I once dated a girl named Amy - I bet she’d like the new Amy Phone from a group in China who admires Samsung so much that they practically copy Samsung’s design. Only Samsung calls this the AnyPhone - not sure why this name is better than the Chinese version..

The Chinese are able to produce their fakes for a fraction of the cost - trampling intellectual property on the way - and get their products to market quickly. I guess that’s the result of a well educated and very hungry workforce with all the required raw materials and manufacturing facilities.

It seems that the Chinese are really good at making copies of successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) products. My parents went on a two week tour of China recently and my dad picked up a Rolex watch for less than $2 US. Not bad. Back at home they cost quite a bit more.

A few months ago I was on a flight from Chicago to Washington DC and had the pleasure of meeting Joe Allbaugh. He told me he was a farmer from Oklahoma, which is evidentally true. He was also the head of FEMA a few years ago and oversaw the 9/11 relief efforts in New York and Washington after the terrible terrorist bombs there. I was talking to Joe about the high price of oil and how it has given oil-rich countries an unfair economic advantage that I feel will go away as new sources of power become more important. (Incidentally most of these oil-rich countries have failed their people miserably - take Saudi Arabia and Venezuela for example - one exception is Norway. A few years ago they had a national referendum to decide how to invest the country’s oil money. They were talking about splitting it between programs for the elderly and education…)

Anyway, my flight to Chicago took a long time to get off the ground and Mr. Allbaugh came back to my seat and handed me the book The World in Flat by Thomas Friedman. I read a good part of it on that business trip. Basically Friedman is saying that with the chnages in communication and technology people all over the world have more of the same opportunities as people in the west have. Back to China - if they keep at it and perhaps learn to be proactive instead of reactive - they will be the major player in technology manufacturing within 10 years.