Japan v Germany

[Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>]

Well, Mr Love makes quite a few interesting points, but I dissent, strongly.

I have owned a Honda;  I do drive a Volkswagen -- and I've owned five others
before this.  I've also owned a slew of British cars and still own one of
them.  I do prefer quality to, well, average mediocrity.  I acknowledge the
Honda is the best of a maudlin lot, but it's, well, average.  (No, I've
never owned an American car, though I did own, and love, a Renault along the
way, though that was lost in a divorce -- the swap being to save my Volkswagen.)

The Japanese have proven themselves experts in figuring market dynamics --
they analyze the market, figure what is needed for maximum sales, and go for
it.  This is the heart of free enterprise, and more power to them.  (Their
corporate structuring, hidden tarriffs, and labour practices are another
matter, entirely.)  But, by aiming at the average, they avoid the extremes
of quality -- and I'm enough of a snob to want the greatest amount of
quality I can afford.

Japanese cameras are okay -- but they aim for the middle, and I want that
extreme of quality.  I have a Swiss mechanical watch, American, German, and
Russian telescopes, I smoke British pipe tobacco in an Irish pipe, I drink
Scots whiskey and British beer.  I shoot pictures with Leica, Rollei, Zeiss
Ikon, and Hassie cameras.  I confess I own a Canon EOS 10s, with a bunch of
nifty auto-focus prime lenses -- and I may use it for five rolls of film a
year.  Mediocrity, after a while, gets boring, though its low price may make
it attractive to some.

There's an old saw about the regret of poor quality surviving the thrill of
a great price -- and THAT is one of my several objections to buying
Japanese.  I simply want the best, and Japan rarely produces the best.  And,
for that matter, when Japan DOES produce a truly competitive product, as
they do with telescope optics, they will not sell these in this country, as
they cost about 20% more than comparable European and domestic products.

Marc



Marc James Small  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Thalla, a Bhallagair!