A Peek Inside the Knock-Off Gadget Market
We’ve all read about fake iPhones and iPads. Maybe we’ve even seen a few. But the news of fake Apple Stores springing up all over China would be funny — except it isn’t, especially for consumers.
The thing about these fake Apple stores (in August authorities found 22 of them in the Chinese city of Kunming, alone) is that they look a lot like the real ones in the U.S.A. or Europe: White and shiny, filled with products, manned by young people wearing aqua t-shirts even sporting the trademark Apple lanyards. Who knows whether the customers who visited these retailers knew they were being ripped off? Chinese authorities shut the stores down quickly — there are copyright laws in China and trade agreements, after all – but fake Apple stores keep popping up.
The Goods on the Goods
For years, guys with tables full of leather goods that look a lot like the ones in high-end stores — and even sport what seem to be genuine brand stamps — have been selling their knock-off items on busy street corners around the world. Using cheap materials and shoddy workmanship, knock-off factories rake in the bucks from consumers eager to own a bit of luxe. And many of these customers know they’re buying a fake, but they don’t care.
Stevie Wonder's Songs In the Key Of Life revisited on its 35th anniversary ...
By late 1974, Wonder was seriously considering leaving the music business altogether. He expressed his disdain with the way the United States was conducting its affairs in Ghana. As a result, he made a conscious decision to emigrate to Ghana to begin working with handicapped children in the country. A farewell concert was in the works until Wonder decided to resume his recording career by signing the most lucrative contract for an artist during that time. His record deal was reportedly worth $37 million and he received full artistic control over his work.Coming off winning Album of the Year Awards from the Grammy’s in 1974 and 1975 for “Innervisions” and “Fulfillingness’ First Finale,” the mass hysteria surrounding this album was at an all-time high. For the whole of 1975, Wonder began recording his eighteenth album while on the road performing concerts and in various studios. Meanwhile, he found new members to fill slots in his newly revised Wonderlove band.
During this juncture, he also utilized the vocal talents of a young Deniece Williams, Minnie Riperton, Susaye Green, the late great harp playing skills of Dorothy Ashby and percussionist Bobbye Hall. The album had 130 different contributors and the infusion of youth helped to keep the creative juices flowing throughout the recording process. Together, Wonder and his Wonderlove band held legendary recording sessions at Crystal Sound Studios, The Record Plant and The Hit Factory Studios. The original release date for the album was Halloween of 1975, but Wonder felt the album needed more fine tuning.
As a woman whose friends have showered her with cakes festooned in expletives and T-shirts bearing the image of Monty Python's indomitable Black Knight, I can testify that the real Big C -- just like "50/50" -- is both a three-hanky weeper and a total
So you have to wonder about the woman in North Texas who purchased a box saying it had an iPad in it from some guys in a parking lot, and then nearly got run over by them when she had second thoughts. Police called-in on such cases have been amused
Due to the insatiable craving for new music from Wonder, Motown seized the opportunity to capitalize on the public's fervent desire by selling “We're Almost Finished” T-Shirts. The culmination of a two year musical journey came to fruition when the
In the brief mini-doc before their performance, we learned that Todd, who bears a slight resemblance to Mark Ruffalo, has been getting amusing t-shirts made. How amusing! They danced to "Fire" by Raghav, and it was no more or less terrible than
