Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/04/26

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Subject: Re: Leica vs Nikon
From: "Jeff Segawa" <segawa@netone.com>
Date: 26 Apr 97 10:09:07 -0700

On Fri, Apr 25, 1997 4:01 PM, Jim Brick wrote: 
>We all know that the Japanese are very very good at copying technology.
>Whenever you "copy" something, it's usually easy to add to it to make it
>appear better. Better, however, is rarely the case. Recently, one of the
>Japanese Ministers announced that Japan was going to push for educating
the
>Japanese industries to become more inventive and innovative. Instead of
>copying, they want to become inventive. My personal opinion is that this
>may take generations and a major culture change. I don't believe this will
>happen.

Hello??  I hate to break this to you, but some revered brands, such as
Hasselblad (Minolta Accu-Matte), Porsche (Mitsubishi Silent Shaft) and yes,
Leica (optics, R-series bodies, probably the R8 shutter), have relied on
parts and technologies developed in Japan, and these days, cheap labor
doesn't enter into the picture.

Jeff