Comment by tkahn6 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tkahn6 | Hacker News Reader

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> 1)Germany is large too with different dialects.

The US is 27 times the size of Germany.

> Every country is an amalgam of cultures,

No European country is even remotely close to the US in terms of diversity. The US is a nation of immigrants. There is no American 'people' in the same way there is a German people. America is not a nation-state. Germany has many different areas with different dialects but these are indigenous to Germany.

> the point was that the US once produced these things (guitars, bicycles, etc) now we don't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle_brands_and_manu...

Ctrl + f 'USA', many are defunct yes, but many are not. You are factually incorrect.

> They use different, more expensive grains (rye, whole wheat) and sourdoughs which do exist in the US but only in a few locations.

Not only do bakeries exist in the US that use locally grown whole wheat and rye, bakeries also have the option of importing these ingredients from areas that do have whole wheat and rye. Have you never had a New York sourdough bagel?

> Baklava is hard to find outside college towns and metro areas in the US, this makes it unique

Baklava is hardly unique to Iran unless you expressly call it 'Iranian baklava'. And if you do that, why not call American-made baklava, 'American baklava'?

In my small rural county of Gloucestershire there are over 60 languages spoken. (This is a county with a population of about 800,000 people; spread out over a large rural geographic area).

Here's a short list of languages spoken by school children.

(http://www.irespect.net/CIRCLE/EMAS/Languages2001.htm)

Cities such as Bristol or London would be considerably more diverse.

And these people are, mostly, integrated into local communities rather than separated into various ghettos.

1,2) Your point was "large" in terms of distinct regions, I think implying that the US has a harder time to have our products accepted as opposed to a more homogeneous society. I think diversity and culture is a separate issue.

I dont have experience marketing products in Germany, but like I said almost every country has unique

3) The bicycle companies you listed, most USA brands have shipped production overseas do to labor prices. Off the top of my head, I can think of Trek and Cannondale as the only true mass produced bicycle manufacturers left in the United States. I am not saying there is something not good about the US. I am saying that the lack in quality demanded has left us wish cheaper products that can't demand the prices that will employ engineers. In turn, young engineers are leaving to the finance sector. Here's an excerpt from the BBC documentary.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4081937.stm

4. "Bakery" in the US means cakes, brownies, and cookies not artisan breads which requires fairly skilled workers to make. Only in Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, San Fran, Boston, St. Louis, and New York can you really find artisan bakeries in the US.

But this point was made to establish the uniqueness and quality demanded by the consumer. German Bread as Cultural Heritage: http://www.goethe.de/ges/mol/typ/en8187653.htm

5) You are right baklava is not unique to Iran, but the Iranian spices used were unique to this Baklava. The point is that the consumer demanded/expected a level of quality which is unique to their culture.

> I am saying that the lack in quality demanded has left us wish cheaper products that can't demand the prices that will employ engineers.

If you actually click through those links on the page, you'll find that many are local hand-made bicycle manufacturers. I don't see how mass production is related to 'quality demand' or why out sourced products are necessarily inferior in quality. Certainly Apple products are not inferior in quality. In fact the argument you are making about out sourcing is a completely different argument.

> Only in Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, San Fran, Boston, St. Louis, and New York can you really find artisan bakeries in the US.

Incorrect. http://www.bbga.org/find_members

> The point is that the consumer demanded/expected a level of quality which is unique to their culture.

You were able to glean this insight into Iranian culture because your friend brought you back baklava hand-made with indigenous spices.

> Cannondale

In 2009 there were reports Cannondale is going to move production to Asia (http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cannondale-closing-us-...). Did they decide against it? Wikipedia says the production sites are in Vietnam and Taiwan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannondale_Bicycle_Corporation#... - second paragraph)

No European country is even remotely close to the US in terms of diversity

England surpasses it.

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