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A comment on Chinese boy sells kidney to buy an iPad 2. Parent comment

Re:Chinese boy sells kidney to buy an iPad 2 by lebug on Thursday June 02, 2011 @01:35PM (#2612992)
$3400 is only A LOT of money in a poor rural area if it is spent on local, non-traded goods: the consumption value of an iPad 2 is roughly the same in rural China and in NYC. If anything, it may be far lower in the poorer country due to lack of complementing infrastructure.

It actually makes me think that the iPad 2 part of the story may be entirely fictional: perhaps the kid made it up in order to seek publicity and attention.

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Re:Chinese boy sells kidney to buy an iPad 2 by AllenKids on Thursday June 02, 2011 @02:18PM (#2613214)
You are right, iPad is practically useless without WiFi. Still iPad/iPhone are just THE ITEMS to have in China. People in Asia are capable of crazy things for shiny gadgets they can wipe out and show off. Don't underestimate the lust. Especially in a case I think we can both agree is not rational to begin with.
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