Why China Isnt Happening Yet

Cwlondon, you raise several compelling points here.

They used to say similar things about Japan in the 60s.

But...

I clearly remember the spring of 1973 when I went with my dad to pick up our brand new Chevy Malibu Station Wagon. We got half way home and he was checking out various climate controls on the dash and the cheap plastic knobs were falling off left and right. Also, the wipers and washer didn't work and the radio didn't pick up the stations that our older 60s Malibu wagon we had just dropped off in trade gladly did. Something was amiss with the antenna. That car only "lasted" a couple of years in New Hamsphire where we lived at the time. The road salt in winter literally tore that car apart after a couple of seasons, the body metal seemed set on autorust mode.

We turned around and I have never seen my dad so angry at the guy at the Ford dealership. After a couple of hours, we drove home, things were sort of fixed. A return visit was required later for some detail or other...as a kid I was prone to laughing as I didn't understand the full value of expensive things like cars and just seeing parts come off the things was sort of funny. I kept my snickers hidden as best as I could but it set the stage for why I have never owned a so called "american made" auto. The knobs have never fallen off the various Japanese and German made cars I've sonce owned.

During a recent snowstorm in Boston, my high school buddy's wife had to have her 2002 Malibu towed because a comp[uter chip fried when she tried to start it. The "mal" in Malibu is real in my opinion and you can see why.

So I guess it's a relative question, depending on the context and timing of experience. I agree with you, many products coming in from China are not worth the cheap cost. And I do not shop at Wal Mart. And I stick to US made when it comes to guitars, amps and stereo gear, with the exception of a couple of pieces by Jolida. One thing's for damn sure. It's the behaviors of consumers that drive the behaviors of consumer manufacturers, and China is no different. As China gains capital and purchasing power, their consumers also will develop a demand for quality goods. The question where will the US be when that happens. They are a future quality market as their consumer power base grows. This happened in Japan too, look at the market there for vintage US made guitars.

So far, my Jolida integrated has worked flawlessly, but I am considering switching to a Rogue Cronus because of sonic improvement and the fact that it is (still) made in the US. Jolida allowed me to affordably get into tubes and now that I have determined tubes have a valid place in my listening enjoyment, I am on the way to improving my tube gear.

There's crap made in the U.S. and there's great stuff made in the U.S. There's crap made in China and there's great stuff made in China. As a consumer, you get to wade through it all and figure out which is which. I've been using a Jungson integrated that I paid $325 for about 7-8 months ago and I'd put it up against anything in the $1200-$2000 range (it replaced an Audiolab 8000A which retailed for about $800 in the early 90's and the Jungson is far superior); I'm a happy guy. But I'd be wary of cheap knock-offs with little information available on them. Even the great stuff coming out of China receives little press, probably because that press will do nothing but serve to put European and domestic manufacturers of high end gear (and subsequently their advertising budgets) under great pressure. Think about it.

I have lost faith in the ability of the modern Press and Media to accurately portray "truth in advertising" at many levels, so as you indicate, no surprises there. An despite what reviewers in the two big audio mags will maintain, advertising $$$ speak and determine what get's positively aired, and what gets no air time, always has been that way and always will.

That's why this is one of the last venues for honest discourse and why those publications are uncomfortable by our presence.

Cwlondon:
Interesting post....from many points of view that are much larger than simply the audiophile marketplace.

I am one who is going to agree with your colleague as regards the looming issues that are very real and will cause major disruptions in our society. To say, as a society, that we have been decieved and mislead is IMO not stretching the truth. I believe that the fear of "flight of capital" is very real. By the same token, right now, that capital really has nowhere else to go if it is seeking both safety and return. If it is seeking primarily safety, than there are other choices.

By the same token, it seems to me that the really big lesson in all of this is that it is our society that has, since WW2, sowed the seeds of our own dilemna. It is we who have shown the world a better quality of life, and sold them our products (and our syndicated television re-reruns) with this quality of life as a lure. Now, to our dismay, they have decided that they want it for themselves and in many ways are willing to work harder for it than we are. Should we blame them?

But we are not alone in this. Right now, the emerging world NEEDS access to our consumption. If all of the worlds drug users stop cold turkey, all of the worlds dealers stop cold turkey as well. Without the American consuption, the Chinese manufacturing machine (which already suffers from a dramatic lack of pricing power...observe the changes currently going on in their internal policies) will cease to have sufficient customers to justify its existence.

This is not to minimize our own problems. Our leaders have done a miserable job of taking care of business, and we as voters have done an even poorer job of our duty of choosing appropriate leaders.

When Japanese products first appeared in the market after WW2, they suffered from all of the same problems that you have so accurately described. Look at them now.

In the bigger global picture, we are all in this together. We all need each other...rich and poor...and we need to take care of each other...rich and poor.