Who knew tech talk could be so sassy? A Taiwanese news report insinuating Chinese blue collar workers are too poor to afford home computers has, predictably, ruffled a few feathers.

The story, posted by Sina News Video, involves an August 6th discussion between the television host and a computer expert about smart phone trends in mainland China. The interview appears relatively harmless, until the computer expert is asked to explain the mainland popularity of smartphones, particularly as a device used to access the Internet. That’s when this little gem of an exchange occurred:

Computer expert:
The poverty gap is especially wide on the mainland, and some people at the blue collar level aren’t able to purchase personal computers.

Host:
Using a phone to surf the internet is cheaper, and so has become popularized with the mainland public.

If you read that comment as an insinuation that “Chinese mainlanders can’t afford computers because they are poor”, you’re not the only one.

The reaction to this story has been swift as many mainland Chinese were apparently very hurt by the comments.

Here is a taste of the uproar:

山海外传：
Not worthy of being called the same people. Both mainland and Taiwan experts are good at farting!

少华-CH7：
Haha, nowadays every household in every village has a computer.

P木佬简直了：
A (laptop) computer only costs three to four thousand yuan, while a smart phone requires five to six thousand yuan.

小强James：
Citizens of Taipei like to show off the limits of their IQ.

周文杰GOOD：
As yours truly, esq, can’t even afford to buy a tea egg, what’s the point of bringing up computers and phones?

天马洋一：
That man is an alien.

静默之痕：
I’m guessing that many of these comments have been misled. Please take another look at the video! [sweat.emo]

We last saw a number of overly sarcastic comments in China after one person in Taiwan suggested that many mainlanders are too poor to purchase a tea egg.