Don Marti

Thu 13 Nov 2008 10:22:40 AM PST

Playing catchup

Scobleizer covers Disruptive Factories: "The Chinese are now cutting out Amazon and are building Websites that you can buy products from directly and they'll ship right to your door." Factories in China already make everything, and now they're handling the R&D and marketing stuff too, or all of that is getting done by a distributed group. (Read bunnie's 'Made in China' for more on how the new process works.)

But the digital doo-dad industry is a little behind. The webmaster/manufacturer axis of the future is already well-established in the machine tool business. Visit mini-lathe.com for a look at the future. The Sieg Machine Tool Factory in Shanghai is already connecting with US-based machinists who share information on using and customizing the tools. And the feedback loop is in full effect. If you need a precise and dependable tool right out of the box, this is probably not the right lathe for you. Update (09/12/02) This was true of my first 7x10, purchased in 1999. The quality of the 7x lathes seems to be steadily improving based on ones that I have bought since then and many reports on the 7x interest group. Some of the mods described on the web site are already made obsolete by new, more refined versions of the product.

Now all we need is a web site for US buyers of those Chinese Honda 70 clones you see all over Pakistan.

    No match for "RECESSION-BIKES.COM".