Google On-shores Manufacturing of the Nexus Q 326
An anonymous reader sends this quote from the NY Times:
"Etched into the base of Google's new wireless home media player that was introduced on Wednesday is its most intriguing feature. On the underside of the Nexus Q is a simple inscription: Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A. The Google executives and engineers who decided to build the player here are engaged in an experiment in American manufacturing. 'We've been absent for so long, we decided, "Why don't we try it and see what happens?" ... It has become accepted wisdom that consumer electronics products can no longer be made in the United States. During the last decade, abundant low-cost Chinese labor and looser environmental regulations have virtually erased what was once a vibrant American industry. ... At $299, the device costs significantly more than competing systems from companies like Apple and Roku. Google says this is in part because of the higher costs of manufacturing in the United States, but the company expects to bring the price down as it increases volume. The company is hoping that consumers will be willing to pay more, though it is unlikely that the “Made in America” lineage will be part of any marketing campaign.'"
It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
"The company is hoping that consumers will be willing to pay more, though it is unlikely that the “Made in America” lineage will be part of any marketing campaign.'"
People excoriate execs and companies who move parts of their businesses offshore (often rightly, and also often without questioning the policies that contribute to it often being cheaper and easier to employ people thousands of miles away in other countries).
They (and especially the most indignant among them) should be happy to pay a little more to keep the work local; after all, they're demanding that others do it.
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
"Keeping jobs on American soil. There's a phone for that."
The only problem is... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The only problem is... (Score:3, Insightful)
Have to start somewhere ...
Industry clusters are also important. (Score:5, Insightful)
"low cost Chinese labor and looser environmental regulations"
Those aren't the only factors. The fact of the matter is that pretty much everything is clustered in SE Asia nowadays, and that the labor market is a lot more dynamic. Need slightly shorter screws? Call the factory down the street, they'll start arriving within the next hour. Changed the specs for your unibody case? The factory downtown will deliver new ones the same day. Need a new assembly plant? Build it and staff it by next week. Everything is done locally, reducing ETA and shipping costs in the process. These things also count tremendously.
hmmm (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The only problem is... (Score:5, Insightful)
devices are made entirely by robot. chips, transistors, etc.
but *assembly* of a phone or tablet or pc is still by hand.
so it DOES MATTER that G is making this in the US. as much as I dislike G these days, I'll give them a solid attaboy! for this one!
good job, G. unexpected but good job nonetheless.
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
Disappointing. Done right it should cost less (Score:2, Insightful)
I keep waiting for them to replace Chinese workers with American robots. If they did that it could actually cost less. You pay less shipping. Maybe we just don't have a robot that's good enough and cheap enough; but we will. A lot of the outsourced labor is things like cleaning, assembling, etc. Come on Google. If you can program 'bots to drive cars, surely you can program them to polish screens.
No paywall links (Score:5, Insightful)
There should be a rule on Slashdot that no paywall links are allowed to be posted. How can we comment on an article that we cannot see?
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:No paywall links (Score:5, Insightful)
There should be a rule on Slashdot that no paywall links are allowed to be posted. How can we comment on an article that we cannot see?
Copy the URL, google it, and bypass the paywall by clicking the result from there:
http://www.google.com/search?q=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/technology/google-and-others-give-manufacturing-in-the-us-a-try.html [google.com]
Re:"Experiment" (Score:4, Insightful)
The real issue with this thing is it is too limited. Why does it not also act as a googletv?
Then it could run onlive, netflix, google play, etc. You could also side load your own apps. Instead this is a streaming media player for way too much money.
Why does it need a good amp? I have a receiver, that is where the good amp lives.
Re:I don't care. . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
They (and especially the most indignant among them) should be happy to pay a little more to keep the work local; after all, they're demanding that others do it.
It costs three times more ($299) than the closest competitor (Apple TV, $99) that it seems to have a similar feature-set to. That's not "a little more", that's "nobody will buy it because it costs three times more".
I don't get the Q (Score:5, Insightful)
So, this is not a Google TV device yet can connect to a TV with limited functionality. Its too expensive as a standalone network media streamer compared to other products available. I don't need a network device to power its own speakers. Compare this to a $120 Apple TV or even a $190 Boxee Box and its a very over-priced and mediocre competitor. So what is the point?
Obviously if Google is using on-shore manufacturing they are already assuming this as a niche product and don't have to worry about huge demand and high production costs.
I think Google mucked this product up as they are positioning it as an expansive hipster device in a market already saturated with better value and feature rich products. All Google should have done is create a little HDMI dongle that sits on a TV/Receiver that provides AirPlay like connectivity for Android devices which are capable of providing all the same functionality as the Q and could do so for a small fraction of the cost.
Re:Just a fad (Score:4, Insightful)
People might go along with the the "buy American" line for a while, but if they can save money by buying cheaper products with the same or more \better features they will soon turn to doing just that.
Well, that's the question, isn't it? Does an American company building the products it designs nearby have any advantages in quality control or innovation that offsets the slightly higher (China's edge here is often exaggerated) costs?
In an area where innovation is gradual and nobody has a chance of a killer technological lead, I think that cost is likely to be king. I have friends who went to work in the auto industry and were amazed to find that managers would sell their soul for a $1 saving on a $30,000 car. In areas with rapid and radical innovation, there might be an advantage. I don't think you can answer this question generically. It depends on the character of the market, industry and the company.
Apple is an interesting case. Apple didn't start by offshoring manufacturing, and even after they'd gone that route they hung on to their last domestic plant because they thought there was value to keeping designers close to the manufacturing process. And it worked. Even in the pre-Second Coming years when their product line was complicated and supply chain messy, they manufactured very high quality stuff. It'll be interesting to see what happens when that know-how fades with time. People will automatically attribute any decline in quality or innovation to Jobs' death, but if those things happen they may be the result of changes in corporate culture introduced by Jobs.
Offshoring iPods definitely was a winner because of their relatively low cost and high volume, and the need to compete against low cost alternatives. It seems to me that the same factors would apply to the Nexus Q, which is just another streaming media box. But maybe Google knows something we don't. Or maybe Google needs to gain more experience before it can rely on overseas contractors.
Bottom line on the question of on-shoring vs. off-shoring: it depends.
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, though it's hard to bug anyone about getting them mixed up. Nexus S, Nexus Q, Nexus 7... uhg. What would've been so wrong with: Nexus Phone, Nexus TV, Nexus Tablet? Then just call later generations, "second generation", etc.
Someone over at Google needs to hire away a marketing genius from Apple and give them the reigns on public facing decisions like that.
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
They (and especially the most indignant among them) should be happy to pay a little more to keep the work local; after all, they're demanding that others do it.
Abso-fucking-lutely. Look at how many people out there gladly pay the Apple Tax for devices that are really not that different, on a fundamental level, from their competitors (and before I get screamed at over that, Apple obviously agrees, otherwise we wouldn't be watching this patent war bullshit unfold at every turn). If they're willing to spend extra because it's got a shiny case and "It Just Works! (TM)(R)(C)" then I see no reason why Made In America wouldn't be a selling point, especially these days.
The concept of it being "cheaper" to hire people in other countries is bullshit, anyway, because it depends on ignoring very real costs that are put off on those developing countries. If we paid the real cost of manufacturing in China, to include the future cost of environmental clean-up, not to mention the social ills that come along with those sweatshops, then I doubt it would really be that much cheaper to manufacture overseas. The costs go so far beyond the typical rants about hourly wages and regulations that don't allow factories to dump the byproducts of electronics manufacturing (noxious shit) into the environment like they do over there...
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, in the case of the Q and the 7, I think just think of the shape of the Q, kinda roundish with something sticking out of it, and the 7 being... 7 inches? Is it? Anyway, Q is easy to remember.
Re:Industry clusters are also important. (Score:4, Insightful)
Or, you could proceed the Brazillian way, and toss in a 100% tax on any consumer electronics not assembled locally. (Foxconn is setting up an iPhone plant over there, so Apple can work around the tax.)
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the technical term is "Thing that drops 10 records at once from medium heights on the needle"
I had a record player that had one of those as a child but never found out what was actually supposed to make sure that only one record will fall down.
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
Abso-fucking-lutely. Look at how many people out there gladly pay the Apple Tax for devices that are really not that different,
Except in the case of the Nexus Q [google.com] vs. the Apple TV (...or the WD TV Live) we seem to have a Google tax of 200%.
(TFA is talking about the 'Q' media streamer which is bizarrely more expensive than the new Google tablet).
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:4, Insightful)
For those experienced with android it tells you something:
Nexus = owned by google = apple equivalent experience = things will work right.
Buying non-nexus products = responsibilities on the shoulders of either the mfr or the carrier if it's a phone = shoddy experience = things are broken and will not be fixed.
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:4, Insightful)
Raise your hand if you want "social media" mixed with your TV watching experience. *crickets*
Facebook wall activity: "Charles is watching Gilmore Girls on CWTV."
Re:It *should* be part of the marketing (Score:5, Insightful)
Raise your hand if you want "social media" mixed with your TV watching experience. *crickets*
You are asking in the wrong forum. I have no interest in this, but I think my wife would like it, and I am sure my kids would love it.
Slashdot is not a good place to get a representative sample of the consuming public.