Cost-cutting approaches of manufacturing in different countriesThis is what I gather from general experience and observations:
- United States of America: Good quality control, but often severe design corner-cutting in their low-end products.
- United Kingdom: Their manufacturing quality is usually fine, but far too often brought-down by very basic engineering errors.
(Australian companies make similar mistakes from time to time.) - Continental Europe: Middling overall; not as cheap as China or as incompetent as UK engineering, but generally not up there with Japan either.
- Japan: Generally good overall quality, though their budget models still cut some corners (often in the mechanics of electromechanical products).
Unfortunately many Japanese companies have now been zombified, or just given up on quality in “consumer” products… - China (PRC): Ruthless at cost-cutting, but can produce decent products if you compel them to (and pay about the same as you would elsewhere).
- Taiwan (ROC): Originally copied Japanese designs, then applied aggressive cost-cutting in a rather freeform manner.
- South Korea: Also originally copied the Japanese, and also then cost-cut aggressively; but in a more regimented way.
I guess people flocked to Taiwanese and Korean products because they
initially had similar quality to their Japanese counterparts; but by the time they became cheaper enough to
matter, they were no longer comparable. The difference between Taiwanese and Korean cost-cutting approaches could also explain why Taiwan won in computing, while Korea got much bigger in more‑mundane appliances and cars.
Korean products have at least (Note 7 notwithstanding
) maintained the dignity of standards compliance, although their
overall quality is sometimes worse.
(I'd rather use Taiwanese than Korean PC components, but would
not be brave enough to drive a Taiwanese car.
)
Also, the
combination of already-marginal low-end American designs with shoddy Chinese manufacturing may well have contributed to many Americans'
especially strong anti-China sentiment. (China as a country certainly has many big problems, but I don't hate their general population.)
Records (33⅓RPM LP and 45RPM singles)Now that I scored a bargain on a Technics Hi-Fi system (including a nice SL-Q200 record player*, direct-drive and quartz-locked), I've bought some second-hand; but I won't buy
new records, as being made of
PVC they clearly aren't the most environmentally-friendly audio format
. (Sure, new albums often have a good master on record and an over-loud CD master; but if the producer
really cared about quality, they'd use the good master for
all releases.)
*I know “record player” typically refers to a standalone model with built-in speaker, and “turntable” for the Hi-Fi component type; but then why don't people apply the same “logic” to CD players?Speakers vs. HeadphonesIn my experience chiptunes (with their clean tones) sound better through headphones, while low-fidelity recorded audio (78RPM shellac records, or the 11025Hz/8‑bit PCM in most Humongous Entertainment games) is less grating through speakers.
Decent-fidelity recordings (or realistic synthesizers) are generally fine through either (according to your situation).
UniversityThe very
word has become increasingly deceptive, as most people seem to come out of it with a
narrower worldview. It's especially irritating when those people get condescending towards individuals (like me
) who consciously refuse formal higher education (if anything, that speaks more to their own insecurity)…
)
, as I haven't particularly liked even the shows Redditors have recommended as Mitsudomoe “alternatives”. Maybe not