> i hereby challenge the assumption that shoddy goods must come from > china.
What people perceive as "China makes crappy stuff" is really "US consumers are cheapskates and China is the cheapest place Wal-Mart can get its crappy stuff made". In the 50's it was Japan. Later, Taiwan. Really, "Chinese quality" is a meaningless phrase, even if you limit it to tools. I have a lever-type spring compressor made in China and it's fantastic. I also have a 1/2" drive metric socket set I bought from a FLAPS to do an emergency repair on the road, and the quality of this $25 set is outstanding. Not Snap-On by any means, but so far it's fared better than my Craftsman 1/2" stuff. I also have a set of adjustable wrenches from Wal-Mart that are so sloppily made as to be utterly useless. What I fear is that we'll end up with yet another stratified market, with the cheap junk at the bottom, the expensive pro stuff at the top, and a vast expanse of nothingness in between. Clearly there are manufacturers in China cranking out top-notch middle-weight stuff, but Bob Pro Mechanic won't buy it because it's not Snap-On, and Joe Sixpack doesn't know cast from forged and buys whatever Wal-Mart has cheapest.TheSears Craftsman brand has hung on in the middle, but mostly on the strength of the lifetime warranty. Right now there's not much brand stability from China, but I think that'll change. if that were the case IKEA would not exist. > > True, but it's noteworthy that "IKEA furniture" is probably the most derogatory thing you can say about home furnishings. -- John Bange '90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger" |
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