Winding this thread down is probably the best thing to do right now. Thanks, Bob On Mon, Jan 28, 2013, at 08:00 PM, Joseph Bento wrote: > On 1/28/2013 8:14 PM, RussellMc wrote: > > > > At a minimum you have used an unfortunate term there. > > American (or even USA) workers have not too much direct responsibility = for > > whether they make products or not. > > Sure, step back a level or few and all are partakers in the overall > > situation, but it is the producers who do or don't produce in the US (o= r > > Amaerica) that are responsible for the decisions to do so or not. > Well, outsourcing has certainly affected the American worker. To some=20 > extent (great extent, actually) it has affected me. I'm an electronics=20 > technician with over 30 years of experience. I can repair vacuum tube=20 > equipment as well as the latest surface mount circuit boards. However,= =20 > I no longer service consumer-grade equipment, as it isn't even=20 > economical. Most consumer grade stuff is essentially junk. It works=20 > for a couple years, but that is OK since that is all it's designed to do= =20 > before it's time for the next upgrade. >=20 > I'm just being cynical when saying we can't build stuff here. I'll=20 > admit to being a bit irritated when I look at an Apple product and see=20 > the "Designed in California and Assembled in China". I read where=20 > Steve Jobs once said that it would add a total of about $50 to the cost=20 > of an iPad, iPhone, etc to buy one assembled in the USA. I can only=20 > imagine the tens of thousands of jobs that could potentially be had -=20 > good paying jobs with benefits. >=20 > Can we build it here? Most high schools no longer even have electronics= =20 > classes. Most kids today have little to no interest. Some say that the=20 > miniaturization of today's electronics and the use of SMD components=20 > killed the hobbyist. SMD soldering skills can be learned. If these=20 > (myself) 50-year old eyes can solder 0402 sized components with the use=20 > of a magnifier visor, most could also learn. >=20 > Ultimately, profit - not just profit to grow and sustain your company,=20 > but profit to pay a CEO 400x the wage of an average employee may have=20 > killed off much of our manufacturing. Now the CEO can get that wage=20 > while exploiting the workers of Foxconn that work in dormitory factories= =20 > with nets outside the dorm windows. >=20 > Pardon my rambling. :-) >=20 > Joe, N6DGY >=20 > > Skit was funny enough in its way. If focus is more on whiners than on > > points raised then points may be well enough made. Actual points made w= ere > > either silly (as intended) or directed at the US fron end manufacturer = and > > not the workers or even the Chinese factories per se. Interestingly, hu= lu > > allowed me to view it - in almost all other cases they say I am not in = the > > US and bar me. In this case I can view it and THEN hule says that I am = not > > in the US and that they have barred me. Well done hule. I copied the em= ail > > to my wife. Up front hulu said that she was not in the US and banned ba= rred > > her from access. Maybe if I post hulu links inside emails from PICLIst = or > > ??? I can view then and then be barred ? :-) > > > I don't generally find humor in skits like this. We Americans tend to=20 > be rather arrogant and feel we are superior to the people that=20 > manufacture our junk. If we were smart, we would beef up our schools=20 > and once again teach the sciences and technology. The rest of the world= =20 > is passing us by, and we may soon be like those countries we like to=20 > make fun of. --=20 http://www.fastmail.fm - Faster than the air-speed velocity of an unladen european swallow --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .