Comment by glitchc

Comment by glitchc 2 days ago

9 replies

Just one quibble: Made in China doesn't automatically mean junk. Case in point: The iPhone. When it comes to Chinese manufacturing, they cater to all price points in the marketplace.

bbarnett 2 days ago

Apple's size and scope, along with direct control of production to force a high quality product helps.

Including knowledge transfer, tooling assistance, trade secrets at the start.

But the truth is, even if you can find a rare product such as this, which is really Chinese assembly with US know how, direct control, and methods, 99.999% if the stuff you buy when Made ib China will be... junk.

The exception to the rule is not relevant. Made in China means "junk".

  • glitchc 2 days ago

    It's not just Apple. You can buy a forged spanner (and other tools) from China that can beat the pants off of any domestically made version. It's all about what the distributor/brand will pay for.

  • vbezhenar 2 days ago

    This is just wrong. You can buy junk in China and you can buy very quality products in China. They launch rovers to the literal Moon. They produce 7nm chips. This is not junk, this is state of art.

    • bbarnett 2 days ago

      This is just wrong. You can buy junk in China and you can buy very quality products in China

      Even if true, irrelevant, because for the rest of the wotld, my statements stand true.

      Put another way, let's say I put all Made in China products I can buy in Canada, into a room. Millions of them, surely.

      Now I am to pick a product at random. Will it be junk? Yes. Out of those millions and millions of products, maybe 10 or 20 wouldn't be junk.

      Everyone knows this, because it's true. It doesn't matter why, for what reason, all that matters is that it's true.

      • vbezhenar a day ago

        That's your own personal experience. I don't buy junk and if I would repeat that experiment, it's very likely that I'd pick up, e.g. Fluke multimeter or some old iPhone I'm keeping around.

        • bbarnett a day ago

          My example has nothing to do with what you personally buy, and instead with "what is Made in China" in a local market. I am referring to both reality, and perception.

          If you have millions upon millions of products, and only a tiny, tiny, tiny number are of OK quality, then it's entirely fair to say "Made in China" is junk. That's how it works. Exceptions to the rule are simply that, and not relevant.

          If a company makes fridges, and 1 model out of 100 are OK, the other 99 crap that breaks in 2 to 3 years, everyone would say "That company makes junk!". Referencing "But they made one good fridge once!" is not something anyone need care about, and is the exception to the rule.

          Yet with Made in China, we're talking about a million junky, sub-par products, compared to 1 that may be acceptable. And even then, quality control is still an issue.

          Made in China is junk, an entirely fair, reasonable, logical statement, predicated upon the reality of the situation for most people.

  • chmod775 2 days ago

    If I could maintain a worldview that simple my life would be so much easier.

    • xattt 2 days ago

      Manufacturing in the PRC defaults to “cheap-as-possible” mode if the specs aren’t explicitly laid out. Think stinky black plastic and sharp metal edges.

      Most of the time, the default is compatible with what the free-market MBA crowd wants.