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DIY China
On 1/11/2018 8:43 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 1/11/2018 8:54 PM, Emanuel Berg wrote: Andre Jute wrote: As for value, the Chinese offer superb value to those who know what they want and how to evaluate it. Much of what you buy in America under familiar brand names is made in China. Here, virtually all tools sold are made in China (i.e., the PRC). I have a torque wrench that is also made in China, only in Taiwan. I also have a (new) revolving punch that is made in Germany. Other than that, all my Swedish tools (e.g., Bacho), German tools (Heyco), Japanese tools, socialist Poland tools, etc., are old, from the "pre-China" period. Also clothes are often, but not always, made in the PRC. HH, the famous Norwegian brand of winter clothes, have there stuff made there, as do many, many others. Even tho they seem to make all the stuff for the western contractors and DIYers alike, one thing I wonder is how much of a DIY culture they themselves have? My father, who has a Chinese wife, told me about their shopping palaces and how shopping is the key pass-time for people there. And apparently the biggest building in the world isn't the Pentagon like in the 50s but a Chinese mall! So I asked him if he could get tools as well? And he said he never saw any! And I have met many Chinese people during my computer years at the university and by the look of their bodies and they way they carry them around, compared to westerners - N.B. also university people - from the looks of it the Chinese guys and girls never used a hand tools or did any physical labor whatsoever, and some of them, surprisingly, I don't think ever did any sports or dancing or whatever either. Obviously their skill of manufacturing stuff is beyond doubt, but I wonder if it is limited to the people doing it, and not a reflection of their entire society as it was during the European/American industrial era? There are some interesting ideas about the evolution of a nation's manufacturing capability at http://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano333.html Start reading at "Background: The International Bicycle Cycle" The author seems to have the opinion that the skill in manufacturing is not inborn, but is brought in by companies from other countries looking for cheaper labor and cheaper manufacturing in general. I think that's a reasonable explanation for China's manufacturing growth. Let's hobble our manufacturers with endless licenses, permits, fines, fees, inspections and various impedimenta then mandate high labor costs, obfuscate those costs with additional employer expenses, insanely inflate transportation and energy costs, throw in a frenetic plaintiff's bar and see what happens. Ya think chinese vendors could beat the price? -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
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