Re: [Leica] Country of origin

["Mark Rutledge" <markrut@ticnet.com>]

 The German examples you cite made there reputations quite a long time ago
when the world was a very different place(education levels,economy etc.).
You're buying a piece of an "action" based on outdated and ancient world
view.
  I'm not quite clear on your assertion that natural ability dominates all
other factors. There are many people who play professional soccer(or
anything else) and are very good because they work/train at it and don't
have the natural ability of Ronaldo.
You believe natural ability in a specific area is defined by country of
origin? Did you believe that the Soviet Union just had more people with
"natural ability" when they were dominating sports in the pre-collapse days?
Germany has a lock on people w/ a genetic predisposition to engineering?
 To say that anyone because of where they were born is inferior to someone
else is astonishing! To carry your argument to it's logical next step, are
you saying that people from Germany are smarter than people from the rest of
the world? Wow, I didn't think people like you still existed.

Mark Rutledge
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan Hull" <hull@telia.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2000 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: [Leica] Country of origin


> Erwin Puts wrote about Portuguese workers.
> > assume that these men mand women would be inferior to the mythical
> German quality workers. And if fact: IT IS NOT TRUE!!!!!!
> > Portuguese quality is as good, if not better than German quality.
> -------------------------
> Don't be ridiculous Erwin.  Mythical?  Is it mythical that the German
> army, using German built weapons and machinery, far superior to
> anything else in Europe, sliced through the Dutch, British, and French
> armies like a hot knife through butter not so long ago.  Is it mythical
> that Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, are among the most sought after autos in
> the world?  That the reputation of Linhof, Leica, Rollei, Contax, are a
> myth?  Then of course expanding the comparison we have Schiller and
> Goethe, Beethoven and Wagner, Von Bruan and Einstein.  The list is
> almost endless.  When I buy Leica I buy a piece of THAT action.  I am
> not interested in paying a premium price for a  precision tool made by
> a population who go to work on a donkey.  That sounds like an insult to
> the Portuguese but it is not meant to be.  They have fine qualities but
> being superior engineers to the Germans is very definitely not one of
> them.
>
> It has also been said that because the Portuguese workers are trained
> by Germans, the product they make is indistinguishable from the genuine
> article.  That is a piece of politically correct BS.  To illustrate the
> fallacy of this argument select eleven fit men at random.  Tell them
> that they are about to become the worlds best soccer team.  Send them
> away to Brazil for intensive training for many years.  Then play them
> against any professional soccer team.  They will lose because there is
> such a thing as natural born ability which no amount of training can
> surpass.  Natural ability works at all levels, interlectual as well as
> manual dexterity.  Its genetic.
>
> If a country wants to win a gold medal at the high jump it must enter
> one man who can jump ten feet.  To enter ten men who can jump one foot
> each doesn't work.
>
> BTW. I fully understand the argument that CoO does not affect the final
> photograph.  But my point is that I am not buying photographs when I
> buy a Leica.  I am buying a camera.
>
> With all respect.
> Alan
>