Hey, has my state of California become its own country or something? "Designed in California. Assembled in China?" Huh?
There are a few of possibilites here.
First, the more innocuous one. The phrase "Designed in California" gives an air of hip/posh/cutting-edge that can be marketed to non-US consumers. To many abroad, anything "Califrornia" conjures images of high-tech, Baywatch, Saved By The Bell, 90210 cool. (Non-Americans: nobody really uses California in that way over here. California is pretty much a big joke to non-Californians. I've lived on the East-Coast, Midwest, and in Europe. That's the truth.)
Second, maybe closer to what's going on here. Imagine if it said "Designed in the USA. Assembled in China." One, to non-US America-haters, that sound like "THOSE ELITIST AMERICAN B ASTARDS! THEY BRAG ABOUT EVERYTHING!" Saying "California" instead of "USA" takes the edge off, since to many non-Americans, California is almost not even part of the USA.
Third, if it only said, "Made in China," then a lot of snobs in the US wouldn't buy it. "What ME buy a little toy that was MADE IN CHINA? EEEHWWW!" Show me almost any computer product that isn't "Designed in the USA" and "Assembled in China." Isn't that just about everything these days?
If I were a non-American, I'd actually find this phrase a little elitist. It comes down to the whole notion of "design" (say that in a foo-foo snob accent) versus "assembly" (say that with a nasal tone and scrunch up your nose). When I read that, I could just as easly interpret that to mean "California is where all the high-flying design comes from. California is where the brains and imagination comes from. China is just where the cheap labor is where they can put these things together for $2 a pop.
I don't know. I'm new to all this fancy gadgetry. I usually buy the cheapest gadget that gets the job done. I just wanted to get the mini to see what all the hype was about.
There are a few of possibilites here.
First, the more innocuous one. The phrase "Designed in California" gives an air of hip/posh/cutting-edge that can be marketed to non-US consumers. To many abroad, anything "Califrornia" conjures images of high-tech, Baywatch, Saved By The Bell, 90210 cool. (Non-Americans: nobody really uses California in that way over here. California is pretty much a big joke to non-Californians. I've lived on the East-Coast, Midwest, and in Europe. That's the truth.)
Second, maybe closer to what's going on here. Imagine if it said "Designed in the USA. Assembled in China." One, to non-US America-haters, that sound like "THOSE ELITIST AMERICAN B ASTARDS! THEY BRAG ABOUT EVERYTHING!" Saying "California" instead of "USA" takes the edge off, since to many non-Americans, California is almost not even part of the USA.
Third, if it only said, "Made in China," then a lot of snobs in the US wouldn't buy it. "What ME buy a little toy that was MADE IN CHINA? EEEHWWW!" Show me almost any computer product that isn't "Designed in the USA" and "Assembled in China." Isn't that just about everything these days?
If I were a non-American, I'd actually find this phrase a little elitist. It comes down to the whole notion of "design" (say that in a foo-foo snob accent) versus "assembly" (say that with a nasal tone and scrunch up your nose). When I read that, I could just as easly interpret that to mean "California is where all the high-flying design comes from. California is where the brains and imagination comes from. China is just where the cheap labor is where they can put these things together for $2 a pop.
I don't know. I'm new to all this fancy gadgetry. I usually buy the cheapest gadget that gets the job done. I just wanted to get the mini to see what all the hype was about.