Software

Like the movies that you can buy for 4 rmb on the street corner, most software comes from a dao ban die – pirated disk. An operating system or new virus software is about 15-20 rmb usually, but I was trying to find zhen ban – the non-pirated version. After asking around Computer City I found someone selling the authorized version of XP Pro…for two thousand rmb. Yes, one hundred times the street price and about level with an average person’s monthly salary here. Perhaps a local could bargain for more of a discount than I managed, but no wonder nobody buys the real stuff.