Chinese

[rwolf15]

The Chinese are beating us into the ground. What happened to American ingenuity? A bunch of fat lazy clowns are we. Get off you asses. Create something new everyday. We can do it. And for Gods sake, lets build it here and quit sending it to china and having them build it.
Look what happens to the solo wheel electric unicycle. Invented here, then the guy had china build it. Now there are so many companies knocking off his idea, there is absolutely no chance if stopping any one of them. We all lose. All the way around.
I remember watching the moon landing with my sister and family. Seeing all the men at mission control with their slide rules.
Does anyone anymore even know what one is.
Have we really gotten smarter?
I think not
So eat your big mac, drink your six pack. Listen to the music as we gently sink into the ocean.

 

[deronmoped]

It's not what you do anymore, it's who you are.

Our society has turned into a, "How can I get into a class that makes me deserve special treatment". You don't work towards a regular earned retirement anymore, you make sure you get a disability retirement. A reporter does not just report the news anymore, the news is secondary, getting their name out there is more important then the news. Most people with some sort of disability could hold down some sort of job, but they pay them not to. My brother's wife had a knee injured in a car accident, instead of finding a job that would suit her, she takes the disability status so she can sit at home and do nothing.

 

[Dauntless]

http://www.wikiwand.com/en/E6B

You learn to use one of these when you learn to fly, as well as a slide rule with a dial. At least when I learned to fly you did

The hard work the Chinese are doing are being there when American companies look for somewhere else to go where the unions and the socialist laws don't get in the way. China, a safe haven from communism. And let's not forget the stealing of intellectual property. Japan did a better job, when American companies invented the CD-ROM, the DVD, etc., they just decided to let it get away and the Japanese were allowed to cherry pick. The Chinese don't have to go to the trouble, it's thrown at them. The Japanese at least built Sony, Honda, etc. on their own. It's largely been built for the Chinese. We still came up with the digital ink for the Kindle reader, then let Taiwan take it away after it was a success.

Yeah, Deron, there's nothing new in the occurrence of these things you talk about. It's always been that way. And it always will be. But that doesn't work out for so many people, in the scheme of things.

Mark Twain in Telsa's lab.

 

[Zarkon]

The hard work the Chinese are doing are being there when American companies look for somewhere else to go where the unions and the socialist laws don't get in the way. China, a safe haven from communism. And let's not forget the stealing of intellectual property. Japan did a better job, when American companies invented the CD-ROM, the DVD, etc., they just decided to let it get away and the Japanese were allowed to cherry pick. The Chinese don't have to go to the trouble, it's thrown at them. The Japanese at least built Sony, Honda, etc. on their own. It's largely been built for the Chinese. We still came up with the digital ink for the Kindle reader, then let Taiwan take it away after it was a success.

Credit for the CD ROM belongs to Sony/Philips (ie not American). Credit for the DVD to Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic (also not American). We however do get credit for over-sized and inefficient vehicles like the Tesla Model S (4600lbs and ~$70k). Tesla and its ilk were developed for the top 10% of the world's population. Half the world's population lives on less than $2/day. Cheap bicycles and ebikes are the way to move rest of the population. Basic and cheap will rule the day because of that. We should thank China for cheap affordable transports for the common man/woman. For the others, feel free to stop by your local Tesla or Optibike/A2B dealer/showroom.

 

[Dauntless]

Well, how do you figure? The CD ROM was invented by American James Russell, an employee of the U.S. Department of Energy at the time. He won some sort of award for the invention. That Sony and Phillips LICENSED it from him after he'd marketed the first CD ROM player doesn't make it belong to them, it remains as I said, an AMERICAN invention. The DVD is a muddy subject, there having been multiple, competing inventions. There's not even agreement on what DVD stands for. But the whole thing was kickstarted in the U.S., with U.S. companies involved in the winning format. But not involved with building them. But Time Warner, the Technicolor SA American unit, Apple, Microsoft, Dell, you do know where those companies are located, right?

So I'm getting the Red Raven (Part of the Dragon series) just as soon as they'll rush one to me in the fall. They're in Irvine, a real live American company, contrary to what some insist on saying.

 

[Chalo]

The Chinese are getting ahead the same way Americans did in the mid-20th century: by consuming, polluting, exploiting, and otherwise desecrating anything that can be sold or ruined for a buck.

They're also building their national reputation on counterfeits, toxics, and plain old incompetent design and manufacturing. I think they're ascendant at the moment, but that this chapter won't end well for them.

It's pretty obvious that even after a whole generation of getting up to speed, you still need a whip and a chair to get anything approaching decent quality from Chinese manufacturers. That's not a recipe for prosperity, when there are India, Indonesia, and others ready to assume the role of World's Cheapest & Crappiest Factory State the moment China resolves to step up their game.

 

[DRMousseau]

Made in China?!?!
Few can probably remember the nickel and dime, low quality, undependable products of plastics, poor metals, and textiles, that once came from a similar nearby nation. We loathed the cheap items flooded into our markets, and made fun of the "toy/pets", "rice-grinders" and "Japanese Junk"!!!

After the total destruction of their infrastructure and all of their industry, Japan quickly rose to become the second largest economy in the world, in somewhat the same manner. And ever since, Japan has held the prestigious position,.. until very recently, succumbing to a bout of inflation, and to the rapid growth of a neighboring economy, CHINA!!!

We had never imagined that the rust-prone "Tin Toyoda" would someday evolve into the luxury quality of Lexus. While Texas Instruments brought us the first transistor radios,... it was Sony who flooded our markets to fame, and brought the "9V Battery" into everyday common use.

China is very unique in the world economy,... jus as The States and Japan and other growing nations. Quite individual, and quite unique from one another. They all, have or will, suffer the pains of growth. I have always been critical of such foreign products. And discerning such is becoming increasingly difficult for everyday folks. Even my favorite brand of sparkplug, once made right here in the Detroit area of Michigan, in The Heart of the Automotive Industry, and around which many engines were designed for over a century... are now being produced and made in Mexico. Identical packaging (except for the "Made in Mexico" print), identical design, engineering, and manufacturing processes, and indistinguishable from previous US made products,.... but are now the of the poorest quality EVER!!!! It's shocking to realize that the duct tape you use, invented and developed in the US,... is no longer manufactured here. Yep,... ALL your duck tape is imported!!!

Many current Chinese and other cheap foreign products are the result of American Corporations and consumer demands. "You reap what you sow.", although we now purchase in markets,.... and our "green", "Red, White, and Blue arrogance' is blinded and oblivious to the filthy truths!!! I have found some Chinese products to be GREAT, and some to be worthless!!! And I've found some "American brand" products to be wonderful, and some that are plain junk,.... made in China. Is there any brightness in the future???

 

[Dauntless]

Interesting comment on China from the author of this. In the early 1990's he was figuring where to go that might have the most active story to build his career on. His 'Other' option was China, but he decided that was just a business story. Oh my, similar human rights issues, even more totalitarian government, probably even more people actively fighting a 'War' with the U.S., even if it is just cyber attack. Let's not forget all the jobs going to China 'Destroyed' more homes than any Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS. . . . Easy to see who's the more fiercesome enemy, tearing down the American way of life. But not as interesting to a journalist. . . .

http://www.amazon.com/Then-All-Hell-Broke-Loose/dp/1451635117

 

[John Bozi]

I remember watching the moon landing with my sister and family. Seeing all the men at mission control.....

I remember reading in 2016 people regurgitating myths full of Cold War propaganda that the US actually got out of Hollywood and supposedly went to the moon. Superiority that never existed but in the minds of those who craved it.

And yes the Chinese are more capitalist than the US today.

 

[molybdenum]

The consuming nations are the ones holding the cards. It's our purchasing decisions that define the market, determine its course and the quality of the goods. China is quite capable of producing well engineered products - and would if there were a market for them.

 

[spinningmagnets]

I know several people on this website (ES) that had been interested in developing new products for ebikes. What stopped them is how quickly any good idea is copied and made more cheaply. It is a rare customer that pays extra for a quality product the first time. Many buy the cheap knock-off, then some complain but never change, other customers just quit ebikes because if they can't have the high quality design at the cheap price, they don't want it.