If you have all this gear from top-brand American companies, why should you be interested in Chinese gear? Well, take a close look at that brand-name gear, especially at the little label that says where it's made. Oops - it says "Made in China." Yep, rightly or wrongly, most gear sold by the big-name companies is made off-shore these days, and mostly in Asia, or China. It's only the small cottage industries which still make gear in America.
What happens when the Asian (Chinese) factories, which have been making gear under contract to American companies, decide to start making the same gear under their own brand? Obviously, they can't churn out the exact same items with just a different brand on them: they have to come up with their own variations, even if they are rather close. Do they have the necessary skills to produce world-class designs by themselves? If so, what happens then? And what are the long-term consequences for everyone?
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction
- 'Made in China' - The Problems
- Manufacturing
- Branding
- Quality
- The Human Factor
- The History and the Future
- Can quality be copied?
- The rise of China compared to Korea and Japan
- How big is the threat and is there a threat?
- Is there an immediate threat from China via the web?
- What about the environment?
- Case Study - Stoves
- FMS-F1
- FMS-106 US$24.95 144 grams
- FMS-116 US$24.95 72 grams
- FMS-109 US$29.95 83 grams
- Case Study - Cooking Accessories
- A remote stand for an upright stove.
- Kettles
- Case Study - Tents
- Seam Stitching
- Anchor Point Sewing
- Poles
- Pole Feet
- Guy Ropes
- Top Vents
- Case Study - Packs and Bags
- Case Study - Joggers
- Case Study - Clothing
- But What About the Future?
- Quality
- Marketing
- The Hidden Factors - the Web, Technology Transfer and the Future
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# PHOTOS: 12
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I guess people will always ignore history or pretend that they are different. Rome, Egypt, the British Empire, the Incas and Aztecs… to name a miniscule number of powerful empires… all faded away. America is no different at all. America and all that exists on Earth right now, will disappear. From a macrocosmic point of view all of the things we get so worked up about are but tiny moments in history and no matter how much destruction we cause or how big our footprint might become, it actually amounts to nothing. Ten thousand years from now no one will remember us (if there is anyone to remember us), but life will continue and the natural world will regain its balance.
I'm certainly not worried about the survival of Mother Nature, but about us. In some ways you can say we are the stupidest organism ever to have come onto the evolutionary scene: a creature that actively ignores its own health, destroys its habitat so completely as to make its own survival doubtful, and, though ware of its foolhardiness, completely ignores what is right before its own eyes because it cannot stop its cravings.
"a creature that actively ignores its own health, destroys its habitat so completely as to make its own survival doubtful, and, though ware of its foolhardiness, completely ignores what is right before its own eyes because it cannot stop its cravings."
+1
It's what I refer to as asymetric intelligence: so adept at manipulating the external world, so inept at understanding the world within. So much knowledge, so little wisdom.
Like you, Miguel, I do not worry about life surviving. As for us…
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