Just as iPad 2s are hard to come by in real life, so they are too in the afterlife, when it comes to honoring your ancestors. Chinese families in Malaysia are having a hard time finding paper replicas of the new iPad, with retailers offering other paper gadgets completely out of stock of Apple’s latest hot tablet.
During the Qingming festival, or tomb sweeping festival, families honor their ancestors by burning fake money or paper reproductions of luxury items such as cars or designer handbags. As Reuters reports, now high tech seems to be making the list. “Some of my customers have dreams where their departed relatives will ask for luxury items including the iPad 2. I can only offer them the first iPad model,” said prayer item shopkeeper Jeffrey Te. Also still in stock were iPhones and Samsung Galaxy Tabs.
Te ordered in 300 iPad 2 replicas from China specifically for the festival, but quickly ran out of stock. Selling for one dollar a piece, the iPad 2 were available in “888 GB” models, with the number eight signifying prosperity in Chinese culture.
Not all families are convinced that the dead need the latest hardware, however. One relative commented that “If you give all these so-called iPads, they don’t know how to use it. So traditionally we give them shoes, shirts… all the necessities.”
Perhaps the technology gap between the generations really is too wide, between this life and the next.
Article Via Reuters
