27 August 2008

Foxconn's iPhone Girl

Something amusing this morning!

A 'beautiful mistake' on the Foxconn factory floor continues to generate interest around the world. A young woman working on iPhone factory line in Foxconn's Shenzhen factory had her picture take to test the phone. Apparently the phone was fine but the test personell forgot to delete the picture. Of course the picture was discovered in the UK when the new owner turned on his phone and posted about it online. This incident has spawned many stories. We quote the Sydney Morning Herald:

China's "human flesh search engine" is in hot pursuit of an unnamed Chinese factory worker after photographs of her showed up unexpectedly on a new iPhone 3G purchased recently in Britain.

In one of the photos, a young woman dressed in a pink striped factory uniform and wearing a matching white cap and rubber gloves, is seen smiling and flashing a "V" sign as she leans over an iPhone assembly line.

The photos were discovered by an iPhone user in Britain who promptly posted his find on the MacRumors forum, setting off a global chain reaction of media interest and culminating in the quest by Chinese internet users to discover her identity.

The term "human flesh search engine" refers to this type of mob reaction by China's so-called netizens (internet citizens) to pool their collective resources in order to track someone down.

The good news is neither the woman nor her boss were fired. She has recently been dubbed the "iPhone Girl" and her true identity is being pursued by what seems to be a fair plethora of Chinese netizens. She has asked her identity be kept secret.

Sydney Morning Herald: Net mob search for iPhone girl's identity

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