestinians. Not because of thousands dead in Darfur, Chechenya, Kosovo, Bosnia, Aceh, etc. The point when Brian complained was due to these riots, which are mainly reaching the news thanks to the Olympic games this summer.

It's not bad to care, of course. Quite the opposite. And like I said, it's not like the Chinese are the good guys here. But it's a little ridiculous to single out Tibet (or rather the Chinese actions there) like this.

@tutelary: Correct, but global warming is a much easier term to understand. Whether you like it or not, climate change is complex after all.

So yeah, deal with the fact that the United States depends on China as much if not more as we do OPEC. We are hostages to foreign interest. Whether we like it or not.

Why is it always acceptable for someone to do wrong now if someone else has done wrong in the past? The president lied? It's okay, the previous one did too and got away with it. China kills innocents? That's alright, the US did it too and got away with it. Politicians are corrupt? Crimes are ignored? etc. etc.

What's wrong with saying, "okay we screwed up last time, we could have done better... so how about *this* time we try and do whats right"?

Calling out China on human rights isn't going to solve Iraq or Darfur or US traffic deaths, but it's a start. And while a post on Gizmodo probably won't change the world, it's better to face the issue than to look the other way and say "it's not like we could do anything about it anyway."

The Chinese are just waiting for interest to wane. With the Olympics and all and talk of Moscow-like boycotts, they need to tread carefully. They're removing all foreigners and stifling the press so they can go all out. Hey, it's not easy running a ruthless dictatorship!

Also, it is indeed a bit random to complain now, but the same can be said about just about every protest you make (why invade Iraq and not Zimbabwe, for instance). But not buying anything made in China? Fat chance. Luckily most software comes from India these days, so that's a relatively safe bet :)

@kim98: we're glad that you're "quite aware of the history of Tibet, thank you very much" but why does it bother you so much that Brian wrote a note on something he's very much against at this moment in time? Of course, there are a lot of other things happening around the world but that can be discussed elsewhere, not in Gizmodo.

Maybe he wrote it because this is a gadget blog, and since most electronics are made in China nowadays, it's a rather relevant topic. After all, this isn't a political blog. And it certainly isn't a blog about the number of deaths in this or that country.

My apologies if I offended anyone.

You guys do realize you just lost China to the great firewall thanks to this note...Lol

we are all dependent on this giant that has cheap labour cost. and we encourage them to manufacture our ideas. and they know how to maximize their profits by taking the knowledge and removing the most expensive part of it... the idea and knowledge to come up with it.

sour grapes as i might be, people in my country could have done the same, but we did not. we manufactured for everyone, and did not make knockoffs. and we were rewarded by the companies leaving for china, land of cheaper labour and knockoffs.

if we are to condemn what they want to with one of their smaller states, why should we complain. we have no way of curbing their ways of stealing intellectual property, its little that we can do with how they govern their people.

I eagerly await the "Chinese product-free" version of Gizmodo.

Renders and one-off art projects from Japan and Europe with a sprinkling of Lego.

Welcome to the new Gizmodo!

@mac_kix_windoze: "This is about China invading a sovereign country"-

Swap China for USA and the sentence still makes pretty much sense.

this post made me finally create an account ..and with that.. i applaud you

@mac_kix_windoze:

I think you really, really need a history lesson.

Tibet, China, USA - How much much hotter did it just get in here? (no idea what I mean by this)

Yea, China. Those guys... crazy... not as crazy as the Russians, but damn close. Anywho, they backed off because of the Olympics in 2008 (this year in August). If there is a lot of rioting going around, there will be no Olympics. In addition, this will be the first time China will be visited by a mass group of outside people since Mao took over in 1949 and kicked out the original Chinese leaders to Taiwan. So, you could say that the leaders don't really want a lot reporters around when a riot springs up. That would be bad PR. And knowing the PRC, they don't really let out a whole lot of information about what goes on in their country.

Oh, and we'll continue to buy from China. The aristocrats will be able to stay wealthy and foreign businesses will continue to make money, so there will be no change unless most of the country revolts against the government. (I don't see this happening)

So, good luck with your "not buying goods from China" routine. Let's see how long it lasts.

I don't know much about Tibet, but I'm always a little sceptical towards separatism. A lot of countries have to deal with this subject (Spain, Italy, Ireland, Russia, just to mention a few), and it appears to me that you never know how far you have to go back in history to see the roots. With Tibet, it looks like they had some kind of theocracy back in the 19th century, and I don't know if that's so much better than chinese occupation. I don't want to legitimize chinese military actions, I just find it strange that the whole world seems to be into this whole "free Tibet" movement. Conclusion: I just don't know.

On another note, concerning the Olympic Games, I think the real problem is the IOC: a bunch of corrupt guys who simple don't care about anything. They had no problem with Olympic Games in Nazi Germany in 1936 and they refused to stop the games when 11 Israeli athletes where murdered in Munich in 1972. It's only logical that they don't care about some monks.

As Sleeper_Service said "You really, really need a history lesson." Apart from a few decades, Tibet has been part of China for a few THOUSAND years, and for those few decades apart, the majority of the population were seriously oppressed; only the landowner elite enjoyed a decent life.
But anyway, what would the US do if they faced the same situation, say a few native Hawaiians started violent protests demanding independence? Would they just hand it over, or send in the National Guard?

...and the Free Hawaii movement was born.

@jkr: Patent infringement is just nothing compares to phony products swarming to neighbouring countries. U could get Sony, Panasonic etc.. almost every well known products. Chinese gov is turning a blind eye for sure.

No Tibet has not been a part of China for "a few THOUSAND years". study the history...and not chinese propaganda.

Different people, different language and different culture!

The assessment a few posts above is true. They're clearing the whole place of journalists and cameras and then they'll move in. Right now they've circled the main monasteries and starving the people inside.

The only language the Chinese understand is economics. Boycott Made in China!

So that means no vii then. :(
say goodbye to my dream of playing "free craps"

It is almost impossible to not buy products from China these days.

Remeber 'Made in America'?

When is the last time you saw that one something you purchased?

i have been an avid reader of gizmodo for 2 years now and i have never commented until now. currently studying in china i am just as frustrated as any normal american would feel about this situation. it has been magnified since i have to use a proxy to access wikipedia, some news articles, and my youtube has been taken away. but being here has made me realize how effective the chinese are at blacking out negative news coverage. my chinese roommate doesnt know anything western media has said and thinks that the dalai lama is china's osama bin laden, and that the rioters are the lama's evil henchmen. on a another weird note, i can see this webpage without a proxy... for now
also chinese censors cant read pig latin. reefay ibettay!

@mac_kix_windoze:
Nice use of the word "regime" to describe the PRC. that's exactly the same way the US government described any foreign government before any hostilities began. they wanted to brainwash their own population into believing that getting rid of this "regime" is the right thing to do and to liberate the "oppressed" people.

Before you try to push the western ideals of standard of living onto another culture, try being there first and understanding what it is like to keep over 1 billion people in check. It's not as easy as you would think it is. I am not condoning what the PRC is doing but at the same time, if you had a billion people to keep at peace, the last thing you want to do is let some of them make a scene and inspire rioting to happen elsewhere. Trust me, if China goes into chaos, the rest of the world will too.

@Redwraithvienna: To be completely off topic on a gadget blog, I live in the USA, where freedom of speech is granted by our constitution. And I don't mean to be arrogant at all, but personally I didn't vote for those that started the mess in Iraq, nor did I have a single thing to do with it, so as far as I'm concerned I can say whatever I feel like saying with no moral guilt to hold me back, contrary to your ill-considered opinion. To generalize to your extreme is ridiculous.

Made in China means Made for USA!!!!
USA and China are same shit different color. China f*cks its own people. Usa f*cks rest of the world.

Everyone just jumps on the FREE TIBET bandwagon. Learn your shit first before you comment. (This isn't necessarily directed at Brian)

Anyways, the western media as a whole, not just the US, has distorted a lot of what is going on in Tibet. As an example, a German (or Russian) newspaper had a picture of police "dragging" away a "protester" when it was actually a police officer and citizen helping a Han Chinese person who was beat up for NO REASON. US news agencies reported that picture correctly. CNN had a picture that I saw personally that seemed like military trucks were rolling into a road with debris in it. The actual picture (as widely distributed on YouTube) shows TIBET RIOTERS attacking the trucks. The military has NOT attacked rioters unlike what everyone WANTS to believe.

Pictures spread in the news all around the world depict NEPAL police beating up people, NOT Chinese police. But people just want to get this biased crap out and they refuse to CHECK their resources first. It's disgusting. It shows that you CANNOT trust ANYONE.

I am NOT, by the way, trying to justify past Chinese actions. I believe that although China still has a ways to go, China is changing rapidly. The younger generation there don't speak up against the government not because it's forbidden and the police will fuck them over, but it's because China's population is experiencing prosperity for the most part. There is no reason to complain. Politics is a sensitive subject, much like abortion and gay rights are in the US.

Freedom of speech and the practice of is not an excuse to incite violence and hatred. It's disgusting to see news agencies and other band wagoners applaud these actions when even the Dalai Lama said he will quit leading the exile government if the violence continues.

Some of these incidents reported that the rioters did:
Destroy loads of private property
Killed 5 children (burned alive) of a Han Chinese family
Stomped on the face of a >10 year-old child for being Han Chinese
Attacked doctors who tried to assist that boy, doctors currently hospitalized
Killed an 18 year-old girl and her sister (burned alive) because they were too scared to jump down

China has every right to arrest and punish those who rioted and beat up innocent Han Chinese while destroying private property.

I'm never really critical of any posts on here but, Brian, let's keep Gizmodo an electronics blog. Please.

@tutelary: "I personally need a new iPod"
Oh come on, NOBODY NEEDS an iPod.
Sure, we have 3 in our family but do I need them, no.

Good like in your attempt. I don't think I've found a gadget in the past 5 years that didn't have "Made in China" stamped on it somewhere.

@Boognish: You can nitpick every small detail, you know what they meant. -.-

ok so very simply, go ahead and get rid of everything you own made in China so your little rant has substance...

** Also, if the Chinese soldiers were ruthlessly shooting and beating up Tibetans then YouTube videos would have cleared that up. CNN and others reported about some of these videos and all of them noted that Chinese soldiers DID NOT attack anyone. Only the rioters did.

There are plenty of first-hand accounts to this. Tourists had out camera phones and video cameras.

It's also oh so ironic for the US to criticize China. Fix up the shit you started first, George, before you look down on others.

** If you choose to believe the China government is distorting facts then you have to choose to believe that the Tibet extremeists are doing the same. 80-99 dead Tibetans but no proof of it? Bullshit. We have video and picture proof of seriously injured Chinese and of families crying of lost dead ones.

Good for you Blam, We can't in good conscience continue to say we are for human rights and support a government directly or indirectly via our purchases. In true communism (which China is not) wealth si divided amongst the people not held in the hands of a few political and business leaders. It's time the rest of the world, and yes Americans we are part of the rest of the world. Stood up for what is right and showed China that our consumerism comes at a cost. We can't keep claiming to be free and continually support ourselves through a local (black, then Irish then Chinese then Mexican) slave labor class or a foreign (China, India etc) foreign wage slave labor class. This also means standing up to mega big box stores such as Wal-Mart and the like and showing them that our Dollars / Euros etc. need to stand for what we believe. Write into those companies you believe in so strongly and ask them their stance on Chinese imports and show them that your money is backed by your morality. Yes this means even as an mac fanboy, I have to voice to the mother ship (Apple) that as long as China continues their civil rights violations and their assault on Tibet, my money has to go elsewhere.

Yeah! F*ck China. Nothing decent comes out of that country. Only intolerance and persecution. 1 billion people with their heads up their asses.

I assume that in a matter of time, when China invade