Gizmodo: made in china

Fake Chinese Barbie Phone Better Than the Real Thing

Elaine Chow — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:03:00 EST

You know what's fun? When Chinese fakes actually turn out to be more useful (and would possibly sell better) than the real product. Case in point: This cellphone designed to look like Mattel's Barbie B2 mp3 player.

Called the Barbie P520, this clamshell phone is in no way sponsored by Mattel. Undaunted by its lack of authenticity though, the box advertises with the doll's silhouette, the logo, and even a tag line declaring it the “Barbie Music Phone.” It's not too bad for a fake phone spec-wise, packing a 1.3MP camera, up to 2GB of expandable memory, two sim cards, MP3 and MP4 support and Bluetooth into a 60 x 63 x 21mm frame.

AND it's got a touchscreen. The fake Barbie Music Phone, at $113, costs about $30 more than Mattel's MP3 player but, considering what it comes with, it's a much better deal for your hipless-big-boobied-doll-loving nieces. [Shanzhaiji]

The Ultimate Speed Bump: There is no Escape

Sean Fallon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:20:00 EDT

While the city of Philadelphia is content with using 3D images to deter speeders, the authorities in ShanXi province, China are taking a far more drastic approach. They built a 100 foot long, 2 foot high, winding speed block smack dab in the middle of the Jing Zhuang highway. Sure, it scratches up cars, looks hideous and causes massive traffic jams, but hey—by screwing everyone it manages to screw the speeders. Suck on that leadfoot!

[HSW.cn via Weird Asia News via Neatorama]

Cheap Chinese Electronics May Not Be So Cheap Anymore

Jason Chen — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT

In part three of our impromptu exploration into the world of Chinese manufacturing and disassembly of our everyday electronics, we've got Slate's look into the current economic situation and why the era of super cheap goods from China could be over. Here's why: Chinese inflation.

We don't want to get into heavy economics, but here's what we can break Slate's take down to. Raw material costs are going up, the Chinese renminbi is appreciating, Chinese wages are going up, and importers' (the people who buy goods to sell to us) negotiating position are weakening.

What's even worse is that there's no suitable "next" China to take China's place in manufacturing cheap goods for us. This in turn means that sooner or later, "Made in China" will make the same transition "Made in Japan" did in the 1960s and 1970s, and will be less a sign of cheap, low-cost electronics, and just a sign that someone who looks like me built that DVD player you're using. No guarantees on whether or not they pantsed it, however. [Slate]