Fender Musical Instruments has two Brands: Fender and Squier. Squier instruments are made in Indonesia now. They were formerly made in Korea and Mexico. They have never been anything above bargain-basement instruments.
Fender brand instruments are made in Mexico, Japan, and the USA. For a time in the mid-80s, the Japanese Fenders WERE of superior quality to the american ones, but their QC has changed now. Fender only has a handful of guitars that are made in Japan now, mostly artist signature series instruments. The ones that are made there are equivalent in build quality to USA fenders but lack a bit in the finer touches. For example, USA fenders, starting in 2000, have rolled fingerboard edges, better quality hardware, and are just a lot more polished than the past 15 years worth of instruments.
Fender lost a lot of market share in the 80s to Ibanez, ESP, Jackson, and other shred-guitar manufacturers because everyone wanted a locking tremolo and a ruler-thin neck and all that garbage. They had a great Ibanez clone (which is ironic since Ibanez made its name with clones of Fenders, Gibsons, Rickenbackers, etc.) called the Heartfield Talon but it came out too late; Nirvana came out about a year later.
So in short, Japanese Fenders were better when they first started making guitars in Japan, but then the USA crew got its act together and overtook them now. As of today, the USA guitars are superior.
I own quite a few things made in the USA. On the whole quality is much higher than made overseas - save Japan and western euro nations.
For example - I'm a bassist, and I own 4 bass guitars. One made in the USA, one made in Germany, one made in China, and one made in Mexico. In order of quality, I'd put them like so (best to least)
USA Germany China Mexico
The USA bass is a bit simpler than the German one, but the German one has a part that shouldn't have broken that was broken by its previous owner, so I have to put it second.
the only reason we import oil is because our politicians make a lot of money that way. If US politics wasn't directly intertwined with the oil industry, you can bet we wouldn't be importing any.
a lack of cheap 3rd world labour would give americans a) jobs b) quality goods. People are so used to shittiness that (b) would be a major eye-opener.
Like I said, this would be temporary, maybe a year at most.
ok, on the one hand you talk about america as the Great Melting Pot, but next you talk about how isolationism is racist - which means you believe in an "American Race"? Make up your mind.
The sig is a sig, if you don't get the concept, shut the fuck up.
frankly, yes, it does come down to that, and I wish they would close the borders for a limited time, 6 months to a year maybe. Once the world sees what it's like without the USA to run to, perhaps they'll be a little more appreciative of what we offer to them.
The grant isn't paying for the admission (tuition) but the facilities and curriculum. Both are needed to educate someone; as such this grant would fund the education of non-citizens. I don't have a problem with denying government help to non-citizens.
the world needs more people trying to be recognized for the right reasons.
You can contribute to your own ego and to humanity at the same time. Do you think Edison wanted to make a light bulb because he felt a great need to help humanity see in the dark? No, he wanted to patent it and become rich and famous. That makes it no less of a contribution to humanity.
I just don't see the point of creating art in order to destroy it. What if you had a child, and killed him/her 30 seconds after birth? That's a creation, that you destroyed, and it's a pretty apt analogy for an artist's work.
it doesn't make them worthless or shallow, but I can't experience anything about them. That's where permanence comes in. If they were so beautiful, why don't you want to share them with the world? The world needs more beautiful things, not self-centered people hoarding their own little pieces of happiness.
Why am I inclined to think that if he was an American teenager, he wouldn't have been arrested? It would have just been, "now junior, just give us back those codes and we won't tell anyone about your little hacking escapade, and we won't put you in jail, either".
here's the forest, those are the trees that you see.
It's not about people eating and having to farm their own land. Farmers today are so few in number due to technology. If feudal serfs had tractors (and petroleum, and knew how to use them, blah blah) they wouldn't have needed 12 hour days to eat.
It's about the attitudes - both those of the worker and of the feudal lords (i.e. management/C*Os) that enslave them.
A feudal serf had it simpler, though. Pay tribute to the lord or die. today, it's "donate your life to the corporation" or.. well, you can find something else to do, eventually.
excellent post. You say exactly how I feel, but it only took me a couple of years as a programmer to get there.
The best tech job I've ever had in terms of satisfaction was doing service calls for a PC shop. The people were happy to see me and happy with my work.
I'm betting the goal is more like a computerized IV pump sort of thing that administers some kind of drug to calm them down and make them more efficient killers.
WWII was, of course, won without this sort of thing, not counting the morphine addicts.
The fan base (i.e. the community) is separate from the marketeers. Case in point: Star Wars. If the fan base had any say in the prequels, they would be totally different. But we don't.
Corporations don't give a shit about their products' community when it comes to evaluating profitability. They look at things like gross revenue, net earnings, units sold, focus group surveys, market projections, all that business-oriented stuff that nobody in OSS seems to want to care about. Even Red Hat just sells the products that OSS creates (+ support), they don't listen to the community any more than to make sure they're getting a relatively stable version of a package.
Throwing up the community as an example of why OSS will win is a crock. You don't win in business by having fans, you win by making the most money with the best product. OSS has too many idealistic commie types working for it to ever be 100% trusted in the business world.
OK, the docs, too. I missed that point, but I disclaim it by saying "it should INVOLVE" that, not be comprised solely of that.
The idea is not for the OS not to work much differently. At least, not that the user can tell. Users are comfortable with the Chicago GUI and don't want to change, and honestly, why should they be forced to use something different because a few geeks on a weblog-type site think the Chicago GUI sucks? I'm no nazi.
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They could also be used for crowd control, or spying on dissidents, or attacking remote outposts of constitutionalist militias...
are we living in 1993? no. you have no point.
yeah, and let us all know so we can laugh at you as you starve on the street! (the grandparent that is)
ok, I forgot that Fender made good Squiers in Japan before they made that name their budget plywood guitar line. My mistake.
yeah, that silly Madame Curie, she never did anything useful.
OK, here's the deal, as I understand it.
Fender Musical Instruments has two Brands: Fender and Squier. Squier instruments are made in Indonesia now. They were formerly made in Korea and Mexico. They have never been anything above bargain-basement instruments.
Fender brand instruments are made in Mexico, Japan, and the USA. For a time in the mid-80s, the Japanese Fenders WERE of superior quality to the american ones, but their QC has changed now. Fender only has a handful of guitars that are made in Japan now, mostly artist signature series instruments. The ones that are made there are equivalent in build quality to USA fenders but lack a bit in the finer touches. For example, USA fenders, starting in 2000, have rolled fingerboard edges, better quality hardware, and are just a lot more polished than the past 15 years worth of instruments.
Fender lost a lot of market share in the 80s to Ibanez, ESP, Jackson, and other shred-guitar manufacturers because everyone wanted a locking tremolo and a ruler-thin neck and all that garbage. They had a great Ibanez clone (which is ironic since Ibanez made its name with clones of Fenders, Gibsons, Rickenbackers, etc.) called the Heartfield Talon but it came out too late; Nirvana came out about a year later.
So in short, Japanese Fenders were better when they first started making guitars in Japan, but then the USA crew got its act together and overtook them now. As of today, the USA guitars are superior.
I own quite a few things made in the USA. On the whole quality is much higher than made overseas - save Japan and western euro nations.
For example - I'm a bassist, and I own 4 bass guitars. One made in the USA, one made in Germany, one made in China, and one made in Mexico. In order of quality, I'd put them like so (best to least)
USA
Germany
China
Mexico
The USA bass is a bit simpler than the German one, but the German one has a part that shouldn't have broken that was broken by its previous owner, so I have to put it second.
the only reason we import oil is because our politicians make a lot of money that way. If US politics wasn't directly intertwined with the oil industry, you can bet we wouldn't be importing any.
a lack of cheap 3rd world labour would give americans a) jobs b) quality goods. People are so used to shittiness that (b) would be a major eye-opener.
Like I said, this would be temporary, maybe a year at most.
See? Either way, the world benefits. I'm in total agreement with you. I'm sick of our gov't and their corporate masters trying to conquer the world.
ok, on the one hand you talk about america as the Great Melting Pot, but next you talk about how isolationism is racist - which means you believe in an "American Race"? Make up your mind.
The sig is a sig, if you don't get the concept, shut the fuck up.
frankly, yes, it does come down to that, and I wish they would close the borders for a limited time, 6 months to a year maybe. Once the world sees what it's like without the USA to run to, perhaps they'll be a little more appreciative of what we offer to them.
I think the feeling is more like this: we've had enough immigrants. It's time to take care of our own.
The grant isn't paying for the admission (tuition) but the facilities and curriculum. Both are needed to educate someone; as such this grant would fund the education of non-citizens. I don't have a problem with denying government help to non-citizens.
the position of the government is this:
"We're right. Why? Because. Don't make me invade you! Nyah"
the world needs more people trying to be recognized for the right reasons.
You can contribute to your own ego and to humanity at the same time. Do you think Edison wanted to make a light bulb because he felt a great need to help humanity see in the dark? No, he wanted to patent it and become rich and famous. That makes it no less of a contribution to humanity.
I just don't see the point of creating art in order to destroy it. What if you had a child, and killed him/her 30 seconds after birth? That's a creation, that you destroyed, and it's a pretty apt analogy for an artist's work.
it doesn't make them worthless or shallow, but I can't experience anything about them. That's where permanence comes in. If they were so beautiful, why don't you want to share them with the world? The world needs more beautiful things, not self-centered people hoarding their own little pieces of happiness.
Why am I inclined to think that if he was an American teenager, he wouldn't have been arrested? It would have just been, "now junior, just give us back those codes and we won't tell anyone about your little hacking escapade, and we won't put you in jail, either".
here's the forest, those are the trees that you see.
It's not about people eating and having to farm their own land. Farmers today are so few in number due to technology. If feudal serfs had tractors (and petroleum, and knew how to use them, blah blah) they wouldn't have needed 12 hour days to eat.
It's about the attitudes - both those of the worker and of the feudal lords (i.e. management/C*Os) that enslave them.
A feudal serf had it simpler, though. Pay tribute to the lord or die. today, it's "donate your life to the corporation" or.. well, you can find something else to do, eventually.
excellent post. You say exactly how I feel, but it only took me a couple of years as a programmer to get there.
The best tech job I've ever had in terms of satisfaction was doing service calls for a PC shop. The people were happy to see me and happy with my work.
yeah, because you can't prove success without material possessions, right? dickhead.
I'm betting the goal is more like a computerized IV pump sort of thing that administers some kind of drug to calm them down and make them more efficient killers.
WWII was, of course, won without this sort of thing, not counting the morphine addicts.
yeah, and damn that new york times, putting headlines out there that troll for buyers.
The fan base (i.e. the community) is separate from the marketeers. Case in point: Star Wars. If the fan base had any say in the prequels, they would be totally different. But we don't.
Corporations don't give a shit about their products' community when it comes to evaluating profitability. They look at things like gross revenue, net earnings, units sold, focus group surveys, market projections, all that business-oriented stuff that nobody in OSS seems to want to care about. Even Red Hat just sells the products that OSS creates (+ support), they don't listen to the community any more than to make sure they're getting a relatively stable version of a package.
Throwing up the community as an example of why OSS will win is a crock. You don't win in business by having fans, you win by making the most money with the best product. OSS has too many idealistic commie types working for it to ever be 100% trusted in the business world.
OK, the docs, too. I missed that point, but I disclaim it by saying "it should INVOLVE" that, not be comprised solely of that.
The idea is not for the OS not to work much differently. At least, not that the user can tell. Users are comfortable with the Chicago GUI and don't want to change, and honestly, why should they be forced to use something different because a few geeks on a weblog-type site think the Chicago GUI sucks? I'm no nazi.
Thank you very much. (I hate to be all self-congratulatory in my own thread but you don't have an email address and /. has no private message facility)