Well said.

Dave

"Rick Cook" wrote in message
...


RonB wrote:

Maybe the best that can happen is our tool industry will fall to the
levels
the auto industry did during the 70's. I still remember buying a new
Olds
Cutlass and finding rust on it within three months. The best the dealer
could do was add bondo and let it continue to rust.

Then, the Japaneese moved in and Detroit finally woke up and started
building good cars again. Unfortunately a lot of Americans discovered
Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans and Volvos in the interim. We are fickle as
consumers and it is hard to get us back when we are satisfied with a
product.

The same thing happened in the semiconductor equipment industry in the
early
90s. The Japanese started to clobber us in their typical Japanese fashion,
American (and European) companies woke up, made major changes, and won
back
market share.
So it can be done.

Whether it will be done with home equipment is another question. Singer
used to
make the best sewing machines in the world, hands down. Then 'value
engineering' set in and they ended up pushing crap made in Brazil. My
wife, the
expert, won't touch a new Singer, but she still dreams about finding one
of the
classic ones at a price she can afford.

One thing that will help is if the discerning customers (like the members
of
this newsgroup) make their opinions heard long and loud at the companies.
It's
not a cure but it's better than just taking it until we move to stuff from
other companies.

--RC