Casey Neistat is a long time self-professed Apple nerd and documentary filmmaker. His latest effort involves the cultural change in the lines of people waiting overnight for new Apple product, a sea change from the early days of Apple fanatics, to the current lineups populated (at least in the case of these Manhattan Apple Stores) by people trying to make a buck.

At first blush, this was a little hard to take. It seemed like victimization, pure and simple. But then I read this piece by Dave Aiello.

I think what’s important to note about this film is that the issue is not Apple’s worldwide product release method at all. At most, the resale activity Neistat depicts represents a side-effect of the failure of the Chinese state regulatory agencies to approve the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in a timely manner. These regulatory agencies include agencies like the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and collectively function as the equivalent of our Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and perhaps our Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

I would argue that, in an effort to show that they control the Chinese smartphone market and Apple does not, these agencies delayed approval of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus beyond Apple’s planned worldwide release date. By doing so, they created a situation where a graymarket of epic proportions could redevelop overnight. This graymarket may now be exploited in the fashion described in the film.

The only thing I’m really sorry about with respect to this film is that the filmmaker chose to highlight the Chinese people standing in line in New York as if they’re victims being exploited by criminals from China who are referred to as “Chinese mafia”. (Some people also call use of the term “Chinese mafia” racist.) I imagine that the people who waited in line made enough of a profit on resale of the iPhones they purchased to justify their time standing in line.

In this case, one person’s criminal is another person’s street-level entrepreneur.

Watch the video, embedded below. Some good food for thought. [via Seth Weintraub of 9to5mac]