Motorola in Trouble - Again

[Bill, KD0HG]

I naively though that stuff was supposed to be seized at customs..

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Yea, and all the people in this country go through Immigration too.

[WA1GFZ]

Made in china not welcome at this QTH

[W1UJR]

Made in china not welcome at this QTH

Better keep the ChiComs happy Frank, they are one of largest holders of US debt.
And unless I read my compass wrong, they are going to be asked to buy a boatload more.

They basically "give" us the money to buy their crap from them.
Puts US workers out of business, closes down factories, etc.
If I didn't know better, I'd swear Wal-Mart was a very shrewd ChiCom plot to destroy the US infrastructure. 

[WB2YGF]

Since when do the Chinese worry about illegal. They sell tons of knock off copies of various electronics. Then there's the huge software pirating action. If someone buys it, they will sell it.

$38 shipping?

If they're shipping the things directly from China, I'll be they're *not* FCC type accepted and hence illegal to use in the USA.

Lenovo didn't need to "knock off" IBM Thinkpads.  IBM paid them to do it, and then Lenovo eventually got rid of the middleman.

If a Chinese brand and a Motorola brand are made at the same factory, on the same assembly line, is the Chinese brand a "knock off"?  Americans are fooling themselves if they believe there is a difference based on the name stamped on the plastic.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

I wasn't talking about Lenovo. I was talking about copies, illegal ones at that. Two different scenes.

Walmart sells tons of stuff not made in China. Stop falling for the one-liner slogans chanted by haters.

Since when do the Chinese worry about illegal. They sell tons of knock off copies of various electronics. Then there's the huge software pirating action. If someone buys it, they will sell it.

$38 shipping?

If they're shipping the things directly from China, I'll be they're *not* FCC type accepted and hence illegal to use in the USA.

Lenovo didn't need to "knock off" IBM Thinkpads.  IBM paid them to do it, and then Lenovo eventually got rid of the middleman.

If a Chinese brand and a Motorola brand are made at the same factory, on the same assembly line, is the Chinese brand a "knock off"?  Americans are fooling themselves if they believe there is a difference based on the name stamped on the plastic.

[W1UJR]

Walmart sells tons of stuff not made in China. Stop falling for the one-liner slogans chanted by haters.

Good thing I know that you are kidding, you're much smarter than that Steve.

Let's see how much is made in the good old USA at Wal-Mart...


$18 billion from China, that's in 2004 -->> http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/29/content_395728.htm

$27 billion in 2006 -->> http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/ib235/

$36 billion from China, $3 billion to China -->> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/china/trade.html

PSB -->> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/china/trade.html

Even Fast Company, no friend of the left, is alarmed at the Wal-Mart trend --->> http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html?page=0%2C0

[WB2YGF]

I wasn't talking about Lenovo. I was talking about copies, illegal ones at that. Two different scenes.

Walmart sells tons of stuff not made in China. Stop falling for the one-liner slogans chanted by haters.

Since when do the Chinese worry about illegal. They sell tons of knock off copies of various electronics. Then there's the huge software pirating action. If someone buys it, they will sell it.

$38 shipping?

If they're shipping the things directly from China, I'll be they're *not* FCC type accepted and hence illegal to use in the USA.

Lenovo didn't need to "knock off" IBM Thinkpads.  IBM paid them to do it, and then Lenovo eventually got rid of the middleman.

If a Chinese brand and a Motorola brand are made at the same factory, on the same assembly line, is the Chinese brand a "knock off"?  Americans are fooling themselves if they believe there is a difference based on the name stamped on the plastic.

I know, but in the context of the Chinese HT, it's not pretending to be a Motorola, so it's not a "knock off" and it might actually be made at the same plant and have the same quality as a Kenwood.  That was my point.  Of course, the Panasonic branded stuff they sell in NYC with Panasonic spelled wrong is another story.

That said, some of the Chinese stuff is too crude for US consumption.  The Chinese iPhone look-alike's are rich in hardware features, but the OS and bundled software is a joke.  IMHO, US software is still king.  For now...

[WB2YGF]

Walmart sells tons of stuff not made in China. Stop falling for the one-liner slogans chanted by haters.

Good thing I know that you are kidding, you're much smarter than that Steve.

Let's see how much is made in the good old USA at Wal-Mart...

Walmart is not totally to blame when American, Japanese and Korean companies are having their stuff subcontracted out to be make in China.

[WU2D]

My only choice ever was Motorola. I only sent out one package my senior year in 1979. It was Mot or nuthin.

I sent a big letter to Motorola when I was a senior at RIT and basically demanded that they send somebody up to my school to interview us. I kept up the pressure and finally they gave in and sent a guy up to look at this new fangled Co-Op program. You see I had mentioned that we had a lot of kids who were Co-ops and they wanted to work in radio industry every other quarter and teased them by saying that most were going to Harris RF Communications which was in town (Rochester). Now Northeastern and RIT had been doing Co-op for 75 years, but Motorola did not really know what it was. Anyway, this guy shows actually up and interviews several of the guys in the BET program that I was in.

Next thing you know I am the newest engineer at a brand new plant in Plantation FL and they are bringing Co-op students down regularly. I had a ball in the special products group doing mostly spook stuff, modifying gear for the feds.  Business was booming and in fact we built a big paging plant in Boca the second year I was there. This campus was fantastically managed and we were on our game. We were just coming out of a recession and salaries were low to start, but within two years I got more than 12K upward adjustment (that would be like 30K today in two years). This was high living for a kid.

My XYL could not stand south FL though, so we moved to New England which was booming with jobs and I found out about the real world - defense contractors, crappy start ups, ancient mismanaged companies. I always regretted leaving Mot. Little did I know that the beancounterculture and a lack of vision and innovation to be replaced by six sigma crap had occurred at Mot and the fantastic management that I had known, was basically gone by the early 1990's. Gone baby - never to return.

Mike WU2D

[WU2D]

By the way Fred. The sensodyne design in the Micor which uses two complete IF chains to eliminate noise in real time, along with fantastic stage shielding, expensive filters, a great conversion scheme and ultra low noise oscillators puts it ahead of any other FM receiver specifically designed for the 25 kHz channel of the day. Most of its specifications are beyond measurement in a typical radio shop.

Of course I have installed and removed a bunch of them from vehicles and they are horrible to deal with, big heavy, jammed keys, bent covers, cut release arms, the stupid push-in control head connectors that cut your hands and huge cables. But you can learn a lot from that receiver design! A few of the Micor designers had relocated to south Florida as they reached retirement age in the early 1980's and I got to meet some of them.

I also met the guy who designed the uglyst handheld radio ever made since WW2 - the HANDIE-COM. I think it was the Brits who wanted a "cheap" hand held and did not think the HT-220 was worth the price that drove the gem. The railroad guys bought tons of these for the 20 - 25 MHz range with donky-D**K antennas.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Motorola-Handie-Com-HM10_W0QQitemZ140291160289QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ2_Way_Radios_FRS?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 

Geeze for only 23 bucks look what you get!

Mike WU2D

[Bill, KD0HG]

A high school buddy of mine tried building an HT-220 from scratch, ordering the case and other parts a bit at a time from Motorola parts. He had found someone selling the blank PC boards at a hamfest.

After six months of intense and frustrating labor, he lost it and took a hammer to his project.

I don't know how they built the things in the factory to begin with!

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

No, I wasn't kidding. And yes, I am smarter thant that. I looked at another number you skipped. Total sales - $375 billion. See how big it is. See how small the China numbers are in comparison. I rest my case.

Walmart sells tons of stuff not made in China. Stop falling for the one-liner slogans chanted by haters.

Good thing I know that you are kidding, you're much smarter than that Steve.

Let's see how much is made in the good old USA at Wal-Mart...


$18 billion from China, that's in 2004 -->> http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/29/content_395728.htm

$27 billion in 2006 -->> http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/ib235/

$36 billion from China, $3 billion to China -->> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/china/trade.html

PSB -->> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/china/trade.html

Even Fast Company, no friend of the left, is alarmed at the Wal-Mart trend --->> http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html?page=0%2C0

Walmart sells tons of stuff not made in China. Stop falling for the one-liner slogans chanted by haters.

Good thing I know that you are kidding, you're much smarter than that Steve.

Let's see how much is made in the good old USA at Wal-Mart...


$18 billion from China, that's in 2004 -->> http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-11/29/content_395728.htm

$27 billion in 2006 -->> http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/ib235/

$36 billion from China, $3 billion to China -->> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/china/trade.html

PSB -->> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/china/trade.html

Even Fast Company, no friend of the left, is alarmed at the Wal-Mart trend --->> http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html?page=0%2C0

[WA1GFZ]

$1 is too much for me

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Well, you just violated your own rule. You are using a computer made in China. Come out of your ivory tower and join the real world.

[WA1GFZ]

When given a choice I always pick made in USA.
When I leave the ivory tower I like to wear shoes

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Shoes made in China.   And then you get in your truck with parts made in China.  Don't you feel dirty?

[WA1GFZ]

I feel very dirty for what my country has evolved into

[k7yoo]

Didn't Motorola & Yaesu join forces?
I also heard about some sort of recall on the latest Yaesu high end tranceiver--I haven't heard one of the 9000 series on the air. Could these events be related?
Skip

[Bill, KD0HG]

From Today's News

------------------------------------------

Motorola loses $3.6B, suspends dividend, CFO exits

February 3, 2009

NEW YORK - Motorola Inc. posted a massive fourth-quarter loss Tuesday as it recorded charges to reflect the dwindling value of its cell phone business. The maker of telecommunications equipment also suspended its dividend and announced the departure of its chief financial officer.
Its stock tumbled 11 percent.
Motorola lost $3.6 billion, or $1.57 per share, in the fourth quarter.
(snip)

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Didn't Motorola & Yaesu join forces?
I also heard about some sort of recall on the latest Yaesu high end tranceiver--I haven't heard one of the 9000 series on the air. Could these events be related?
Skip

You'll find many 9000's being operated during high end contests. You would have wasted your money using this rig mainly for local ragchews. Initial introduction of any rig into the marketplace can sometimes be bumpy.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

I've heard plenty of the 9000s on the air, several on AM.

[Bill, KD0HG]

Motorola is on the way to becoming the next RCA.
Where's Paul and Bob Galvin?

[WA1GFZ]

They produced Chris

[Jim, W5JO]

Chris is right up there with Edsel Ford.