Keepin' it real fake: Part VII - iPod ripoff says it loud and proud

It looks like somebody isn't trying very hard. Though we applaud the straight spelling of "iPod", shows real strength of character. And Apple thought they had a ripoff in the IOPS Jock.

[Per-Erik Broz @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Someone should hire a lawyer fast ;)

[rok @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

that takes real bawls

[Patrick @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Bootlegging and copyright infringement is normal par for the course in China. How are you going to sue somebody there? Good luck in Chinese court!

[SEAN @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

As a frequent traveller to China, this is not even a decent copy. Keep shopping for the 'real' quality copy. No IP hopes for now

[Prouted @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

This iPod looks so real... Who wants to buy a piece of sh*** like that ??? Really ???

[Alex C @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Is it really necessary to hire a lawyer for this case?

[rounder5253 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

At least this version has an FM tuner.

[Chi @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

First, it's not a decent copy like SEAN mentioned.

Second, let's take a deeper look into this: US companies like to outsource to foreign countries for a variety of reasons (the major one being reduced costs). Now if these products are being made aboard then would it surprise you that some shady characters take the plans for said product and then give them to a local factory for them to "R&D" (that's Rip off and Duplicate) and make similar ones?

Now the foreign manufacturing plants can churn out legitimate products for the world and illegitimate ones for their own use (and the rest of the world).

Thus, one can easily travel to the Pearl Market in Beijing, China and pick up a really good knock-off The North Face Denali jacket for a fraction of the retail cost stateside (Retails for $165). This principle can be said of almost all products made overseas whether it's an almost iPod clone to premier clothing to cell phones.

Solutions? Either bring back those jobs back stateside or incorporate proprietary pieces required for production and protect that like Fort Knox.

Granted it's pretty much a mouse and cat game between the Corporates and the Pirates. One innovates, the other duplicates for the masses.

"Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me..."

[o0adam0o @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

You have to be retarded or live in some third world country hidden from the technology with no communication, to confuse this with an ipod....and if you were in either of these situations, you probably wouldnt care for one anyways.

People buy the fakes because they are CHEAPER....not because they think its the real deal...unless its a real stolen one, people that buy these cheap fakes would not get a real ipod....so i say not that much money is lost...cost them more to sue than money actually lost

[Alfredo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I think it is a great copy - the screen even looks scratched!

[Goodman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Even in the states a lot of people seem to think that iPod is a generic term for an MP3 player. (It's one reason their market share is so high.) So I'm not surprised at the word iPod being proudly emblazoned on a knock-off.

[o0adam0o @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I agree with #10....my friend asked me to help her choose an ipod to listen to music...she showed me one she liked and it turns out it wasnt an ipod...she thought thats what they all were called...lol!

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

What's that clear stuff around it in the photo? It looks like ice. Was this thing discovered in a glacier? Maybe it's a prehistoric ancestor of the modern iPod.

[funetik @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

At least if you get a fake, the pc probably picks it up as external storage and you won't need to use itunes.

[JL @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

#10, sadly you are correct...

I've been asked more than a few times if I have an iPod.. I tell them no, but i do have (i use both) a mp3/digital audio player...

[DM @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Well, atleast it can record...something the real ipod is still figuring out how to....bleh

[brian welch @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

oh that's hilarious - i just got back from China a couple days ago and saw these. i was cracking up at this guy (it's tiny - like 2.5"x1.5") that is certainly not an ipod with the name emblazoned all over it.

perhaps the best part is when you boot it up, there's a little apple in the middle of the screen just like an ipod.

i'm sure they'll try to squash it, but hey. imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? heh.

[Poster @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Uhm, how do you know it can record? You don't. How do you know that it even works? You don't. Comment #8 has it nailed, though. This stuff will continue to happen as long as stuff is created overseas and imported to the U.S. by U.S. manufacturers. And oh, you wondered about the QC issues? Another "gift" from outsourcing that hits us from physical items to code (I've seen the latter in action).

[Petersrule @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I live in Beijing. I have bought some of these cheap mp3 players. They are crap. Someone just put IPOD of there crappy mp3 player then sold it. "You get what you pay for" rings truer here than in America. Don't worry too much about these cheap ripoffs. I don't think in reality companies are losing much if any money at all to these stupid ripoffs. People who buy the ripoffs usually don't ever have enough money to buy the real thing or they would. People here know the difference between real and fake.

[Bud @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Wait until WalMart gets ahold of these ...
Buy American -
Most of their customers cannot even read, so when WalMart "associates" point the way to the "iPod" display -
"Damn - that's Cheap" -
Merry Christmas to the stupid.

[Ben Rowe @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

"with a twist of lime"

lime? yuck!

I was thinking more like moose testicals