IPhone 6: The Sexiest, Most Insightful iPhone Ever

To 炒 or not to 炒, that is the question.

From the moment I knew IPhone 6/6 Plus were up for grabs, my world has changed completely. I believe things I would not have believed just a week or two ago.

First, came the shock.

I was reading the news one morning. It had hit main news.

What? China blocking iPhone sales for national security reasons?

Next came the price estimates. Rationally, I knew it was highly lucrative and you really couldn't lose. Emotionally, I felt it was kind of wrong in some way. I'm sure many minds have gone through this cognitive dissonance.

Is it moral? Is it OK?

I argue that it is not only moral and rational, but a great thing to do... on 2 reasons.

• Why are we even doing this? Because the Chinese authorities has decided that if it says iPhones are banned, then people will stop wanting them. This in itself is immoral, because seizure, fines and detention violates the IoF criteria.
• The simple law of supply and demand requires that prices go up when demand far outgrows supply.
• Providing goods that the market wants and you will get a reward. This is a moral thing to do.
• Defying immorality is part of being moral. 

Non-religious folk seem to be very happy with the opportunity to make a quick and significant buck. The Christians I know are somewhat divided. 

The Pro Camp

• It has nothing to do with sin. (Kind of weak. What if you can look at it as a god-given opportunity?)

The Anti Camp

• Greed!!! You people are greedy!!!
• Idol-worshippers!!! Arrr!
• Be content with what you have.
• Boycott FoxConn!!!

Perhaps the most fun I've had, besides having a go at the iPhone draws and speed contests, is convincing people with hang-ups that the situation is simply not due to some flaw in "human nature" (eg. Greed, envy, idol-worship) but an entirely reasonable response to an unreasonable market barrier. And as for FoxConn, I think the Anti(s) have a point, although Foxconn does seem to make too many electronics to effectively avoid.

For the hardliners though, I reserved a joke I remember from long ago...

A priest is trapped on a roof with a few other people by a flood. The water is rising fast. 

A boat floats past. 

"Get onboard", the skipper says.

"No, I am waiting for God to save me.", the priest signs and prays.

Eventually, it gets too dangerous and the boat leaves with the other survivors.

A lifeline is thrown.

"Hook onto it and let's go!", the firefighters shout, across the raging floodwaters.

"No, I am waiting for God to save me.", the priest signs and prays.

The firefighters move on.

A helicopter swoops in.

"Get in the basket and we'll winch you to safety!", the loudspeakers boomed a pilots voice.

"No, I am waiting for God to save me. I'm sure he will come", the priest signs and prays.

The helicopter move on to other cases.

Soon after, the roof collapses and the priest is swept away, dies and goes to heaven. 
The priest asks God, "Why didn't you come?? :(". God replies, "I did. I sent the boat, lifeline and helicopter."

Moment of Truth

It was always a game to me. Up until the moment when I somehow became the first person in my office to successfully places orders, it was all fun and suspense. Then it happened, and I realized I had to make a choice. Looking side to side and realizing how lucky I was to get in so quickly, I decided to go through with the order and check it all out.

Envy

Envy...it's all over the place. You try posting good results on your whatsapp peer group and people will start getting envious. I have felt that too.

Envy is a pretty composite emotion. It's partly just being happy for the other person and partly jealous. It's cognitive dissonance. Envy is the unconscious awareness of discrepancy and dissonance between self and "other" even though "other" is more a fantasy than a real person. 

Envy arises when one compares oneself to others. That leads to a few questions...

• Why compare yourself to others?
• What can you learn from having this envy?

The first question has an obvious answer - insecurity. You are not sure you will get what you need. This could be due to past experience and various beliefs one holds about money and life.

The second question is more open-ended. I learnt a few things. 

I learnt that I had subconscious lobby groups that felt I was not being pro-active enough. (I never intended to buy any in the beginning.) At the critical moment of iPhone6 or iPhone6Plus, I went for the iPhone6s 16GB. It turned out very well, actually.

I learnt I had been assimilated into HK young culture... from the first day of HKUST, I felt there was a lot of "beat your peers", "beat the mean!". When I felt I was falling behind, it made me feel envy. Envy leads to more envy.

I learnt that I could be more decisive and play the game harder.

I learnt that there are way more rational, clever people out there.

To Conclude

When God gives you iPhones, make your iProfit!

Cheers!