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There is no way it's significantly cheaper to ship a refrigerator across an ocean from China than build one here. Even if an employee is replaced by a robot, someone has to be hired to maintain and program that robot.
Why would all those fridges be shipped from China if it were not cheaper? As for the robot, say it has to be programmed for a month once a year , and maybe maintained for a day once a month - that is 42 days of work. The robot can work 24hrs a day 7 days a week for the rest of the year - the equivalent for 4 full time positions. That is why we use robots.
Why would all those fridges be shipped from China if it were not cheaper? As for the robot, say it has to be programmed for a month once a year , and maybe maintained for a day once a month - that is 42 days of work. The robot can work 24hrs a day 7 days a week for the rest of the year - the equivalent for 4 full time positions. That is why we use robots.
Frankly, I would be more concerned about my job being replaced by technology than it being outsourced.
Technology does not exist in a vacuum. I rode Ben Franklin's trade for 40 years, and saw inovations all along the way. One needs to ride the wave. In my case for most of those years it was a learning experience and my income grew. Techonlogy doesn't appear out of thin air and it will not exist without human intervention in all levels of production. However, shipping one's career overseas, is another matter. I sort of felt that pain, sort of.
I am not seeing that. You mentioned a bunch of externalities earlier, but those are not costs per se.
Why did refrigerators once have 5 year warranties as standard while now only have 6 month warranties?
They were made cheap with cheap labor and very low profit until the competition was eliminated. Now they are just as expensive as better ones would be while still being poorly made.
Why did refrigerators once have 5 year warranties as standard while now only have 6 month warranties?
They were made cheap with cheap labor and very low profit until the competition was eliminated. Now they are just as expensive as better ones would be while still being poorly made.
I've seen many examples of this. There is a pattern for sure.
Why did refrigerators once have 5 year warranties as standard while now only have 6 month warranties?
They were made cheap with cheap labor and very low profit until the competition was eliminated. Now they are just as expensive as better ones would be while still being poorly made.
Ever since our economy went to a consumption economy instead of manufacturing ALL of our basic products are engineered for planned obsolescence. If they lasted a long time we wouldn't need to buy new ones and the economy would suffer.
So you are saying it is cheaper to make refrigerators in china? It is not like the US made appliances have a longer warranty than their Chinese made equivalents.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pknopp
Why did refrigerators once have 5 year warranties as standard while now only have 6 month warranties?
They were made cheap with cheap labor and very low profit until the competition was eliminated. Now they are just as expensive as better ones would be while still being poorly made.
Ever since our economy went to a consumption economy instead of manufacturing ALL of our basic products are engineered for planned obsolescence. If they lasted a long time we wouldn't need to buy new ones and the economy would suffer.
Note: Cars are lasting far longer than in the past.
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