Nikon D7000 is made in China, CHINA!!!

On Mon, 20 Dec 2010 07:42:19 -0800, Savageduck
wrote:

On 2010-12-20 04:40:23 -0800, Bruce said:

"David J Taylor" wrote:
I remember when Japanese-made products were routinely criticised as
junk on exactly the same basis - the same blind prejudice.

Same here, and I already made that point.


Apologies for repeating it, but it needs emphasising that China is
following much the same path as Japan did nearly half a century ago.

I remember friends who scoffed at my shiny new Honda motorcycle which,
according to them, didn't match up to their British bikes. But my
Honda took me everywhere reliably and economically, whereas they
needed to pack a set of tools every time they left home and always
ended up tinkering with their bikes during a journey.

Within a very few years, Japanese bikes took over most of the market
and Britain's largest manufacturer, BSA/Triumph, had closed.

Aah! The folly of the English motorcycle engineers.

I can think of two things, suggested at the time which BSA/Triumph
could have done to help their cause in the 60's, and which in their,
"but we have been doing it this way since 1932" wisdom they refused to
do. Dump the cork faced clutch, and re-engineer/re-design the
vertically split crankcase.

My cousin's Triumph 500 was always in pieces needing cluch repairs and
always leaked oil due to the vertical-split crank case which never
sealed properly.

I found that Rolls Royce gasket cement did a good job of keeping the
oil in my Triumph 500.

My 305 Honda 305 Super Hawk would just run, and had an
electric starter!

The English motorcycle industry was locked into their post war "Golden
age" of the late 40's-early 50's using pre-war 1930's manufacturing
technology and design.

That was the real problem. The British motorcycle industry was stuck
with what were basically pre-war designs because they were stuck with
pre-war machine tools and manufacturing methods. To some extent the
continuance of obsolete designs could be blamed on the government of
the time which would not allow new models to be introduced until after
1949.

The Japanese, German and Italian MC factories
were newly rebuilt and could introduce innovation in design and
manufacturing tech. By 1958 the English manufacturers were behind the
curve and once Mike Hailwood won a World 125cc Championship with Mr.
Honda's little motorcycles it was all over.

...but I would have loved to have had a Norton Atlas back then, or
perhaps a Commando after 1968.

A Vincent Black Lightning for me.


In photography, beautifully made Japanese 35mm rangefinder cameras
replaced beautifully made German scale focus cameras, probably within
a single decade. They were cheaper and just as reliable. Their
lenses got better and better as the years went on, eventually far
exceeding the quality of all but the very best German cameras.

The same will happen with China. Taken as a whole, Chinese cars,
motorcycles, cameras, televisions, cell phones etc. may seem like a
joke to the likes of Rich, but their quality is rapidly improving and
it will only be a matter of time before Japan has difficulty
competing, just as Germany did in the 1960s.

...and then the Chinese will outsource manufacturing to the countries
it owns, the USA, & the U.K., the Canadians only built cheesy GM
knock-offs and had some Levi production before that all moved to
Guatamala & Mexico, so Rich and his racially/ethnically pure offspring
should be safe. ;-)



Eric Stevens