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Author Topic: Made in the USA?  (Read 11425 times)

cyberean

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Made in the USA?
« Reply #20 on: December 10, 2009, 11:26:19 am »

Quote from: gwhitf
What the hell do we do in the USA any more, just watch "Dancing With The Stars"? Is that our only product any more: Reality Television? It just makes you wonder.
no, we're also really good at: derivatives, junk bonds, genetically
engineered stuffs labeled as food, big insurance, poor healthcare,
and ... umm ... celebrities
(and i'm sure i overlooked one or two other fine home made products)


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julius0377

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« Reply #21 on: December 10, 2009, 11:44:20 am »

Quote from: TMARK
Machine tools, nuclear equipment, shipbuilding, military aircraft, major components are all built in the US.  RAM, processors, etc are sourced from where ever.
For instance the Aker Philadelphia yard is owned and controlled by a Norwegian using mostly technology developed in European shipyards. (http://www.akerphiladelphia.com/)

Another example is the "Kongsberg gruppen", producing items such as the CROWS II system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Remotely_Operated_Weapon_Station) and a missile system called JSM for the Joint Strike Fighter for european use as well as Carbon Fiber components for the Joint Strike Fighter.

And these are only a few of the local owners/operators/contractors that I know of from my country, there must be a great number of these that go both ways over the pond. So yes, ofthen built in the US, but more than ever a complex web of local and overseas contracts, patents and owners.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2009, 11:45:10 am by julius0377 »
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PdF

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« Reply #22 on: December 10, 2009, 11:48:47 am »

Quote from: mattlap2
Not much on the camera front anymore.   KB Canham is made are made in AZ for the field view camera market.

On the lighting side there are far greater choices.  

Speedotron - Chicago
Dynalite - New Jersey
Norman - Used to be California but now manufactured in the Chicago suburbs
Photogenic - Used to be in Ohio, but now in chicago suburbs.  Same owner as Norman
Chimera - Colorado
Plume - Colorado
Matthews - California
Westcott - Ohio
Mole Richardson - California
Smith Victor - Suburban Chicago ..same owner as Norman and Photogenic
Lowell - New York


Don't forget :

View-Master - Portland, Oregon

PdF
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TMARK

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« Reply #23 on: December 10, 2009, 12:22:39 pm »

Quote from: julius0377
For instance the Aker Philadelphia yard is owned and controlled by a Norwegian using mostly technology developed in European shipyards. (http://www.akerphiladelphia.com/)

Another example is the "Kongsberg gruppen", producing items such as the CROWS II system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Remotely_Operated_Weapon_Station) and a missile system called JSM for the Joint Strike Fighter for european use as well as Carbon Fiber components for the Joint Strike Fighter.

And these are only a few of the local owners/operators/contractors that I know of from my country, there must be a great number of these that go both ways over the pond. So yes, ofthen built in the US, but more than ever a complex web of local and overseas contracts, patents and owners.

I don't think it is realistic to think that any company is solely a domestic operation.  Our Dodge Sprinter production van was made, mostly, in Germany.  My wife's BMW was built in South Carolina, her last Honda in Ohio.  My 1979 Chevy Cheyanne pickup was made in Canada.  Global trade erased boundries, mostly erased nationalism in the developed West and East, at least among elites.  I do miss the days when a friend would be going to Europe and ask if I needed anything.  There was always something I liked from when I lived in Europe that I couldn't get in the states.  A few days ago a friend asked if I needed/wanted anything from Berlin.  Nothing that I can't get from the web or in Manhattan. Bumed me out.
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Misirlou

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« Reply #24 on: December 10, 2009, 12:29:15 pm »

Quote from: cyberean
no, we're also really good at: derivatives, junk bonds, genetically
engineered stuffs labeled as food, big insurance, poor healthcare,
and ... umm ... celebrities
(and i'm sure i overlooked one or two other fine home made products)

Yeah, that's right. That's why all the leaders of other countries come to the US for medical treatment when they get sick.
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LiamStrain

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« Reply #25 on: December 10, 2009, 12:41:05 pm »

Quote from: Misirlou
Yeah, that's right. That's why all the leaders of other countries come to the US for medical treatment when they get sick.

...but our own citizens find it more affordable to fly to India and spend a week in a luxury hotel there after surgery, than to stay here for it.

Misirlou

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« Reply #26 on: December 10, 2009, 12:51:59 pm »

Quote from: LiamStrain
...but our own citizens find it more affordable to fly to India and spend a week in a luxury hotel there after surgery, than to stay here for it.

Sure. The per capita income in India is something like $1,100 US per year. Things are bound to be lots cheaper there. Doesn't mean health care here is "bad," just more expensive. Personally, I'd prefer to have the choice to have my operations here, rather than being forced to go to India, when it's no longer legal to pay for health services with my own money.

My mom spends a significant time out of the country doing pro bono surgery in places with supposedly magnificent government-run health care systems. For example, she does a lot of cleft pallete surgery on children in Cuba, for no pay. Would you say Cuba has a "better" health care system?
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uaiomex

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« Reply #27 on: December 10, 2009, 12:56:21 pm »

Pancho Villla, a self-declared atheist, died in a LOS ANGELES hospital held by the arms of a CATHOLIC NUN. Such is life.

Quote from: LiamStrain
...but our own citizens find it more affordable to fly to India and spend a week in a luxury hotel there after surgery, than to stay here for it.
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bcooter

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Made in the USA?
« Reply #28 on: December 10, 2009, 01:20:38 pm »

Quote from: gwhitf
What the hell do we do in the USA any more, just watch "Dancing With The Stars"? Is that our only product any more: Reality Television? It just makes you wonder.


Hey, watch that.  We're really good at blowin' shit up and making movies about blowin' shit up so show some reverence.

Also to get regional on you, down the Road from Cooter is Dallas, Texas Home of the Margarita and the perfect place to drink it . . . the shopping mall.

And another source of pride just a little further from Dallas is Houston, home of breast augmentation.

(and yes they still make margaritas, shopping malls and breast implants in Texas)

So let's see a little respect here and have a bag of freedom fries.

BC


Now in all seriousness, the U.S. excels in opportunity especially for immigrants.  Don't think so, check out my Korean Grocer that came here 20 years ago and now owns a block in Los Angeles.

I'm married to an immigrant and when she left her homeland the tax rate was so screwy that if she worked overtime she made less money on her paycheck.  Now, our immigration system is a mess, but we still take in more immigrants than any place in the world (which I am immensely proud of ) .

When I step out on my street there are more people whose native language is not English/American (yes Cooter is a very multi-national market).

Anyway since my Wife's move to the U.S. she flourished with success.  She probably would have done the same in her home country but you couldn't get her to move back with a gun.

And also in all fairness this is the only country I know that in our industry (and a lot of others) coming from Italy, France, Brazil or anywhere you can fly to NY with a portfolio and a camera and get a gig. Work hard you can become famous.

I love other countries but can promise you in for an American getting a good gig in Europe  is not easy.  China and Japan . . . possible . . . but Europe/Canada very difficult.

Every 4th of July I try to ride the Ferry to Staten Island, past the Statue of Liberty.  That thing wasn't put there for me, it was put there for my wife and the thousands of people that fly into America every day dreaming of opportunity and God Love em' willing to work for it.

[attachment=18551:staten_i...nd_ferry.jpg]

BC
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cyberean

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« Reply #29 on: December 10, 2009, 01:45:58 pm »

Quote from: Misirlou
Yeah, that's right. That's why all the leaders of other countries come to the US for medical treatment when they get sick.
must be nice to be a leader of another country ...

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cyberean

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« Reply #30 on: December 10, 2009, 01:51:31 pm »

Quote from: bcooter
[attachment=18551:staten_i...nd_ferry.jpg]

BC
i loves beautiful pictures too ...


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TMARK

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« Reply #31 on: December 10, 2009, 01:56:04 pm »

Quote from: cyberean
must be nice to be a leader of another country ...
Meanwhile my brother in law had to set his broken hand his own self.  I ended up paying for him to have surgery on it to set it correctly.
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TMARK

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« Reply #32 on: December 10, 2009, 01:58:16 pm »

Quote from: cyberean
i loves beautiful pictures too ...


That dude is just lazy.  Come on, sleeping all day in that beautiful Cali sunshine, where the hills smell like Rosemary and basil, and you can get discovered on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.
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ErikKaffehr

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« Reply #33 on: December 10, 2009, 02:30:33 pm »

Hi,

For one thing there are are a lot of high tech companies in Denmark, Phase One, Imacon, Bang & Olofsen (HiFi), Ortofon (Audio), Brüel & Kjaer (audio instrumentation). I don't know why, I often asked why this concentration of very high tech firms in a country so small and expensive? I honestly don't know.

I bought a lot of US-made stuff recently. I don't know if my new MacPro counts as US-made, but I also bought a lot of really good stuff from Really Right Stuff. Before that I bought stuff from Acratech (also US). My latest investment in US economy was a RAID box from OWC.

My guess may be that US firms are doing to much marketing and management instead of developing products that the customer want and can afford. The Phase backs used to use Kodak CCDs but now they have Dalsa chips in at least some of the backs. So why did Kodak quit making digital backs.

In my view it's not the high cost of labour that it is the problem, I guess that cost of labor is much higher in Denmark or most West European countries, with our integrated welfare and high tax system.

Another issue is that there was a conversion from silver haled based photography to electronic devices. This was a very rapid change and companies that were not agile enough did not survive. The list is long...

Best regards
Erik Kaffehr


Quote from: gwhitf
I watched Obama on television early this morning, as he swung through the DriveThru Window at the PhaseOne factory, to pick up his P65+ in person, and I began to wonder, "Is anything in our industry actually made in the United States any longer?" I guess if this was 1965 or so, that Phase One back would have a Zenith sticker on it, or RCA, or Delco. But I look around, and I see Canon, Nikon, Phase, Rollei, Sony, Ricoh, Sinar, Arca, Alpa, none of which are US companies. I guess you could count Kodak, but do they actually make anything, or do they just distribute?

I think USA, and all I can count are that weird little White Lightning company, and maybe RRS in San Luis Obispo, but who knows where there stuff is actually manufactured? What the hell do we do in the USA any more, just watch "Dancing With The Stars"? Is that our only product any more: Reality Television? It just makes you wonder.
« Last Edit: December 10, 2009, 04:38:40 pm by ErikKaffehr »
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mattlap2

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« Reply #34 on: December 10, 2009, 02:37:21 pm »

Quote from: ErikKaffehr
Hi,

For one thing there are are a lot of high tech companies in Denmark, Phase One, Imacon, Dicomed, Bang & Olofsen (HiFi), Ortofon (Audio), Brüel & Kjaer (audio instrumentation). I don't know why, I often asked why this concentration of very high tech firms in a country so small and expensive? I honestly don't know.

I bought a lot of US-made stuff recently. I don't know if my new MacPro counts as US-made, but I also bought a lot of really good stuff from Really Right Stuff. Before that I bought stuff from Acratech (also US). My latest investment in US economy was a RAID box from OWC.

My guess may be that US firms are doing to much marketing and management instead of developing products that the customer want and can afford. The Phase backs used to use Kodak CCDs but now they have Dalsa chips in at least some of the backs. So why did Kodak quit making digital backs.

In my view it's not the high cost of labour that it is the problem, I guess that cost of labor is much higher in Denmark or most West European countries, with our integrated welfare and high tax system.

Another issue is that there was a conversion from silver haled based photography to electronic devices. This was a very rapid change and companies that were not agile enough did not survive. The list is long...

Best regards
Erik Kaffehr

Denmark has always had strong financial incentives for tech companies.   However Dicomed was actually a US company, based out of Minnesota.  
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BJL

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« Reply #35 on: December 10, 2009, 03:09:58 pm »

Quote from: Misirlou
That's why all the leaders of other countries come to the US for medical treatment when they get sick.
The debate is about affordability and access (or lack thereof for about 10% of citizens), not the quality of the product available to those who have enough insurance or assets to pay for it.


P. S. All leaders, of all other countries?! I have not read much about Western European or Canadian or Australian leaders traveling to the USA for medical treatment.
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julius0377

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« Reply #36 on: December 10, 2009, 03:16:18 pm »

Quote from: bcooter
I'm married to an immigrant and when she left her homeland the tax rate was so screwy that if she worked overtime she made less money on her paycheck.  Now, our immigration system is a mess, but we still take in more immigrants than any place in the world (which I am immensely proud of ) .
Per capita is the interesting figure, not the sum total. And in per capita you are around 8-10 down from the top with Canada on top of the list.

If you look at continental immigration however, Europe takes in more immigrants with North America in a close second according to wikipedia. The latest figures supposedly from 2005.

Statistically mesuring immigration is stated as difficult to measure, and saying something based on figures you can search for on the interweb...

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ErikKaffehr

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« Reply #37 on: December 10, 2009, 04:39:52 pm »

Sorry about mixing up Dicomed, corrected!

Best regards
Erik

Quote from: mattlap2
... However Dicomed was actually a US company, based out of Minnesota.
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ErikKaffehr

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« Reply #38 on: December 10, 2009, 04:52:17 pm »

Hi,

You may find this site interesting: http://christiansandstrom.org/cameraindustry.php

Christian Sandström is a Swedish PhD in economics who has done a lot of research on disruptive changes in the photographic industri. He has quite a few presentations on the issue.

Best regards
Erik



Quote from: gwhitf
I watched Obama on television early this morning, as he swung through the DriveThru Window at the PhaseOne factory, to pick up his P65+ in person, and I began to wonder, "Is anything in our industry actually made in the United States any longer?" I guess if this was 1965 or so, that Phase One back would have a Zenith sticker on it, or RCA, or Delco. But I look around, and I see Canon, Nikon, Phase, Rollei, Sony, Ricoh, Sinar, Arca, Alpa, none of which are US companies. I guess you could count Kodak, but do they actually make anything, or do they just distribute?

I think USA, and all I can count are that weird little White Lightning company, and maybe RRS in San Luis Obispo, but who knows where there stuff is actually manufactured? What the hell do we do in the USA any more, just watch "Dancing With The Stars"? Is that our only product any more: Reality Television? It just makes you wonder.
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Misirlou

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« Reply #39 on: December 10, 2009, 06:12:15 pm »

Quote from: BJL
The debate is about affordability and access (or lack thereof for about 10% of citizens), not the quality of the product available to those who have enough insurance or assets to pay for it.


P. S. All leaders, of all other countries?! I have not read much about Western European or Canadian or Australian leaders traveling to the USA for medical treatment.


What debate? I thought this thread was about things manufactured in the US. The US manufacturs a lot of medical equipment, educates a lot of doctors, and our medical system provides advanced treatment options attract customers from all over the world.

If you want to discuss whether or not those medical services are affordable, that's a different matter. Leicas are made in Germany, but that doesn't imply all Germans can afford Leicas.

And for the record, Berlusconi came to the US for his cancer treatments.
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