Re: [Leica] Japanese Inventiveness

["adrian bradshaw" <abpeking@public.bta.net.cn>]

Alan wrote
>Hej Adrian
> Japenese inventiveness ... Thats an oxymoron that tops Military
>intelligence.  Thanks for that one.
>

>Cheers Adrian, you have just fallen into the hole I dug for you.  Yippee.
>Now we are quits for the one you dug for me :-) :-)   Remove INVENTED and
>keep mfd and you could have a point.
>

I think you will find that the Japanese (Sony) invented the floppy drive and
the leading technology for computer monitors (Trinitron tubes) - and they
are inventors of the current state of the art memory devices. Sure they
could all be seen as mere developments of earlier technology but then isn't
everything - including our beloved Leicas? Besides that the most important
technology in that game surely is the manufacturing technology and you
cannot seriously claim that the Japanese copied that? 

>BTW I was (and still am) discussing basic inventions not variations on a
>theme.  I feel comfortable using my Leica or Linhof etc not because of who
>invented the concept but because it was built with love and care by
>craftsmen who were creating a tool to take photographs.  Not a stolen tool
>to use as a trojan horse in an economic war.
>
Well I suppose the floppy drive is a development of the wheel and we have no
evidence that that was invented by the Japanese (or the Germans for that
matter).

I think you do the Japanese camera industry in general as well as the nation
of Japan a great disservice by pepetuating the stereotype that all they do
is copy: I think you will find that Japan is among the leading nations in
the world for registering new patents that their scientific research is of a
very high order by anyone's standards and that they do after all make what
the cast majority of people believe are the best cameras and films for many
applications. 
If all they do is copy then how come they are still market leaders in so
many areas - it can hardly be through cheap labour since they earn a whole
lot more than Europeans (except the Swiss) and quite abit more than
Americans. Now I would concede that there is an awful lot of highly
derivative mid-range equipment coming out of Japan but the fact that they
have pretty much wrapped up the 35mm and medium format pro markets is more
about quality than price. It is these calibre of cameras I was referring to
when I earlier expressed a wish for Leica to respond more positively to pro
demands. 

I know there are people who feel the Germans are the one true heart of the
camera manufacturing industry. This may have been true about the time many
of the older members of this list were kids but it is not true now and it
was not true always before that. In any case it seems to be an irrational
and self deceptive view to base purchasing decisions on such a view IMHO
that has distinct elements of racialism besides. Again I remind Leica and
Zeiss lovers that those in the German photo industry have nothing but the
highest respect for their competitors who are for the most part Japanese
these days: for that matter they are more than competitors in many cases but
partners. It would be great for our love of photography and fine
photographic equipment to be a source of friendship and shared enthusiasm
rather than aggravation. 

I am not ignorant of the post-war situation in the Japanese camera industry
but it does seem to me that the world has moved on since then and that were
it not for the inventiveness and competitiveness of all those in the photo
industry we would not have reached the high level of affordable technology
we all enjoy in this field today. Oh and next time you fly in a Boeing
plane, drive a Rolls Royce or a Mercedes have a good look - I am sure you
will find quite a few significant parts came from Japan (and were designed
and manufactured there). And are you sure that your Leica glass came from
Germany?
 
Anyhow - go get some great photos today!

Bests 

Adrian