Back in July 2011 a story about a number of fake but extremely realistic Apple Stores in Kunming, China spread around the main western news outlets after an expat blogger posted photos of them online. The wide exposure of the story lead to Chinese officials shutting down a number of the offending copycats but what seems to have been missed in this story is that you can find similar fake stores all over China… Read more
As part of my job I need to visit Guangzhou in south China every so often (2 hours from Hong Kong by train) and on my last trip there I took the opportunity to venture further inland to Wuhan (武汉). Sitting slap bang at the intersection of many transport routes in the middle of Hubei province its an easy place to reach, and indeed I first visited back in 2007. Read more
A couple of weekends ago I attended DETOUR 2011, Hong Kong’s annual design, culture, and arts festival which was held at the former Police Married Quarters (PMQ / 前荷李活道已婚警察宿舍) on Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan. This year focused on the theme of “USELESS”, highlighting the impacts of irresponsible consumerism through a mix of exhibitions, performances, and forums. Read more
As anyone who’s read his biography will know, Steve Jobs was not particularly pleasant to the people around him (to put it lightly). Like it or not this seems to often be the case with people who end up in positions of power, but whatever his personality, his impact on the world was undoubtably immense. Read more
Walk into almost any shop. Regard the tacky watches, the rip-off tablets, the cheap radios, and the clothes that fall apart after the second time you wear them. Most products today have had little thought or care gone into their design, focusing on fashion over function and cost over quality. They are marketing-driven ploys which deceive the consumer into a never-ending cycle of designed obsolescence where the value of a product has become less about what it does and more about having the latest model. Read more