heresy2guy Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 You guys remember when MADE IN JAPAN used to indicate a quality electonic product? I recall in the late 70s to late 80s that "MIJ" used to mean something. I noticed on my HK430 that it has MADE IN JAPAN in more than a few places on the inside. Do they still make HK products in Japan, or are they too made (like nearly everything else these days) in China? Have traditonal Japanese audio/video companies gone to China for manufacturing purposes too? What am I driving at here? Well, I'm just trying to see if part of the difference between yester-year's quality equipment and today's low-cost stuff has anything to do with where they were manufactured and what kind of parts were used. The prices have certainly come down from the 70s, that much is for sure. I guess cheaper materials along with methods and places of manufacture must have contributed to this. Think about this for a minute. Could anyone ever have envisioned a 100 watt per channel (by six channels no less) "home theater" (don't even think that term existed then) receiver for $199? JVC and Kenwood have models that fit that niche and they used to be "made in japan" but I don't know about now. Better technology + modern parts + easier manufacturing (should) = better product at less cost. If this is so, why do so many people like the older SS gear then, that cost an arm and a leg in 1977? Or better yet, why do so many go back to "ancient" tube technology, the kind of stuff that always found itself as "props" in 1930s and 1940s Sci-Fi & Horror Hollywood movies? I'm chewing on this particualr topic right now and all I can think of is that new technology isn't always better technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hofy Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 ---------------- On 1/14/2003 12:33:13 PM heresy2guy wrote: You guys remember when MADE IN JAPAN used to indicate a quality electonic product? ---------------- I remember when it used to mean "cheap junk" and if you wanted anything of quality you wanted Made in the USA or european made. Times change though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 No Kidding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heresy2guy Posted January 14, 2003 Author Share Posted January 14, 2003 You must be a heck of a lot older then me because to my generation, "MIJ" has always been associated with quality electronics, and I think most people in their 30s will concur. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Yeah, there was even a town built in Japan named "Usa" so that goods manufactured in that town could say "Made in USA"... but Uncle Sam shut that scam down quickly. Interestingly, one of the reason for Japan's upsurge in the camera business was that a large quantity of rare earth was found in Japan. This is the special silica that is used to make lenses. Before the Japanese find, the best rare earth was found in Germany... hence their big lead in the lens business. Carl Zeiss lenses are some of the world's best... they are standard on the Swiss Hasselblad medium format cameras... like the one's that U.S. Astronauts used on the moon. Zeiss wanted the best rare earth for his lenses so he made a deal with Yashica to make Carl Zeiss lenses in a Yashica factory... the part that the German Carl Zeiss company uses is cordened off with yellow warning tapes and only the German Carl Zeiss employees are allowed in that part of the factory. Japanese laws will not allow the exportaion of Japanese rare earth or a foreign company to make lenses with it without a Japanese company involved. As I recall, Japan's rare earth is five times better than the best German variety... and the German rare earth had been the best there was. Hmmm, I wonder how many Klipscher homes are built on the next great deposit of rare earth? =HornEd PS: It is time our "Information Age" economy took another look at making "Made in USA" something we can be proud of again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Swiss? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Mobley Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Swedish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornEd Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Sorry folks, I knew better than that. Here's the lowdown fromt he source: "Over a century and a half ago, in 1841, in the port city of Gothenburg in western Sweden, the Hasselblad family established its first trading company, F.W. Hasselblad & Co." The son of the founder, Victor Hasselblad, was an amateur camera buff and talked the old man into letting him build a photography division of the company. The rest is history... that should be remembered as being more than an "S" word for a country. I am particularly ashamed since because of my years of use of the camera and the impact of the photos never on TV and taken by an acquaintance, Charles Duke, and displayed at a national convention that I chaired. He used to call Volvo, the Hasselblad of the car industry. I know that 65 is creeping up on the calendar... but, with an error like that... it must be creeping into the gray matter as well. Gil & Tom, you both have made my esteemed young whipper snapper list! =HornEd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpg Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Quote from Back to the Future III: Doc: "No wonder the circuit failed- it says made in Japan." Marty: "What are you talking about? All the best stuff is made in Japan." This was the 80's. It wasn't always so bad for Japanese things... Nowadays, I trust what works. Hand made things, German cars, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16YearOldAudiophile Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Well there you go... Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Deep Purple "Made in Japan" is pretty damn good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowooo Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Like we really landed on the MOON! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Japan did make junk,then they made good stuff,now china,indonesia,etc... make most everything.DEEP PURPLE,MADE IN JAPAN is still a quality product,but sad to say it is also made in china. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 The USA is a service oriented society. We actually produce nothing but smog and garbage. We sit on our a$$es and let others do the 'dirty work'. Then we complain about what sorry service we get. About 40 years ago I noticed when driving by US Steel Corp. that if you drove a foreign made vehicle and worked there you had to park in a special parking lot across a four lane highway. The vehicles parked there were few and far between and generally junk. The parking lot is grown up head high now with weeds and the plant that gave a college education to many workers kids is now closed. They build Mercedes' now just down the road a ways. My garbage bill is $48 a quarter and the workers are Mexican. Just a few observations. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Intel finally hit it big after its turn-around-man made teh trip to a Japanese chip maker and learned why they had such a sucessful chip making process, VERY low failure rate. the places were dust free. that was the key. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 I thought DP's "Made in Japan" was made in Osaka and Tokyo. China? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Ha, I was just pulling your chain over a miniscule faux pas. (Does anyone make women's shoes called faux pas? Clint could put them in his movies.) It is a bit interesting that very much of the mechanism of the 500 series cameras is in the lense; and the lense is made by CZ. So much of the camera is really German. We should see if the manufacturing site has an "S". I appreciate entirely the vast contribution this camera made to the space program. It is interesting to contemplate that NASA needed a high quality camera, which could be used by men in helmets (view finder issue) and film changes could be made with gloves. Do you need years of research? Nope, Vicktor H. has them in stock. But even without milspecs, I recall that one of the original Mercury astronauts took his own up on one of the first missions. Wally Sherra? I would agree with your friend about Volvo. While in college I saved up all my summer work money and bought an 1800s Volvo from a grad student. Quite a remarkable car. This was in the time when, to bring in part of the thread, Nissans (nee Datsuns) were made of tinfoil and Volkswagons had very poor heaters. The 1800 Volvo makes an appearance in a recent Rod Stewart video/music piece. Classic style. Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 That Swiss/Swedish thing seems to crop up in folks of all ages. Each year in college we had exchange students from Swedish Royal Institute of Technology and US students would often spit out the wrong SW country name in talking to them. Of course the most fun was watching their reaction to commercials using the heavy fake SWEDISH accent...pretty dumb sounding..."don't CHA, wanTA, go to THE conceRT... They were big fans of the VOLVO which wasn't too popular like it is now...still perceived as boxey elk crushers. Old Saabs and Volvo were popular with grad students...those w/rusted fenders duct taped to the car were the most popular style. We were watching the news one night and they announced the Nobel Prize winner in Medicine...a young Swede quietly said, "that's my dad". HUH! You got to be kidding me. True but no big deal. I didn't feel like I had to keep up academically with the Samulsons after that...not in my DNA. My first job offer out of college was with Mitsubishi Semi...would have spent the first two years in JAPAN...would have been a great experience but I like working for a US firm. I went to Japan a few years ago for work...a great experience. If I go back I'll need to do some stretching and be prepared for more sitting on mats. Someone should post the quality ratings on cars...are the Lexus and Infinity still 1 & 2? I love the style of the future 2005 Mustang! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Favog Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 In one of the "Dirty Harry" movies Harry takes over a bus full of senior citizens to chase a man on a motorcycle. In the chase scene they come accross a sweet(ish) looking Saab from say about 1971-72. Even had the name big as life under the drivers door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Years of eating Swedish pancakes, topped with Swiss cheese have undoubtedly confused the issue for me. Where did I put the Scotch?... fini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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