Todd,

I think one of the problems is that a typical American consumer doesn't understand quality. We live in a culture where people know brand names but can't decipher real quality. The advertising industry promotes image and name recognition and there is no one that teaches us how to really look for quality. If you want a good shirt they teach us to buy one with the label proudly displayed on the outside. Very few people take the time to study the stitching and quality of fabric or even know what to look for.

I agree that quality is all that we have to offer because ultimately there is no way we can compete on price. We replace highly paid workers with robots, but so do they. Ultimately if we want to maintain a high standard of living we can only compete with quality. The premium Japanese car companies have successfully done this. First by selling superior quality at a loss and slowly building a brand and now they have turned the 50's -60's "Made in Japan" to mean quite the opposite.

As far as producing quality speakers here in the USA, JBL still exports to Japan. TAD's new home speakers are designed here, with drivers being made in Japan, the cabinets being built by robots and humans in China, and finally assembled wired and adjusted here. Any sold in Japan will then be exported to Japan.

It can be done! We just need to teach the American public to look past name brands and search for quality. Or we can all go to work for Walmart and buy pretty mediocre merchandise that we see advertised on our big screens.

Widget