My Samsung S4, made in China, was obviously a fake right from the start. Against the advice of others, I used the phone, hoping it wouldn’t be as horrible as they, and articles on the net, described. As it turned out, I got so much more!
First, its Air Gestures feature taught me to never dwell on the past. When I swiped to the left, the e-book I’d be reading would turn to the next page — neat-o. But when I try to return to a previous page by swiping to the right, it would still turn to the next page. Soon, I was breezing through the books, and I could brag to my father that I wasn’t reading books “cover to cover” anymore!
My phone was also like my personal assistant, cutting me off whenever I started playing 2Fuse or Injustice so that I could get back to work on my projects and homework. Of course, even if I had nothing to do, my phone would still end these apps, or restart by itself. But I believe that it did these with good intentions.
One last thing about my S4: it would dial random numbers. My days turned interesting, with random texts and phone calls from people I haven’t texted for years: because they didn’t pick up my supposed “calls,” or they only heard the jangling keys in my pocket when they did. That’s keeping in touch in a much more effective way! Eventually I had to say goodbye to my dearest phone, after only two months of service, but only because it had stopped charging and wouldn’t turn on.
Kidding aside, I was, in fact, really outraged at the phone. It was a wonder that it had been used for two months. I hardly ever felt this way about a product before, and, surprising as it may seem, before the introduction of this phone into my life, I only regarded the “made in China” label as a colloquial term, much like how people would say, “in-Indian ako.”
I had no experience with Chinese products that were a hundred levels below standard, much like how I’ve never had an Indian ditch me before. There was once a timewhen I thought that Chinese products were the most sought after, from effective medicine to soft yet durable stuffed toys. However, just as I have grown, so did the rise of imitation of known brands, such as a sports store named “Adidsa” and “Boreo” cookies.
Now, I’m not saying all Chinese products are inferior and dubious. Nor will I use tricks to prove some sort of supremacy like saying “iPhones have the label ‘designed by Apple in California, assembled in China’, so it is technically made in China.”
What I’m saying is that the quality of Chinese products can be summarized in two words that Ateneans know all too well – it depends.
Despite the supposed abundance of substandard Chinese goods, there are still quite a lot of Chinese products today that can be considered as top tier. For example, my stuffed toys (Toothless, Mega Charizard, Mega Lucario if you must know) have been thrown around, bitten and chewed on, but every part and adornment is still intact. On a bigger scale (as if my stuffed toys weren’t enough), we have the widely known and sought after smartphone brand, Xiaomi – a brand that can compete with the Apple and the Samsung.
So you see, the made in China tag does not necessarily tarnish a product, nor does it elevate its status – it all depends on the product itself, and if you are quick to put the “dein” in “made in China”, then you, sir, will find yourself in a one way trip to the – oh wait, China also makes planes.
Written by Himig Marcos
Illustrated by Eliza Cua
