The Null Device

2003/9/4

Postmodern ironies aplenty here: In the manufacturing countries, manufacturing of fake designer clothing has overtaken the legitimate manufacture of such items. Not only that, but the knockoffs are often of superior quality to the legitimate products; oh, and since they're made in the largest quantities, they are often the cheapest clothing on the market. Somewhere in the third world, a slum-dweller is wearing a pair of Levi's better than the one you forked over $100 for.

She had bought herself jeans in Bolivia which were as good as those she could buy anywhere else. "In fact, they are not replicas at all but originals designed for the local market but with a designer label included because otherwise they would not sell," Dr Laurie said.
She had watched a young man operating a laptop computer from a car battery in a tin shack while he downloaded logos from the internet, traced them, and began manufacturing designer labels for local factories.

All this probably also ties into the perils of commodification which have been eating everybody from SCO to the RIAA alive.

china commodification consumerism fake irony knockoff 1

France stands up to EMI; a French court orders EMI to issue refunds to customers whose "Copy Controlled" CDs didn't play in their car CD players or computers. Contrast this with the Vegemite-Eating Surrender Monkeys' capitulation to the Recording Racket on the same issue.

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Shauna's in Reykjavík. Lucky Shauna...

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Mini-ITX is a recent standard for miniature PC motherboards. Each is about the size of a 7" single, typically uses little power (often not needing a fan), and has everything from Ethernet to video to the obligatory USB and FireWire on the board. People have been using them to build all sorts of projects, from battery-operated Linux-powered robots to DIY consumer electronics, to modern PCs embedded in everything from bakelite radios to Commodore 64s.

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