I was a mold polisher (diamond finishing/bench work) for around 10
years, and my family has been in the business (in the USA) for
decades. However, I changed careers some time ago and most of my
(polishing based) family have found work in other areas. Also, my
father who ran the shop for so long has since retired. The shop is
still open, and molds come in every once in a while, but for the most
part no one depends on polishing work anymore.

I am curious of what some of the industry trends are these days.

My questions a

1. What is the future of polishing? I read a few articles on high
speed machining, and it seems that it limits the need for polishing.
How much impact has this had on the polishing industry?

2. Why have the polishing tools stayed the same for so long. From what
I understand, di-profilers haven't changed much over the years. Why
hasn't there been innovations in technology as related to polishing
tools? Or has there been new technology?

3. How has globalisation affected things? How much polishing work is
being done in china?