Princess Polly Ponderosa Penelope Peachfuzz

I'm currently reading "To Sail Beyond the Sunset - The life and loves of Maureen Johnson (Being the Memoirs of a Somewhat Irregular Lady)", and the title of this entry is the name of a cat in the book. Wonderful, no?

Also, are song titles becoming easier to forget? I know we've stopped buying albums and checking out cover jackets, but if you take a look at the file descriptions before you download, it takes me considerable effort to match songs with name.

Observations:

-Clubs built in parks seem to offer perks for: fresh air for drunkenness/scenarios for rape
-24 hour noodle shops near clubs are run by gangsters. And they like to put lots of MSG in their noodles.
-At night, the pedestrian countdown timers occasionally glitch and start counting up. I wonder if that's why I hear angry honking in the dead of night.
-There's a chinese/cantonese song called "Top Hits"...and it's a compilation song that combines roughly 40 bridges of popular songs. It takes about 10 minutes to sing the whole song, but it's still a cheap way to save time at a KTV. Sing that one song and get out. Now we just need someone to compile one annually.

Quote:

"We can't reach old age by another man's road. My habits protect my life, but they would assassinate you." - Mr. Clemens

Shanzhai: Hi-phone, Sumsung, Nckia

I was confused when my co-workers mentioned the "Shanzai" model of various technology. They explained it as local (pirated) versions of popular brands. And then New York Times wrote this article and it all makes sense.




http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/technology/28cell.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

So what's the solution to piracy here? Region lock? That gets broken really quickly, but there doesn't seem to be any other way for foreign brands to compete here. The market is obviously huge, but they're not even getting a scrap of their share with the prices they propose. I haven't seen one place that sells legitimate dvds, games, or comic books. Textbooks? The school buys one copy and everyone pays for the beautifully bound xerox copy.

Online games survive because there are hourly fees to be paid. Note: hourly, not monthly. No one believes in credit card prepayment here. You simply can't squeeze out a deposit from them. So unfortunately, if Blizzard hopes to make a dime in China, Battle.net will have to charge.

What it comes down to is that no one is willing to pay premium foreign prices here. Companies that recognize this and find optimal localization strategies will gain much deeper market penetration in the future.

Next topic: How Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut) is pulverizing all competitors in China.