Earlier quoted context omitted.
The code is. I don't think the hardware itself is QAed in the US.
It definitely is. Huge testing facilities, radio testing, durability, temperature cycling. All done by Apple in the US.
Only the devices sold in US.
Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
31–40 of 40 posts
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
>I hope I'm 100% wrong. You are. Manufacturing is moving back to the US quickly as labor in China gets more expensive and fuel costs increase.
Fuel costs are not increasing. Shipping across oceans is extremely cheap. Way more more manufacturing is moving US -> China, than the opposite.
Fuel costs are temporarily down because Europe's economy is so weak, but I wouldn't count on fuel staying this low. Also Chinese labor is not such a bargain as wages rise.
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fuel costs are not increasing. Shipping across oceans is extremely cheap. Way more more manufacturing is moving US -> China, than the opposite.
Fuel costs are temporarily down because Europe's economy is so weak, but I wouldn't count on fuel staying this low. Also Chinese labor is not such a bargain as wages rise.
Whether it is temporary or not, at the moment, shipping is cheap and jobs are leaving the United States.
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#34IBM is playing to two of it's strengths here -- decades of enterprise sales relationships and development manpower, largely based in India. In effect, they're becoming a sales and System Integration channel for Apple. In return they get to give their customers mobile apps that put lipstick on the pigs (Mainframe software, WebSphere/J2EE apps). What I find amusing is how IBM is spinning this into a "Data and Analytics…
IBM India is a clusterfuck, according to several IBMers I know. Sure, there might be pockets of good devs, but as a whole it's less than zero. I don't blame India, this is most likely a problem caused higher up looking to cut costs above having good teams. Talented guys in India are not that cheap.
Is there any large software company in the industry that has a sizeable development center in India that isn't a clusterfuck?
I've got a sample size of three and all were gong shows.
I blame the outsourcing mindset -- low cost, high volume of people. No focus on quality and accountability. Because the individual engineers I've worked with have on average been excellent. Most of the time though you just get a pool of "resources" rather than actual named people with clear responsibilities.
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#35Ryanair announced today that they will equip pilots with iPads to save on time and paper documentation. I wonder if those news are connected?
I doubt it. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has permitted the iPad to be used as Class 1 Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) since at least 2011.
http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_ope...
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? Largely based in India? :-(
Why is that a bad thing?
IBM has positioned itself as the consulting company that understands the need to be truly global, even running ads on television emphasizing that recently.
What they're pitching for data storage and consulting is just as beneficial for development. Thus, if they're saying one thing and then doing all their dev work in India, that sucks.
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
The code is. I don't think the hardware itself is QAed in the US.
It definitely is. Huge testing facilities, radio testing, durability, temperature cycling. All done by Apple in the US.
Do you know if they QA every device or just spot checks for quality of batches? I'd also guess this is only for US-sold devices as it'd be a bit prohibitive to ship them all from China to the US for QA and then ship them to Europe for sale. Is that the case?
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#38Well you can definitely see the IBM influence in this announcement. Some of those sentences could have come straight out of the buzzword generator.
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
It definitely is. Huge testing facilities, radio testing, durability, temperature cycling. All done by Apple in the US.
Do you know if they QA every device or just spot checks for quality of batches? I'd also guess this is only for US-sold devices as it'd be a bit prohibitive to ship them all from China to the US for QA and then ship them to Europe for sale. Is that the case?
I work in manufacturing test, so I can speak to this.
There's a difference between design/development test and manufacturing test. Thermal, drop, vibration, interference, etc. tests are design tests: they verify that units built according to spec are sufficiently reliable. None of the devices you buy have undergone these tests, because the tests are destructive. You wouldn't want to buy an iPhone that had been baked in an oven, or dropped on a concrete floor. It's best to perform these tests near where development happens, to enable fast iteration and easily involve the hardware engineers.
Manufacturing tests verify that individual units have been built according to spec. For example, that there's no electrical shorts, missing connections, cosmetic defects, etc. All of the devices you buy have undergone a large battery of manufacturing tests, which exercised all of the hardware features of the device. These tests are performed at the factory, because it's better to catch these failures early in the assembly process. For example, if a camera module is busted, you want to know before it's installed into an iPhone.
Of course Apple isn't unique in this way. This is just how manufacturing is done.
Re: Apple and IBM Deliver First Wave of IBM MobileFirst for iOS Apps
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you know if they QA every device or just spot checks for quality of batches? I'd also guess this is only for US-sold devices as it'd be a bit prohibitive to ship them all from China to the US for QA and then ship them to Europe for sale. Is that the case?
I work in manufacturing test, so I can speak to this. There's a difference between design/development test and manufacturing test. Thermal, drop, vibration, interference, etc. tests are design tests: they verify that units built according to spec are sufficiently reliable. None of the devices you buy have undergone these tests, because the tests are destructive. You wouldn't want to buy an iPhone that had been baked…
Thanks for the detailed response. I wasn't as aware of all that as I should be. I'd wager it varies based on the level of the brand, though. So, you could expect this with something like Apple or Samsung or HTC, but lesser brands may not even test their wares before shipping them. My recent purchases of a Monoprice keyboard and network adapter, for instance, both of which were DOA with obvious manufacturing defects.