exp(x)

exp(x) said:

Thank you, China. Thank you for your ridiculously cheap electronics.

Are they actually manufactured anywhere else in the world, ATM, regardless of the brand they are sold under?

I pretty much stopped giving a flying rat's ass about whether a part or device says "Apple" or "Sony", or whether it says "Zhang Yang Random Ass Generic Electronics Sweatshop", because chances are that they are all made by the latter anyway, or about to be shamelessly copied and zerged in a billion knockoffs.

It's getting harder to find consumer electronic devices and accessories that aren't made by cheap semi-skilled labour. All that's likely to distinguish recognised brand names from everything else is their quality control, though with so many products being designed for a short life-cycle (practically engineered to start failing shortly after their successor goes on sale) you might as well just use the cheapest shit that'll do the job and bin it when it dies.

GreyGhost said:

It's getting harder to find consumer electronic devices and accessories that aren't made by cheap semi-skilled labour.

The only consumer electronic devices for which I'm 100% positive that they were NOT made in mainland China, are my parent's audio systems and older TVs (70s and 80s Grundig stuff made in Germany), and some Hi-Fi equipment from the early 90s (Philips CD player rack, Philips double-decker mini Hi-Fi made in Hungary and Poland). Most of it is also still good and works perfectly, with only very minor maintenance (I only changed the Philips' tape drive belts once in 15 years).

Even computer parts, in the 90s, had a chance of being made in Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore, or even Japan if you were into hi-end stuff.

But now I can't find a single electronic device actually manufactured anywhere else but China. Ya know, with people actually putting hundreds of them together and packaging them in boxes.

And please, don't give me that "designed in Europe/USA" bullshit. That doesn't really help create jobs or boost the economy, apart from 1-2 high echelon positions. It's a blessing that China doesn't have a significant presence in the automotive industry yet, and they are the only ones driving their coffins-on-wheels.