[quote author=“quantman”]
One cannot make fun of an entire city or a country,  simply because that city or that country has problems within them. These problems; abject poverty in India, or the problems with Detroit cars or people there, is not something that is humorous, in the context of Apple.

But not everybody *knows* the problems in other areas and therefore everybody can make inadvertent offending comments based on topics or basic knowledge. For example the thing I know about Detroit is that was there where the modern automotive industry began, I didn’t know that there were currently wealth or economic problems in the area, so I could have exactly the same comment about Ferraris in Detroit without never figuring out that it could be interpreted in a bad way.

I would like to add to this, that I also felt offended when someone linked Spanish culture items and language to me, in an evident exhibition of lack of knowledge of what being Catalan is. In spite of it, I omitted any negative reply because I understood such lack of knowledge. Therefore I swallowed *kind* Spanish expressions, and assumptions that I could cook Spanish tapas or paella, or go bullfighting and so on.

So I think a better way to let others know that you might have felt annoyance or resentment is by replying in a positive way, trying to subtly counteract the offensive post with opposite views and reasonings.

[quote author=“Tommo_UK”]Quant, longer-term India is going to be as big of an influence on the world economy as China, but short-term while there is indeed a lot of wealth there, the gap between rich and poor, and the pooling of that wealth in columns towering above a sea of poverty, is immense. India is an incredibly disorganised and corrupt country and a bureaucratic disaster story with a creaking, Dickensian legal system and a paralysed executive unable to devise a truly strategic approach to developing the country’s economy.

What progress there is in India is driven by incredibly entrepreneurial individuals and business people in spite of the Indian government, and not because of it. For the country to truly prosper - and offer a ready, willing market for expensive Apple products - it must undergo a sea-change in its government, and in its attitudes towards its own citizens.

Not to mention dropping the quite incredible import taxes for foreign goods.

But yes, given the enormous population and burgeoning gadget-hungry middle classes, the iPod should hit the ground running where its available.

I believe I know the country, its challenges and problems quite well; and I agree with everything you have said 100%.

[quote author=“carbonat”] I swallowed *kind* Spanish expressions, and assumptions that I could cook Spanish tapas or paella, or go bullfighting and so on.

Carbonat, paella may have strong roots in Spain, but its also a traditional Catalan dish, surely? That’s why I referenced it yesterday

Sure you guys have seen that. I am surprised that Apple totally excludes customers that don’t live in the U.S., although I don’t think there are too many yet.

UPDATE: Apple Begins Offering iPhone Credit >AAPL

Some iPhones won’t qualify for the credit, including ones registered to people with addresses outside the U.S., according to terms Apple made public Friday. An Apple representative wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Plato, the iPhone was sold with a clear commitment to sign-up to AT&T for 2 years. If a buyer didn’t sign up to AT&T as stipulated, then I don’t see why Apple should offer the rebate.

[quote author=“Tommo_UK”][quote author=“carbonat”] I swallowed *kind* Spanish expressions, and assumptions that I could cook Spanish tapas or paella, or go bullfighting and so on.

Carbonat, paella may have strong roots in Spain, but its also a traditional Catalan dish, surely? That’s why I referenced it yesterday

Well, depends. Paella is indeed a Valencian dish. Some Catalans consider the old kingdom of Valencia as being part of the “Catalan Countries” but Valencians, however, openly dislike being considered as Catalans or belonging to any of the Catalan culture aspects. So, actually, paella is not properly a Catalan cuisine dish. It has been widely adopted as a typical Spanish disk though. Paella, as well as Tapas, can be found in Catalonia only in touristic places but they are not normally offered in *normal* restaurants. This dishes are not part of our culture, though we have a variant called “arrÑ‚s a la cassola”, which has more sauce than Paella. The link I posted about “esqueixada” shows a quite comprehensive set of Catalan gastronomy with photos. Enjoy!

[quote author=“Plato”]Sure you guys have seen that. I am surprised that Apple totally excludes customers that don’t live in the U.S., although I don’t think there are too many yet.

Well, I didn’t really *want* the credit, but I guess I’ll *take* it.    My 7 year old wants a touch for xmas.    I wonder if they can be combined?  My husband will be getting a credit as well.

[quote author=“carbonat”][quote author=“Tommo_UK”][quote author=“carbonat”] I swallowed *kind* Spanish expressions, and assumptions that I could cook Spanish tapas or paella, or go bullfighting and so on.

Carbonat, paella may have strong roots in Spain, but its also a traditional Catalan dish, surely? That’s why I referenced it yesterday

Paella, as well as Tapas, can be found in Catalonia only in touristic places but they are not normally offered in *normal* restaurants. This dishes are not part of our culture

Well that’ll teach me to try to be culturally-sensitive. Next time I’ll just be downright rude and be done with it

Fair enough. I just remembered the time before I decided to live in the U.S., I did a lot of business in the states but did not have a permanent address here. I could imagine that if the iPhone would have been available at that time, and as a huge Apple fan, I might have bought one and also signed up for the AT&T contract. So I guess I wouldn’t have qualified for the credit - not that I would have really cared that much, just hypothetical!

Fair enough. I just remembered the time before I decided to live in the U.S., I did a lot of business in the states but did not have a permanent address here. I could imagine that if the iPhone would have been available at that time, and as a huge Apple fan, I might have bought one and also signed up for the AT&T contract. So I guess I wouldn’t have qualified for the credit - not that I would have really cared that much, just hypothetical!

Well, AT&T has an official policy of not offering service to anyone who is not a US resident and who doesn’t have a US address, so even then, strictly speaking, you’d be ineligible. Of course it doesn’t really matter where you live, so long as you have an activated iPhone on AT&T, because the voucher isn’t sent to your home address but instead to your iPhone via SMS. You then enter the SMS on Apple’s special iPhone rebate page, and it then provides you with a voucher you can print out with a code. So if you activated your iPhone using a fake address and a bogus social security number to get the pre-paid GoPhone plan, you can still get the rebate even if you live in Timbuktu - providing your AT&T account is still active and your iPhone can receive SMS messages sent to your AT&T number.

[quote author=“Plato”]Sure you guys have seen that. I am surprised that Apple totally excludes customers that don’t live in the U.S., although I don’t think there are too many yet.

UPDATE: Apple Begins Offering iPhone Credit >AAPL

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I can’t find this anywhere on the website. Do you know where? I just spent several minutes on the iphone part of the site and also iphone support. This kind of thing makes me annoyed.

BTW, I’m surpised the 4GB model (of which AAPL did not make very many in the first place) are still not sold out at $299. Go figure!

Wow Tommo, I am impressed!  Is there anything you don’t know about Apple and their products? Thx, learned something new.

Btw, I didn’t live in Timbuktu, I lived in Bamako, just around the corner of Timbuktu. 

[quote author=“quantman”]

I can’t find this anywhere on the website. Do you know where? I just spent several minutes on the iphone part of the site and also iphone support. This kind of thing makes me annoyed.

BTW, I’m surpised the 4GB model (of which AAPL did not make very many in the first place) are still not sold out at $299. Go figure!

here

[quote author=“quantman”][quote author=“Plato”]Sure you guys have seen that. I am surprised that Apple totally excludes customers that don’t live in the U.S., although I don’t think there are too many yet.

UPDATE: Apple Begins Offering iPhone Credit >AAPL

(

I can’t find this anywhere on the website. Do you know where? I just spent several minutes on the iphone part of the site and also iphone support. This kind of thing makes me annoyed.

BTW, I’m surpised the 4GB model (of which AAPL did not make very many in the first place) are still not sold out at $299. Go figure!

I just happened to be looking at this.

iPhone credit shown on the Apple home page - lower left corner.

4gig iPhones for $299 under the Clearance section of the Apple Online Store.

Edit - make that 4 gig iPhones not iPods

[quote author=“Plato”]Wow Tommo, I am impressed!  Is there anything you don’t know about Apple and their products? Thx, learned something new.
Btw, I didn’t live in Timbuktu, I lived in Bamako, just around the corner of Timbuktu. 

Unfortunately I’m painfully well-informed with regard to AT&T’s policies in this matter as I had an argument with one of their VPs about their attitude to non-resident customers, or rather their insistence on cutting them off