dagblog - Comments for "What's the difference....two recessions"

But now were are at a period

Rootman — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:41:58 +0000

In reply to I am glad people are reading

But now were are at a period where the current new things are not so exciting and new and interesting. That is not to say the current research in photovoltaics or electric transportation is not important. Or the medical discoveries not inspiring. It's just that they do not invoke the same kind of excitement that the discoveries of the past do.

You might not know how many people are passionately engaged in home energy projects. Plenty of YouTubes and blogs about do-it-yourself solar and wind projects, and the market for kits and parts for this is on par with the early electronic and computer hobbyist kits. People also modifying and tweaking their electric cars. Harbor Freight has a solar starter kit for a few hundred bucks, for instance (not even the best deal out there) and they've sold thousands.

I guess outrageous is in the

kgb999 — Sat, 07 May 2011 05:46:41 +0000

In reply to Which begs another question.

I guess outrageous is in the eye of the beholder. But this is the breakdown.

The company estimates the bill of materials of the CDMA iPhone 4 at $171.35, which is down from $187.51 of the original iPhone 4 that is currently sold at AT&T. The number climbs to $178.45, if assembly is included and we conclude that Apple has just dropped its production cost by about 9% and the margin climbs to about 70%, excluding packaging, shipping, R&D as well as marketing and operational expenses.

So, they pay around $7.10 to get all the parts put together.

I didn't realize there was

kgb999 — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:58:37 +0000

In reply to Which begs another question.

I didn't realize there was any question. To me the latter seems obvious. What I'm seeing over and over and over is:

-Fire all the American workers

-Ship the equipment to 3rd world ("emerging") nation.

-Hire foreign workers for dirt.

<<<Bypass import tariff here>>>

-Sell the product for just enough less than the American producers can afford, cutting them out of the market (competitive).
(or)
-Sell the product as a luxury good at top dollar (exclusive).

It's being done it with everything from high tech to sawmills (Stimpson Lumber, Post Falls, last guy out put the mill on a truck headed to China). We're shipping logs and reimporting cut lumber for chrisssake. It is horribly inefficient for any reason other than they don't have to pay for labor by doing it that way. I genuinely don't think I'm overstating it to call this a modern form of employing slaves. They harnass conditions that would result in criminal penalties if they existed in the Western world. How the fuck is ANYONE supposed to compete with that? Education sure isn't gonna do it.

Typical American corporate

cmaukonen — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:44:13 +0000

In reply to Riiight. Like $98 a month for

Typical American corporate thinking. Shoot for the lowest possible denominator because it's cheap.

Which begs another question.

cmaukonen — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:40:23 +0000

In reply to Riiight. Like $98 a month for

Which begs another question. Are Apples profits do to them selling so many of these toys or because their mark up is outrageous ? I personally suspect the latter rather than the former.

Riiight. Like $98 a month for

kgb999 — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:32:52 +0000

In reply to I watched the video of the

Riiight. Like $98 a month for over 60 hours a week.

You tell me which process they're using.

And just to round out to my

kgb999 — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:31:09 +0000

In reply to But this is how I've always

And just to round out to my larger point: Foxconn has around a million workers. United Win has about 18,000 (apparently wiping down iPhone screens). And these are just two in the manufacturing chain. Obviously, there *are* jobs doing *something* that require humans ... as we wander off into the weeds discussing what, exactly, that might be.

I watched the video of the

cmaukonen — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:13:02 +0000

In reply to But this is how I've always

I watched the video of the tour on youtube. That technology is way out of date for PCB manufacturing. They can only make money that way by paying dirt wages.

All but the final assembly can be automated now. I have seen it done. Even attaching the board to the case. All that is left is some plugging of wires and putting the case together.

FYI that was the way everything was made here...a long time ago. Lots of people hand soldering, assembling the chassis etc.

It China is still manually

cmaukonen — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:07:13 +0000

In reply to Honestly, "often" was an

It China is still manually making the boards they are not nearly as advanced as they or others would like us to think. That is old and very prone to error as well as worker accidents.

The term button shoes comes to mind here.

But this is how I've always

kgb999 — Sat, 07 May 2011 04:06:31 +0000

In reply to This is how I've seen it

But this is how I've always seen them *finished*. There is DIP and also optional components.