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Termyn8or -> RE: right all along? (9/30/2008 8:41:29 AM)
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cj, I bet you liked Other People's Money as well.
That, for those who didn't see it, a small firm, but big enough to be traded publicly was found to be making a profit and practically debt free. It became a target. DeVito got up there with a pretty good oration, once there were enough voting stockholders he figured he could sway to take the company over, and it was quite compelling.
"Buggy whips, yes buggy whips. A long time ago there were plenty of buggy whip manufacturers, and they did well. Along came the automobile and the demand for buggy whips evaporated. I bet the last buggy whip manufacturer made the bext damn buggy whips in the world".And soon later "Having an ever increasing share of a shrinking market is _____" I think the word he used was death, or the phrase death knell.
In other words, it's not just manufacturing, it's what you manufacture. Yes we do make paper clips stateside, but think about a modern office. More and more information is on a computer, the only paper is usually for documents which need to be signed and possibly notarized. Chinese companies have not decided to go into the paper clip business, and it's not hard to figure out why. More than likely, in years to come even that will change, your driver's license or ID will have a PIN number you put in and swipe it through a reader, that will constitute a signature. There will be alot less paper required, at least what needs to be stored in an office somewhere. Car titles and birth certificates will probably still exist for a long time, but the bulk of the dead tree cabinets will be gone.
I may tend to do this more than I should, but I use TVs for such examples. First reason is that they are ubiquitous in at least US households. If I had a dollar for each TV in the US, even limited to those in use, in good working condition, I would be quite well off. That directly plugs into my statement that it is easier to get a dollar each from a million people than it is to get a million dollars from one. Actually it is not my statement, but it resonates quite well.
Absolutely no TVs are built in the US, even though we invented the thing. Yes I know Baird invented it too, in the UK but that doesn't change the fact that Farnsworth invented it here. We most certainly invented color TV, and perhaps we should get a dollar per color TV in the world. Now that's moving into the area of intellectual property.
That's somethuing that I would like to probe you for opinions about. Realize that I hold that there are two types of intellectual property, the useful and the useless. The useful would be considered patents and such, requiring royalties in the form of license to manufacture something that uses a process for which a patent was deemed suited, and is still in force. Take a look at almost any TV you can find, at least in the US, and you will see a Dolby labs emblem somewhere, usually in the back. They literrally do collect on every TV sold here. I don't think they get a buck each, but it adds up quickly.
Which is my point, the old million form one vs the one from a million. That is EXACTLY where we have lost the financial game, and I mean precisely where we lost it. I don't mean the Dolby deal, I mean the things we make may be great, but they are not things that keep selling. We still have an auto industry, and despite their whining they could be doing alot worse. But the point is, just how many cars do you need ?
As has been said, houses can be considered manufactured goods. They are, and it is damn hard to outsource. But how many houses do you need ?
Where are all these cellphones made ? I know people who walk around with three of them. One to talk to their boss, one for their "private" deals and one from their girlfriend. It seems to be the new equivalent for an engagement ring or something. If things go sour and he won't give it back you can always shut it off. One of the more modern conveniences I guess.
And TVs. In one house, with two people living there, there could be six TVs. Livingroom, bedroom, kitchen, bath, even in the garage. Understand that there is one house, there is one car in the drive. There may be two refrigerators but not always. I just mentioned where five TVs would go, put one in the basement and/or have more than one bedroom, how many is that ? If I had a buck each you would never hear a peep of dissent out of me.
I know two people who have Bose acoustic wave radios, and I have only seen three of them in my life. They are made in the US, even though they use some foreign components. But wait, how many people do I know who have them ? Everyone I know has some kind of stereo or something, but where were they made ?
Up until the year 2000 I would say, Pioneer bigscreen TVs were made here. Nice, black laquer cabinet, covers over the buttons and nothing but a wee little green power light. Premium sound and outputs for surround usually. Actually very good unit even though they are hard to work on. When you could get a Sony for $2,500, these were going for $3,500. The Sony was a good unit as well, and though they never pretended to be an American company, they moved part of their manufacturing operation here.
I worked for and with a place that sold both, and the Pioneer made here was a good selling point. The Sonys over a certain size were at least assembled here and the picture tubes were now made here, that was a selling point as well. Back then, when Honda opened a plant stateside, people started buying Hondas.
People cared at least a little bit, but do they even care now ? At all ?
This quagmire of a situation we're in now is attributable to the people as well as the powers that be. Years ago when we started buying based on price, we told them what we wanted. When our Parents bought the Okongyousho TV for $199 instead of the Zenith for $279, they told the whole business community what they wanted.
In a way, government and industry have complied with the wishes of the consumer. That's how people get rich. Many people don't like Walmart because of their business practices, and I agree with that, I don't go to Walmart. Many others do though, enough that the Walmarts still exist, and they are making money.
We need to focus on gaining part of the mass markets. It may not be as exciting as building sattelites, bombs and ships to go to the moon, but we need money.
T
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