Aaaargh...imagine a.....in the Soviet Union....***carrier lost***

Amen.

The Final Cartridge III

FTFY.

Yes, I believe that was the point being made. But it's wrong. This is not just one genius coming up with a genius design manufactured *just like that*. It is a result of numerous iterations forth and back between the physical design engineers, the assembly engineers, producing several prototypes, running numerous thermal/mechanical qualification tests for reliability. The cooperation and feedback between design and assembly engineers is crucial if you want to be in front, technologywise.

That doesn't quite add up with the far-eastern assembly lines I have seen. First of all, everything is usually automated to reach these kinds of volumes in the first place. Second off all, the workers in these factories are more assembly line *operators*, monitoring and setting up the equipment for a new lot. And yes, in some cheaper plants, you have to carry lots from machine to machine, instead of having a fully automated assembly line, but that hardly resembles the Harry Ford'esque impressions that people seem to have. The workers in said plants are far from being "assembly monkeys", many of them are even highly qualified.

Also: I believe design and manufacturing of modern, high-end smartphone casings are not as trivial as you assert. Even a seemingly trivial activity like Quality Assurance also takes a lot of resources. Imagine the costs associated with replacing 10% of the 20M unit run.

Point: There are lots of jobs related to manufacturing, and it is most certainly not a trivial activity, and there are many career options in this area, even if you work in the US or Europe. Unskilled job positions are quickly fading out due to automation and low wage pressure, but who in their right mind would encourage their kids to go for a position like that, anyway?

Assembly techology development is closely linked to the rest of the design, be it casing, antenna, battery and display. Make no mistake, assembly and assembly development (normally co-located on the same site) is no monkey work. And our far-eastern friends in China, Malaysia, Taiwan, etc. are excelling at this. At a low price, even.

How about some citations on that? Not that I'm disputing your point. It would just be interesting to see if it is based on facts.

I still agree to your initial comments.

Telling people on an online forum, based on one line replies, what they are, how they think and how they should feel about their comments, just displays incredibly poor style.

You're certainly less insightful and much more rigid than I thought. My bad. I admit it.

You had me, right up until that comment.

Hey, Chinese Oligarchs: Copy this!

...You beat me to it... and Solvang is not even close to resembling an actual old Danish town. Just some fairytale fantasy of what Europe looks like.

Hammer/Thor/Mjølner/Norse stuff are more symbols of manhood and viking heritage, and are quite popular in the nordic region.

But if there are swastikas tattooed alongside, I'd be wary, though...

Well, good on you, AC. But I will never admire an enterprise whose sole purpose is tax evasion and whose contribution to the surrounding economy consists of ferrying services and food sales tax. Do you really think a growing startup will go ashore in the US, once it's reached a certain size? I doubt it. Once the client relations are established, you might as well open shop in Bangalore or Shanghai.

Oh, and by the way. I come from a long line of fishermen and sailors, grew up on an island. And financed my engineering education working on board a ship. How about you, AC?

According to sources near Blueseed, they plan to charter a regular ship, before raising capital for the barge they have concept drawings of. Question 1: Have they ever lived for a prolonged period on board a ship? Not all cabins are presidential suite standards. I suspect cramped compartments with no port holes and the persisting smell of fuel oil will get the better of the inhabitants' productivity. Question 2: Who will enforce (what?) law and order, when a couple of Aussies start to binge drink, plank on the railing and pick a fight with some English, after which they insult a bunch of more conservative-minded Indian IT-workers, causing all hell to break loose. And who says the US of A will tolerate a floating tax haven right off the coast of silicon valley?

Nah. Most of all, this just looks like a anarcho-libertarian's wet dream.

I only ever departed from Tel Aviv once, back in 2005. In spite of the tough security measures, the staff was very professional. And while all us single male business travelers got exposed to the full security circus, families with kids were led through much faster and with less hassle.

TSA ought to take a lesson from their Israeli counterparts. I doubt they would separate small children from their families.