• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

How a snack protects Taiwan’s tech - how magic continues to thrive in the technologically-advanced nation

SilentPanda

SilentPanda

Member
Nov 6, 2017
13,737
Earth
A savory snack has become all the rage with Taiwan's IT crowd because they believe it can bewitch wayward tech — whether disobedient desk top computers, intractable servers or ill-mannered ATMs.

Green bags of coconut butter-flavored Kuaikuai (乖乖) are the go-to prophylactic because they possess magical power that ensures machines won't break down.

"Everyone in the IT industry uses them to protect our high tech, especially servers and hard drives," he says. "You only need to replace them when their expiry date runs out."

And what was once a geek subculture has today gone mainstream — there is even a Wikipedia entry for it called "Kuaikuai culture" (乖乖文化). Researchers at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institute, for example, place bags of Kuaikuai in their labs; nurses tape them to respirators and other life-saving devices to ensure that they don't break down; and museums place them next to sound systems so that announcements will go off without a hitch.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Kuaikuai's success as a protector of tech stems from its seamless integration of a variety of existing folk beliefs and practices that encapsulate many quintessentially Taiwanese phenomena: convenience in a country whose export economy relies on high-tech and whose citizens believe in the potency of magic as expressed by the common practice of sourcing talismans and amulets from temples for protection and good luck. When a temple's deity earns a reputation as having power, mainstream and social media disseminate this news, boosting the temple's popularity in a feedback loop.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

From yellow strips of paper emblazoned with magical spells to hard-boiled eggs dyed pink and emblazoned with pingan (平安, "peace"), the tradition of visiting a temple and returning home with talismans to protect ancestors and descendants is also an ancient practice. Kuaikuai is a textbook example of how folk traditions evolve as they are passed down from generation to generation.

Up until the end of World War II, Taiwan was a mostly agricultural society, tied to the land and hearth, with temples serving as the center of the community. The 21st century sees most Taiwanese in urban centers sitting in front of a desk and working away on a computer, so it seems natural that agrarian folk practices such as procuring amulets and talismans from temples to protect family and farm, would evolve into the commercialization of the practice in the form of buying a bag of Kuaikuai from a convenience store to protect tech.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's difficult to exaggerate how common the practice is. It doesn't matter if you are a legislator, a police officer, a scientist or a businesswoman, there is a shared understanding within Taiwanese society that the snack possesses magic.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

www.taipeitimes.com

How a snack protects Taiwan\'s tech - Taipei Times

Bringing Taiwan to the World and the World to Taiwan
www.taipeitimes.com www.taipeitimes.com

There are some rule though.

For machine, use only green, since green is go, don't use yellow for machine, it'll break~
Yellow is good for money type and red is for love relationship so mothers day or valentine

The main thing is it's name.
乖 translates into english would be well behaved or obiedient
乖乖 together is a word that is used often on children or pet to be good, when their misbehaving.
It's also a popular thing to bring to a disobedient child, if you aren't nice, you don't get one.

Like the TSMC packaging is a word play 出包 is make mistake.

but 一包 is also bag.

So the TSMC package translation is.
您 一 包 , 我 一包 (You get a bag, I get a bag)
機械乖乖不出包 (Machine is well behave, and not make mistake)

1109e992080242ac110002.jpg


Train
28516266_1614100708685427_9116377704269023066_o.jpg


Police station
106806-XXL.jpg

p13-201119-photo4.jpg

www.setn.com

有「擺」有保庇？交通隊放5包綠色乖乖　讓死亡車禍絕跡 | 科技 | 三立新聞網 SETN.COM

許多人愛吃的零食「乖乖」竟然也有「護身符」功能？雲林縣虎尾分局交通小隊辦公室，一踏入馬上看到5包綠色的「乖乖」拍成一列，它們可不是員警們的下午茶，而是身兼要職負責守護當地行車安全的「守護神」，所以是不可以吃下肚的；據說就有名警官嘴饞吃掉一包，翌日竟在當地就發生死亡車禍，讓人不得不相信其「神力」，更特別的是，一定要綠色包裝的才有效果呢！
www.setn.com www.setn.com

Facemask factory
d4845176.jpg

www.ettoday.net

獨／火力支援12萬人海捐口罩援外！直擊國家隊「日產230萬片」順時中：不斷電撐到底 | ETtoday生活新聞 | ETtoday新聞雲

國內口罩產能日漸提升，繼政府口罩外交獲得熱烈迴響後，現在也開放個人捐贈口罩，不過還是有民眾質疑，國內自己都領不夠了，哪有多餘的口罩可以做捐贈？《ETtoday新聞雲》實地走訪淨新口罩工廠，了解機台置產過程。總經理許哲銘驕傲地表示：「我們現在每日產量是排名全國第二！」
www.ettoday.net www.ettoday.net

VOLETARIUM -Europa Park- in Germany
AWKNSPLVX53PBPHJAS23NQWD6M.jpg

N4DAJXFIAFN7GJXR26SR2BVPGA.jpg


tw.appledaily.com

歐洲最大飛行劇院開幕　台灣「乖乖」意外吸睛｜蘋果新聞網｜蘋果日報

智崴（5263）與德國最大、歐洲第2大的遊樂園EUROPA PARK（歐洲主題樂園）」合作推出全歐洲最大的飛行劇院「VOLETARIUM」將於6月3日正式開幕，在開幕記者會上，來自台灣的「乖乖」也被舞台的正中央，主持人特別介紹這種傳統台灣零食放在機器旁邊會保祐機器「乖乖的」，引起現場200多名來自德、法等各國媒體的好奇，意外成為記者會的小插曲。 EUROPA...
tw.appledaily.com tw.appledaily.com


News office
d3157137.jpg


University robot/research thing
ayka7jf4141458.jpg


Server room(From university to government to bank)
Vjhxcrn.jpg

01.jpg


Bank ATM
photo.php


TSMC internal employee use
vecKqc6l3343604.jpg
 
Last edited:

Shuckle

Member
Mar 30, 2018
414
Can you find this in US Asian grocery stores or online? We have a bunch of machines that break down all the time. It would be fun to have.
 
Brawndo Addict

Brawndo Addict

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,348
Praise the Omnissiah. The Machine God requires sacrifices to cleanse unruly Machine Spirits from existence. We must begin the Rites of Repair.
 

Imperfected

Member
Nov 9, 2017
11,737
That is... dumber than anticipated.

But given the number of people I know who think oujia boards are a thing, I guess not really that surprising.
 
smurfx

smurfx

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,578
watch somebody put the bag on top of a series x and have it die due to overheating.
 
Jom

Jom

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,490
I ate so many bags of these as a kid. And they used to have a little toy inside each bag.
 
DarthSpider

DarthSpider

The Fallen
Nov 15, 2017
2,957
Hiroshima, Japan
I assume this is more tradition/formality than people actually believing that this snack has magical properties? Either way, it would be nice to be an IT guy who is never more than a few feet from a bag of snacks. I'll look out for this next time I'm in Taiwan.
 
Hasemo

Hasemo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,513
Tokyo
Reminds me of Kit Kats before exams in Japan:
There's a secret reason why Japan is obsessed with Kit Kats. They're actually a must-have good luck charm for students taking entrance exams. One in three students gets a Kit Kat before taking a test and one in five bring one to the actual exam for good luck. The Japanese pronunciation, Kitto Katto sounds a lot like the Japanese phrase Kitto Katsu, which means "you will surely win" — that's how people started gifting them as good luck charms.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
Pyccko

Pyccko

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,871
this is stupid as hell but I guess if it makes them feel better, no harm done

that snack company must be pretty stoked though
 
Voltaire

Voltaire

Member
Sep 13, 2018
387
All you want is woo invading very important disciplines and industries... We gonna have the return of some form of Lysenkoism (Looking at you China, India, ...and the US)
 
Cantaim

Cantaim

Member
Oct 25, 2017
33,363
The Stussining
People gonna come in and say this is dumb. But having worked right next to an IT department that serviced half a dozen different companies. I've heard of stranger good luck charms and rules lol.
 
Last edited:
entrydenied

entrydenied

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
7,568
Imperfected said:
That is... dumber than anticipated.

But given the number of people I know who think oujia boards are a thing, I guess not really that surprising.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's a pretty harmless superstition as far as superstition goes. Compared to things like Buddha/deity figurines that cost you thousands and tens of thousands, snacks are cheap.
 
Midramble

Midramble

Force of Habit
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
10,462
San Francisco
Cute superstition. That said, if I worked in IT there and everyone had these everywhere I feel like it would be a reflection of everyone's distrust in my work.
 
Westbahnhof

Westbahnhof

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
10,108
Austria
Regional superstitions are always amazing, because they're all so weird, but you only notice if you're not used to them.

One of my favourite ones is "fan death".
Fan death is a belief that running an electric fan in a closed room with unopened or no windows will cause death. Despite no concrete evidence to support the concept, belief in fan death persists to this day in Korea, and also to a lesser extent in Japan.

The Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB), a South Korean government-funded public agency, issued a consumer safety alert in 2006 warning that "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was among South Korea's five most common summer accidents or injuries, according to data they collected.
The KCPB published the following:
If bodies are exposed to electric fans or air conditioners for too long, it causes [the] bodies to lose water and [causes] hypothermia. If directly in contact with [air current from] a fan, this could lead to death from [an] increase of carbon dioxide saturation concentration and decrease of oxygen concentration. The risks are higher for the elderly and patients with respiratory problems. From 2003 [to] 2005, a total of 20 cases were reported through the CISS involving asphyxiations caused by leaving electric fans and air conditioners on while sleeping. To prevent asphyxiation, timers should be set, wind direction should be rotated, and doors should be left open.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
OP
OP
SilentPanda

SilentPanda

Member
Nov 6, 2017
13,737
Earth
DarthSpider said:
I assume this is more tradition/formality than people actually believing that this snack has magical properties? Either way, it would be nice to be an IT guy who is never more than a few feet from a bag of snacks. I'll look out for this next time I'm in Taiwan.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's not just IT~~
Train
28516266_1614100708685427_9116377704269023066_o.jpg


Police station
106806-XXL.jpg

p13-201119-photo4.jpg

www.setn.com

有「擺」有保庇？交通隊放5包綠色乖乖　讓死亡車禍絕跡 | 科技 | 三立新聞網 SETN.COM

許多人愛吃的零食「乖乖」竟然也有「護身符」功能？雲林縣虎尾分局交通小隊辦公室，一踏入馬上看到5包綠色的「乖乖」拍成一列，它們可不是員警們的下午茶，而是身兼要職負責守護當地行車安全的「守護神」，所以是不可以吃下肚的；據說就有名警官嘴饞吃掉一包，翌日竟在當地就發生死亡車禍，讓人不得不相信其「神力」，更特別的是，一定要綠色包裝的才有效果呢！
www.setn.com www.setn.com

Facemask factory
d4845176.jpg

www.ettoday.net

獨／火力支援12萬人海捐口罩援外！直擊國家隊「日產230萬片」順時中：不斷電撐到底 | ETtoday生活新聞 | ETtoday新聞雲

國內口罩產能日漸提升，繼政府口罩外交獲得熱烈迴響後，現在也開放個人捐贈口罩，不過還是有民眾質疑，國內自己都領不夠了，哪有多餘的口罩可以做捐贈？《ETtoday新聞雲》實地走訪淨新口罩工廠，了解機台置產過程。總經理許哲銘驕傲地表示：「我們現在每日產量是排名全國第二！」
www.ettoday.net www.ettoday.net

VOLETARIUM -Europa Park- in Germany
AWKNSPLVX53PBPHJAS23NQWD6M.jpg

N4DAJXFIAFN7GJXR26SR2BVPGA.jpg


tw.appledaily.com

歐洲最大飛行劇院開幕　台灣「乖乖」意外吸睛｜蘋果新聞網｜蘋果日報

智崴（5263）與德國最大、歐洲第2大的遊樂園EUROPA PARK（歐洲主題樂園）」合作推出全歐洲最大的飛行劇院「VOLETARIUM」將於6月3日正式開幕，在開幕記者會上，來自台灣的「乖乖」也被舞台的正中央，主持人特別介紹這種傳統台灣零食放在機器旁邊會保祐機器「乖乖的」，引起現場200多名來自德、法等各國媒體的好奇，意外成為記者會的小插曲。 EUROPA...
tw.appledaily.com tw.appledaily.com
 
KtSlime

KtSlime

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,910
Tokyo
I guess no one has ever crossed their fingers or cried out please to a deity in hopes of a favorable outcome here.
 
gozu

gozu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,342
America
Yeah ok but the question is: "does it ACTUALLY have REAL magic inside?".

Still waiting for an answer. Remember TSMC put all other semiconductor businesses to shame. Is it because of this snack?
 
OP
OP
SilentPanda

SilentPanda

Member
Nov 6, 2017
13,737
Earth
gozu said:
Yeah ok but the question is: "does it ACTUALLY have REAL magic inside?".

Still waiting for an answer. Remember TSMC put all other semiconductor businesses to shame. Is it because of this snack?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

TSMC does use it too....
And they actually paid money to make TSMC special packaging that is not sold to the public~~
vecKqc6l3343604.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.