mohene1

InclindedPlane, When I thought about this a few years back I bought a Zeno-Basel watch from Switzerland, Late last year I saw the price of my watch shoot up 50% in month due to the Swiss Franc/US Dollar exchange rate.

I don't want to tell anyone what to do, but it is important to say that quality products have a history holding their value.

The statement about the same rich people can purchase the high quality items. This is wrong. People today have more purchasing power and buy more cheaply made expensive things things. People have more money today in the US, but we also spend more with 4 cars, running shoes, $3000 TVs

Will the things you buy have any value in years to come? Does this entire situation of demanding cheaper products decrease the value of an engineer.

There is nothing wrong with the consumer demanding sustaining value. And price is not necessarily a cost, it can be an investment.

I rescind my statement about there being no product from the US that has value and is unique, which would in turn spawn the need for non-software engineers. Peavey Amps is such a product. I don't accept the "we are too large excuse"...China is large and has unique products, but like I said the US does have unique products. I could have used better examples...

But just to answer some side notes that were mentioned: First I am not talking about small two or three men teams of engineers, my post referred to engineering companies who can support a workforce as a result of consumer demand.

>Yes, yes you still do Damn you MTBers :) This makes sense, we invented mountain biking so yes.

I was focused more on companies who design, produce and research bikes here in the USA because this produces jobs. When I mentioned Schwinn, remember Schwinn employed 1000-2000 people. I consider Trek and Cannondale to be in the same level as Schwinn. Trek actually recruits mechanical engineers. Peavy Amps at one time recruited engineers, but the main question is "Does Catalinbread recruit engineers, et. al?"

A lot of those companies are small offices with production coming from Taiwan or China so the impact on Engineers here in the US is minimal.

> Germany is large too with different dialects Slightly different? Do you consider a Bavarian accent similar to a Schwebish accent? Let's not get lost... Anyway, does this smallness account for the fact that Germany has unique cultural products like certain varieties of rye bread, cheese, balsamic vinegar, or watches.

Okay, you have a very good point about the guitars and the inflated values. a $32000 guitar must play itself. This is something I call "apparent value"

>While we are at it: where did the internet and PCs come from? What about 90% of all programming languages and operating systems used nowadays?

Good question. They came from people at Microsoft, Mathematica, Xerox (former MIT researchers), Bell Labs, and ITT. You are right. But in the article I wrote specifically that software engineers have kept their ranks and continue to prosper.

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.

ricksta, I couldn't fit the definition of value into my post but I mention it in my previous post.

Mass production is something I didn't clearly define. You are right. The point I made was that increasing the "quality" in quality of life has meant a decrease in value to the consumer with increasing profits for the heads of companies who convince consumers they are saving money by buying poor-quality.

I answer this by my question "If you believe you have a high quality of life, how many things around you will be worth something in 30 years?" If nothing, it is an illusion.

I value quality, quality defined as something that will remain functional. If we no longer have to design for longevity and function engineering will wither, because consumers won't be willing to pay for the value engineers invest in making things beautiful (long-lasting).

I stated in my "Sources of the Economy" that marketing is essential to the economy. I partially agree, marketing can generate wealth indirectly by creating demand, but marketing only creates wealth when the end product is used for something functional.

If I market a music band, I create no wealth, I facilitate the exchange of wealth. I am not saying that this is bad, but I am saying that the creator is the basis on which everyone else operates.

I agree value can technically be created at the base level by controlling production of crops and things. You are right, but still this is dependent on the producer.

@bwarp you are right, engineers usually have clients and contracts for which they build.

Not to make a joke, but after asking me for a souvenir idea my roommate's German boyfriend said "...a gun?" 1)Germany is large too with different dialects. The point was that the US once produced these things (guitars, bicycles, etc) now we don't. And the younger people who can produce them are wising up and taking jobs in finance. The BBC made a documentary about this just this year.

Fender Guitars was sold to CBS Corporation and quickly mass produced with cheaper woods.

European: Tag-Heuer, Zeno Basel Watches, smaller watch makers, furniture, there are still towns with thriving silverware companies in Southwest Germany 2)Every country is an amalgam of cultures, Yes Winchester rifles of Jonathan Browning are definitely American

3)They use different, more expensive grains (rye, whole wheat) and sourdoughs which do exist in the US but only in a few locations. Baklava is hard to find outside college towns and metro areas in the US, this makes it unique

Siphoning is to extract something with out giving back. An ideal economy is exchanging wealth for wealth. Selling oil/gas to someone is not siphoning, because they receive value (the ability to transport themselves, make goods) in exchange for their money. My earlier post explains some of these concepts

Yes, you are right that Apple delivers world class products. But I think the souvenir/uniqueness test is still important. Because when you look at an American like company Apple, a lot of the mp3 player concept was invented in South Korea. Their post-1997 product design was launched by Sir Jonathan Ive, a Brit.

By having a product unique to ones culture it tends to speak about the domestic production and development of the item.

I agree with you that proportional payment might not be the best. I agree some compensation for the value produced, as you said, seems more just.

I use PHP, 350KB total of PHP+HTML code, you can have a look, I dont know how to post urls http://www.whatsthesequency.com/cookie.php

Romain, this is good. The pictorial examples are great for understanding image processing and its applications. The presentation is clear and concise. I'm bookmarking.

helloluis, in this case you have to have a success story or get a friend to try it out.

In business and life, people ask "How can it benefit me?" before they accept anything.

Put together 3 good selling points. I would hold off on the marketing, Work on getting someone to try it. You don't have to make a profit on the first use, just make sure you show it works. Getting it to work, gives your product value.

University students might indeed be a good test case, because they are more social and more likely to build a good word-of-mouth network for your ideas.

You may want to go to companies and ask them what are their favorite services (e.g. catering services, bands to book, entertainers).

I liked the baked salmon with lemon capers, didnt know salmon was popular in the phillipines...

If the company is specific to the Philipines, like "The best clubs in Manila". 1. The approach in the US would be to write a column in a newspaper, but this is quite hard to do. To do this you might want to try to hold a marketing event if its possible, this would allow you to send a press release to a newspaper. Look up "how to write a press release". I am assuming everything is the same as it is here in the US as far as media contact. 2. You could try University, because students are more likely to try new things 3. Marketing in-person at a University. 4. Remember, University students almost everywhere are the same. I think this might be your market even though I don't know what your idea is.

What is your idea?

1.Send your project to friends. 2.Give your project to someone to review. 3.Right a column related to your project 4.Right a column related to an area in which your project may help

Success stories are more valuable than research.

HughW, How is the marketing,reach,popularity compared to the iPad app?

Labeling blog articles would be beneficial to me. For example: This is "A blog about blogging", "A List", "An open Question". On the other end there could be "Instructional (substantive)", "Solution".