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Comment by Roboprog | Hacker News Reader

I miss being able to buy high quality electronics from Japan that would last 20 years, instead of crap from China. I recently got a stereo for my home office in the garage. I went to a local thrift store to get an older receiver made in Japan, instead of China. It (still) works great.

Japan as a country needs to run a consumer oriented advertising campaign: "Buy stuff from us instead of China, it will last 10 times as long!" They also need to find a way to make their stuff available again in US (and other) commercial outlets.

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> instead of crap from China

Did you know that iPhones, Xboxes, ThinkPads (the only laptop certified for use on the International Space Station) and loads of other quality electronics are made in China? I wouldn't say "made in China" automatically implies it's crap.

Selective bias. People got what they paid for. They paid little for the cheap stuff and complained about the poor quality.

I'm writing this on a MacBook, but who knows how long it will last. Maybe it's a high quality device, and maybe I'm not supposed to care if it starts flaking out after 2 or 3 years. I like the software, and the exterior construction is nice.

Stuff made in China might be half price from what things used to be, but it's hard to find any alternatives now.

Isn't it better for their economy if the things they make is just a /little/ better than the stuff made in China? (Think "planned obsolescence".)

no because consumers dont like 'planned obsolescence' and if they catch a whiff of it, your brand loyalty takes a huge hit.

also china isnt 'a little' cheaper than japan. its a lot cheaper, so they would need to make stuff a lot better.

> consumers dont like 'planned obsolescence' and if they catch a whiff of it, your brand loyalty takes a huge hit.

Tell that to Apple.

That's pretty much the entire article. If the Yen drops 50%, exports are much cheaper, and do much better.

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