Thinkpads have been manufactured in China for quite awhile. I'm sure people had the same perceptions about electronics coming out of Japan at first. Weren't the consumer electronics coming out of Japan starting in the 60s and 70s just cheap knock-offs of American products? I don't think anyone associates Japan with inferior electronics today.
Perceptions about Chinese products will change over time as Chinese designed and manufactured goods become higher quality. In time, Chinese manufacturers will move up the food chain into vehicles, etc.
I own a T-series Thinkpad, and I love it. I'd have to see some studies documenting a decline in Thinkpad quality before I change my opinion. However, I don't like the idea of Thinkpads being sold at Best Buy. I think there's a certain stigma to computers sold at retail stores, particularly laptops. I'd hate to see the Thinkpad brand diminished because they're sold at the mall.
"Me fail English? That's unpossible." - Ralph Wiggum
Do a search for Falun Gong using both the regular Google and google.cn. The China version not only censors the results, but pushes propoganda to the top of the search results. "Don't be evil" indeed. I absolutely love Google and won't be switching anytime soon. But maybe for the China version they should just change the "G" in Google to a hammer and sickle.
Graham assumes that all avenues of work are open to all people, as long as they love what they want to do. The role of education isn't emphasized enough in his piece. Pontificating over the choice of fulfilling jobs available to someone with a Masters degree would seem far-removed from someone with only a high school education. Granted, that rules out most slashdotters.
Instead of trying to instill a belief in kids that work != pain, we should focus on education == opportunity. A lifelong love of learning will open many more doors for someone than trying to find a job you love with a limited skill set. Not to stereotype, but the majority of Asian parents I've worked with are extremely effective at emphasizing the value of education in their kids. Those values are a large factor behind the economic growth in China and SE Asia.
I disagree. I switched to BOINC in June and the transition was difficult. It's not a simple matter of installing a new client. There's a registration process and management of a new unique key that identifies you to BOINC. The worst part was that my credit from all the work under SETI@Home did NOT transfer over to the BOINC system. I've been using the SETI@Home client since 1999 and was disappointed to loose credit for all that work.
If it's not a seamless transition from SETI@Home to BOINC, they will inevitably lose users.
...but 'made in China' and 'quality product' rarely appear in the same paragraph...
That may have been true in the past, but going forward China will increasingly be used as a low-cost platform for producing high-tech products. To borrow from Thomas Friedman, China is no longer content to "race us to the bottom" by producing socks and t-shirts. They want to race us to the top, by producing many of the consumer electronics and even software that we use in the US and around the world. Think I'm wrong? Look at Lenovo's recent acquisition of IBM's computer division. Most of the parts for the ThinkPad were already produced in China anyway.
In the 1950's, we laughed at Japan's crappy knock-offs of products like televisions, radios, and cameras. Japan finally came into their own and we don't think twice about buying a TV, computer, or car from Fujitsu, Sony, or Honda. In the future, the same will probably be true for China.
Agreed. I used to work for an extremely large chip manufacturer. Everyone from the CEO on down had a cubicle. Claiming that sitting in a cubicle means that you're a chump is incredibly naive.
Amen! Fall 2006?!? This is an outrage! The shuttle had been grounded for two years. I fully support government funding for a NASA dedicated to pure research (think Spirit and Opportunity). I think the shuttle replacement (CEV) should be the last of manned space flight under the direction of NASA, but let's get it going now. Between the Iraq war, Katrina, and the shuttle, the USA could use some checks in the win column.
I was required to become at least MCAD.NET certified for my job. In order to maintain a certain level of partnership with Microsoft, our company needed to have X% of employees with some sort of MS certification. My company took care of the cost of the exams, allowing us to fail up to three times before having to pay out of our own pocket.
I have to say I learned a little bit more than I knew prior to studying for the exams, but I'm not sure the benefit was really worth the cost. But I received a cool lapel pin and membership card from Microsoft!
You're absolutely correct; NASA is more of a jobs program. My brother recently completed his second internship at Cape Canaveral. He said it's impossible to fire anybody. Even after Columbia, people are more interested in keeping their little fiefdoms of control rather than focusing on real science.
The new manned/unmanned launch vehicle designs make a lot of sense. The US government needs to retain the capability to send people into orbit, but I would definitely be in favor of manned space flight being primarily an activity of private enterprise. However, to get the industry off the ground (pardon the pun) government subsidies and tax-incentives will be needed. NASA should continue to exist, but primarily for the sake of pure, unmanned, science.
I'm sorry, but that is completely incorrect. The.NET Framework only needs to be installed on the web server, NOT the user's client machine. There is no requirement that users have the.NET Framework installed to render ASP.NET pages.
Southern Florida is closer to the equator which gives the spacecraft more of a push to achieve orbit. The Earth's rotation means the land is actually traveling faster at the equator (1670 kph), while the land halfway to the poles is traveling slower (1180 kph). This extra push reduces the amount of energy required to make it to orbit.
It's not only the absurdity of rehashing a debate that took place 80 years ago. It's also that the proponents of "Intelligent Design" are identified as conservative. Why Republicans hitched their wagon to the religious right is beyond me. Being conservative means favoring a limited scope for government and greater responsibility and privacy for citizens. Where did this religious component come from? Religion is great and for the most part makes the world a better place. But I feel like the conservative banner has been hijacked by a vocal minority who feel emboldened by the attention they have received over the past 10 years from the Republican party.
Don't they realize that they're hurting the very children that they claim to want to help? How is the next generation of American engineers going to compete in the world if they think that world is flat?
Agreed. If China wants to be viewed as the next superpower, they could start with sorting out the mess in their own backyard. To date they have been ineffective. They hosted the 6-party talks, yet did not pressure N. Korea to knock off the nuclear business. China claims it wants a nuke-free Korean peninsula, but did nothing to stop N. Korea from violating agreements and building nukes. Less talk, more results, please.
My Dad bought an IBM PC Jr in 1984 so he could run Lotus 123 from home. He showed me how to get started with BASIC, and soon I was writing my own programs. Eventually we bought a 90MHz x486 and I would log on to BBSs in the neighborhood. Then I started calling long distance to connect to BBSs in California, such as Tower of the Screaming Electron. My Dad eventually got me an Internet account, complete with a text-based interface to the WWW.
I never realized it then, but the purchase of that first computer set the trajectory for the rest of my life. I don't know if I could give my own kid that same experience with all the pr0n and pedophiles online.
Close. The lifting body for the Soviet version of the space shuttle was called Energiya. The shuttle itself was called Buran, which is Russian for "snowstorm".
Slashdot Mirror
alcohol. Who knew?!
Thinkpads have been manufactured in China for quite awhile. I'm sure people had the same perceptions about electronics coming out of Japan at first. Weren't the consumer electronics coming out of Japan starting in the 60s and 70s just cheap knock-offs of American products? I don't think anyone associates Japan with inferior electronics today.
Perceptions about Chinese products will change over time as Chinese designed and manufactured goods become higher quality. In time, Chinese manufacturers will move up the food chain into vehicles, etc.
I own a T-series Thinkpad, and I love it. I'd have to see some studies documenting a decline in Thinkpad quality before I change my opinion. However, I don't like the idea of Thinkpads being sold at Best Buy. I think there's a certain stigma to computers sold at retail stores, particularly laptops. I'd hate to see the Thinkpad brand diminished because they're sold at the mall.
"Me fail English? That's unpossible." - Ralph Wiggum
Do a search for Falun Gong using both the regular Google and google.cn. The China version not only censors the results, but pushes propoganda to the top of the search results. "Don't be evil" indeed. I absolutely love Google and won't be switching anytime soon. But maybe for the China version they should just change the "G" in Google to a hammer and sickle.
Graham assumes that all avenues of work are open to all people, as long as they love what they want to do. The role of education isn't emphasized enough in his piece. Pontificating over the choice of fulfilling jobs available to someone with a Masters degree would seem far-removed from someone with only a high school education. Granted, that rules out most slashdotters.
Instead of trying to instill a belief in kids that work != pain, we should focus on education == opportunity. A lifelong love of learning will open many more doors for someone than trying to find a job you love with a limited skill set. Not to stereotype, but the majority of Asian parents I've worked with are extremely effective at emphasizing the value of education in their kids. Those values are a large factor behind the economic growth in China and SE Asia.
Of course, Judge Smails says "The world needs ditch diggers too."
I disagree. I switched to BOINC in June and the transition was difficult. It's not a simple matter of installing a new client. There's a registration process and management of a new unique key that identifies you to BOINC. The worst part was that my credit from all the work under SETI@Home did NOT transfer over to the BOINC system. I've been using the SETI@Home client since 1999 and was disappointed to loose credit for all that work.
If it's not a seamless transition from SETI@Home to BOINC, they will inevitably lose users.
In the 1950's, we laughed at Japan's crappy knock-offs of products like televisions, radios, and cameras. Japan finally came into their own and we don't think twice about buying a TV, computer, or car from Fujitsu, Sony, or Honda. In the future, the same will probably be true for China.
Agreed. I used to work for an extremely large chip manufacturer. Everyone from the CEO on down had a cubicle. Claiming that sitting in a cubicle means that you're a chump is incredibly naive.
Amen! Fall 2006?!? This is an outrage! The shuttle had been grounded for two years. I fully support government funding for a NASA dedicated to pure research (think Spirit and Opportunity). I think the shuttle replacement (CEV) should be the last of manned space flight under the direction of NASA, but let's get it going now. Between the Iraq war, Katrina, and the shuttle, the USA could use some checks in the win column.
I was required to become at least MCAD.NET certified for my job. In order to maintain a certain level of partnership with Microsoft, our company needed to have X% of employees with some sort of MS certification. My company took care of the cost of the exams, allowing us to fail up to three times before having to pay out of our own pocket.
I have to say I learned a little bit more than I knew prior to studying for the exams, but I'm not sure the benefit was really worth the cost. But I received a cool lapel pin and membership card from Microsoft!
You're absolutely correct; NASA is more of a jobs program. My brother recently completed his second internship at Cape Canaveral. He said it's impossible to fire anybody. Even after Columbia, people are more interested in keeping their little fiefdoms of control rather than focusing on real science.
The new manned/unmanned launch vehicle designs make a lot of sense. The US government needs to retain the capability to send people into orbit, but I would definitely be in favor of manned space flight being primarily an activity of private enterprise. However, to get the industry off the ground (pardon the pun) government subsidies and tax-incentives will be needed. NASA should continue to exist, but primarily for the sake of pure, unmanned, science.
I'm sorry, but that is completely incorrect. The .NET Framework only needs to be installed on the web server, NOT the user's client machine. There is no requirement that users have the .NET Framework installed to render ASP.NET pages.
Southern Florida is closer to the equator which gives the spacecraft more of a push to achieve orbit. The Earth's rotation means the land is actually traveling faster at the equator (1670 kph), while the land halfway to the poles is traveling slower (1180 kph). This extra push reduces the amount of energy required to make it to orbit.
This makes me angry.
It's not only the absurdity of rehashing a debate that took place 80 years ago. It's also that the proponents of "Intelligent Design" are identified as conservative. Why Republicans hitched their wagon to the religious right is beyond me. Being conservative means favoring a limited scope for government and greater responsibility and privacy for citizens. Where did this religious component come from? Religion is great and for the most part makes the world a better place. But I feel like the conservative banner has been hijacked by a vocal minority who feel emboldened by the attention they have received over the past 10 years from the Republican party.
Don't they realize that they're hurting the very children that they claim to want to help? How is the next generation of American engineers going to compete in the world if they think that world is flat?
7) Yakov Smirnoff
In Soviet Russia, the iPod Shuffles you!
Mod this moron as flamebait, please!
I live in Podunk Iowa, you insensitive clod!
Agreed. If China wants to be viewed as the next superpower, they could start with sorting out the mess in their own backyard. To date they have been ineffective. They hosted the 6-party talks, yet did not pressure N. Korea to knock off the nuclear business. China claims it wants a nuke-free Korean peninsula, but did nothing to stop N. Korea from violating agreements and building nukes. Less talk, more results, please.
My Dad bought an IBM PC Jr in 1984 so he could run Lotus 123 from home. He showed me how to get started with BASIC, and soon I was writing my own programs. Eventually we bought a 90MHz x486 and I would log on to BBSs in the neighborhood. Then I started calling long distance to connect to BBSs in California, such as Tower of the Screaming Electron. My Dad eventually got me an Internet account, complete with a text-based interface to the WWW. I never realized it then, but the purchase of that first computer set the trajectory for the rest of my life. I don't know if I could give my own kid that same experience with all the pr0n and pedophiles online.
Close. The lifting body for the Soviet version of the space shuttle was called Energiya. The shuttle itself was called Buran, which is Russian for "snowstorm".
I'm from Bumfuck Iowa, you insensitive clod!