Rethinking "Made in China"

David Nebenzahl · 2009-12-16T19:39:07+00:00

This post is aimed at all you sinophobes out there.I'm getting a little tired of hearing the complaint "___ is a piece of shit: what do you expect? It's made in China!".Now it is true that a lot of crap--boatloads of it, literally--does come from that great country. We've all seen it, used it, chucked it out.But bear in mind the historical precedent: some of you are probably old enough to remember the similar tarring of anything that had the label "Made in Japan" on it. Anything Japanese was considered worthless. Compare to today.I'm finding more and more that "Made in China" really doesn't mean anything about the quality of an item. Clearly, Chinese workers, as underpaid as they may be, are quite capable of making anything as well as anyone else in any other part of the world.Part of the problem is that we're placing blame in the wrong place. The *real* problem seems to be "Made in [anyplace] but designed in the U.S. [or some other place]". A lot, if not most, of what I would call "Chinese junk" is actually made as well as the design would allow for, including the materials used and the amount of labor committed to finishing the item. So in many cases Chinese factories are making faithful copies of a shitty design that may well have come from some designer's computah right here in The Greatest Industrial Power on Earth (the US of A).I predict the Chinese are following the same arc that the Japanese did after WWII, with variations, of course; there's no Marshall Plan, and the countries are vastly different. Nonetheless, I can forsee the day when "Made in China" is no longer a call for derision.By way of showing just how wrong people can be when predicting who's winning the industrial game, here's a hilariously and astoundingly wrong prediction about the Japanese and American photographic industries from 1946:

Dec 16, 2009 125 Replies

Rate this thread:

Jules 16 years ago

Yeah, that'd do it, I suppose. Our line's around 7-8' down and only goes maybe 30' out to the well. Temp seems to stay pretty constant year-round.

Vote

krw 16 years ago

Because you're on a deep well not because the lines are down' 7-8'. The ground temperature isn't constant (in northern climes) even 20' down. OTOH, at 400', and in the water table, it will be fairly constant. ;-)

Vote

David Nebenzahl 16 years ago

On 12/16/2009 11:39 AM David Nebenzahl spake thus:

[snip own post]

Omigod, what have I done?

Do I get some kind of prize for such a long thread? A discount on a.h.r (or wreck) merchandise specials? A special mention at next year's Usenetties?

Vote

Swingman 16 years ago

Your cabal dues will be increased 50% in 2010 for all the bytes used, plus the appropriate carbon footprint tax ...

Vote

Robatoy 16 years ago

I have not been around here for very long.... but long enough to know that there is no cabal.

Vote

David Nebenzahl 16 years ago

On 12/20/2009 5:37 PM Robatoy spake thus:

Ah, but there is (and it's Top Sekrit).

Damn! I knew there'd be consequences ...

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required