Wednesday, August 29, 2007 Ocampo: Gizmos from China! By Tek Ocampo News room
I AM fascinated with new technology coming out in the market. Yes. You can say I am a gizmo junky. I love searching and buying new gadgets available in stores as long as I can afford them. I buy them because I like them but not necessarily need them. There is a catch though; you spend a fortune for such an addiction. If you're not into it, I would not recommend it.
I have products from wireless remote controlled color video camera, 3G and PDA phones to sophisticated night vision goggles. I even bought a Korean brand wide flat High Definition TV. Sad to say, I can't fully appreciate the picture quality because our TV stations do not transmit digital signals. It will still take decades for our TV stations to broadcast digital quality pictures.
I used to buy branded products that are made in Japan, USA, Russia or any country but China. But then, I came to realize that almost every product in the market today is made in China. Just like my laptop computer, it's an American brand but made in China. The famous rubber sandals that got its name from a head of a crocodile are made in China. Chinese products are everywhere. They are invading every country in the world today.
And, because products that are made in China are cheap, most practical people buy them. That includes me, of course. But you have to watch out, a number of Chinese-made products were found not be unreliable and sometimes not safe at all.
In the Philippines, some food products from China were recently banned because they contain formalin. Formalin is a chemical used to preserve cadavers. In the States, millions of toys were ordered recalled because they were found dangerous for kids. They're either toxic or hazardous.
But, if you know how to choose what product to buy, you'll be surprised with the quality you are getting.
I am in the information business. Being a media practitioner, it is always an advantage if you have the necessary tools to keep you updated with information. That is why I have a PDA (personal digital assistant) phone that also serves as my wifi computer every time I need information on the internet. But, a brand new unit like mine would cost as much as a brand new laptop. Not really practical.
But now, I am putting my attention on a China-made PDA phone that has WAP and wifi capabilities, dual standby SIMS, 3-inch touch screen, 2-mega pixel camera with multi picture format, high quality video record and playback with multi music and video format, AV out, handwriting recognition, blue tooth, 256 MB internal memory, expandable memory up to 2 GB via mini SD card, USB flash disk, web camera, FM radio and among many other functions, it has a VHF and a UHF TV receiver. Yes, you can watch your favorite TV programs from virtually anywhere.
I am not joking! Its price is less than half of the branded products sold in the market today. It's even backed by a 3 to 6 month manufacturer's warranty.
Try to check the products you have right now, I bet if not all, most of them are made in China. You must be wondering why China is somehow competing with every major manufacturer in the world. It's because most the 1st world countries have their products made in China due to cheap labor. That's why it is not a remote possibility that some of these technologies may have leaked and now being copied.
I read an article on the net warning the makers of i-phone that by the time they will launch their product in 2008, the market would already be flooded with clone versions made from China. A cloned i-phone is now available on the net for just a fraction of the price of the famous brand.
Some would say cloned products are a threat to original manufacturing companies. But how come they are still being made and sold to the public? Clone products are everywhere. They even come with warranty cards. Computers are cloned, phones, even animals, are cloned. I would not want to venture in the legality or technicality of such trade. But to be among the consumers, I want to have a choice on what products to buy that is legally available in the market. And if by making such choice would give me the same quality and functions that I need from a product without having to spend a lot of money, I still believe it's practical to buy them. But, then again, it's still one's choice.
