----Original Message Follows----
From: "William Sommerwerck" <williams@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] "finely crafted" instruments
"Cameras are making a transition from being finely crafted instruments to
being disposable consumer electronic junk."
There is a subtle bias in this remark that needs to be discussed.
............. Yep!
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Who doesn't respond strongly to the expression "hand-crafted"? If you have a
choice, wouldn't you rather have something that was lovingly hand-made,
rather than cranked-out en masse by a soulless machine?
................. "Handcrafted" can, in this sense, be "handfitted". Most or
all of the parts may well have been made on a machine. But perhaps they are
fitted and finished by hand. Rolex watches (among many others) comes to
mind.
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Several years ago my apartment house's management hired a sculptor to carve
an old tree on the property with a design appropriate for the "race horse"
theme of the property. I spent some time talking with her, and discovered
that she had a beaten-up 35mm camera that really wasn't suitable for what
she was using it for. So I convinced her to trade an Olympus Stylus for a
custom chain-saw sculpture. It's a bear cub, about 18" tall, sitting
pensively with a pencil in his hand. I call him Faulkner. (Get it?)
This sculpture might not be "valuable," but it's essentially irreplaceable.
If a disaster forced me to choose which items to save, Faulkner would
certainly be one of the first things tossed in the car.
But there are other, mechanically "crafted" items that I would also rush to
save. These would include several KLH Model Eight table radios, a couple of
classic metal-bodied Sony Discmans, and -- no surprise -- my OM outfit,
which includes exotic lenses that are no longer made.
Why should I be as interested in saving a "manufactured" item as something
hand-made? The answer is obvious -- because it's well-engineered, well-made,
and no longer available. It's worth saving simply because it's of high
quality (and, sometimes, expensive).
This is despite the fact that none of these items is "finely crafted."
Indeed, the very _last_ thing you want in a mechanically produced item is
"fine craftsmanship"!
In the ideal manufacturing environment, parts could be made to arbitrarily
tight tolerances and fit together without further work. In practice, that
doesn't work, especially with metal castings. The "fine craftsmanship" the
writer praises is not a form of artistic expression but an unfortunate
necessity. Plastic cameras are cheaper because they require less hand labor,
not because plastic is cheaper than metal.
............ Processes like CNC bring down the costs of such metal parts
dramatically. As does investment castings. Ruger firearms is an example of
sucecssful application of the latter. Major parts are cast, a minimum of
final machining is needed, and final finishing then fitting done by hand.
Many excellent firearms have been made around the extensive use of stampings
- a sound design and the right materials (metal) and excellent fabrication;
the german Mauser Hsc pistol is one dating back to before WW2. In the 1970s
Heckler & Koch went even further with a similar piece.
---------------
The real reason so many products are turning into "disposable junk" is
precisely because it's become easy to manufacture incredibly sophisticated
products so cheaply. In the middle '80s the first CD players cost $1000, but
today you can buy a $50 unit that does essentially the same thing.
............ I call it "engineered limited useful life" - either through the
limited life of the product as a functioning piece with no cost effective
repair - or the manipulation of the market itself. In the latter, the
initial product might omit certain useful (and obvious) features which are
then introduced later - hence the first item becomes obsolete.......
Although there have been some technological advances in electronics
production bringing down prices, the switching to production in places of 25
cents/hour labor was in a greater part responsible for this. Notice how many
Japanese and American brands suddenly wound up with "Made in China" or
"Mexico" on them, as well as other more obscure places, and the prices
dropped sharply......... Then, some things were simply grossly overpriced to
start with allowing them to trim them later on. Not too long ago a good VCR
might have run up around $200 or more. Even now, as DVDs are taking a real
hold, VCRs are STILL being made - and yet new production can be had for $50
retail! That's too big a price cut to attribute to anything more than the
fact that they have been way over-priced at retail level to start with, and
or they have moved their plant, laid off a few thousand cheap laborers and
taken on some lower paid peasants somewhere else.
-----------------
The very thing that makes plastic such a great structural material -- it can
be molded into complex multi-function parts that simply snap together -- is
exactly the thing that makes plastic products so difficult to service -- you
can't easily disassemble them.
This double-edged "sword of cheapness" -- inexpensive products that can't be
economically repaired -- encourages manufacturers to cut corners, such as
not worrying about the quality of the motor in a Walkman or Discman. Not to
mention the ultimate corner-cutting -- reducing the warranty from one year
to 90 days -- or less.
.... Right - the very engineered obsolescence that was cited already and the
reason so many can be considered junk. Throwaway consumer items. Buy one
now, use it - don't even think about getting it fixed. Not cost effective -
and they already had a "better one" in the pipeline when you bought the
first one anyway.
------------------
I own two Sony FM Discmans. Both have digital tuners, both have remote
control. The similarity ends there. The D-T10 (1989) is made mostly of
stamped metal. It has a solid "heft" and nice feel. The D-FJ75TR (2000) is
990lastic. It doesn't feel so de-luxe, but it's much lighter. And it has
features missing in the earlier model, such as near-perfect skip-resistance
and a self-programming tuner no larger than a pack of chewing gum. Its list
price is also half that of the metal player.
Does the fact the newer Discman is made of plastic make it "disposable
junk"? Simply in terms of features, it's the "better" player. And other than
having too much chrome trim, there's nothing cheap or shoddy-looking about
its fit or finish. Just try to find parts for the metal model -- you won't
be able to. Doesn't that make it "disposable junk" -- at least in Sony's
eyes?
......... They were BOTH marketed as disposable consumer items to start
with. Metal was convenient at the time, plastic later on. The folks at Sony
knew good and well the first one would "skip" - they don't make those things
on paper, knock them out and sell them; they test them first. The Japanese,
(and Sony in particular) have been well-known for such diligence. Making the
tracking more resistant to "skip" either when handled or sitting on the seat
of the car was an easy way to sell a "better" product later on - who in the
heck was going to settle for what they had, when they could buy a "less
skip" version a year later? Of course - many people would simply toss the
first and buy another - or they would do so the first time the first machine
developed any other problem.
--------------
Making a product of plastic does not automatically turn it into "disposable
consumer junk." Ignoring the quality of the design and components, refusing
to provide parts beyond the period Federal law requires (especially for
expensive products that you bought because they _were_ high-quality), and
reducing the warranty period to an insultingly short interval DOES.
............. They don't have to refuse to supply parts - they can just say,
"To repair your item we estimate a charge of $78.84 for parts and labor". If
you paid $99.95 for it new a year and half earlier, and a new one will cost
you $107.99 (Or maybe LESS than the first, with some "handy" new features
they "just decided to add") how many people are going to pay to have the
first repaired? .... I'd agree that making an item of plastic doesn't
relegate it to junk necessarily; but durable (ought to be durable - and
*repairable*) and luxury goods have been heavily manipulated as a market.
Shifting products away completely from carefully designed (and modular),
fabricated and assembled systems - and replacing them with short to medium
term lifespans. Either because they are uneconomical to repair or they have
obvious shortcomings that will be addressed in newer items in the pipeline -
or complete system changes.
Many people do not realize it; but the *private* commerical electronic (and
related) market lives in the far rear end shadow of actual technology -
government and military allowing a trickle down of what is generally 30 year
old (or more) technology. So having flooded the market with $200 1 or 2
megapixel cameras - running along with $2000 5 meg items - they will keep
upping both ends. Does a 5 meg camera really cost that much more to make
than a 2 meg right now? I doubt it.
So 30 years after intro, I can buy an as new (pretty much so) OM-1 for
perhaps $200 - and hopefully keep it running for another 30. If I buy a 5
meg wonder for $1200 - I can probably bank on throwing it in the trash in
less than 5 - and buying a 9 meg wonder for $899. One way or the other. Of
course - if I can not get film for my OM-1 in three or four years time, I
don't have a choice.
Cheers,
Lee
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