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Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

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Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#141

Post by Frondo »

johndotsun wrote: post #84
imesh wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah except being able to catch, clean and cook your food is still a valuable skill. However I would say there are more Americans who can do that than Germans... It's hard as hell to get a hunting license in Germany.

I suppose it's useful if you're really into wild camping. Realistically how often would the average person, even someone living in a rural state, need to catch, clean and cook their own food? How many decades has it been since a significant portion of the population has needed that skill? Probably several generations at least. I bet less than a fraction of a percent of the population lives in a situation such that th…

Agreed. This whole "you might need it to survive" stuff is such a total fantasy, it's as realistic as "you might need to learn klingon to survive on a bird of prey some day".

This fiction about civilization collapsing, but then surviving on your wits and hunting skill, is the stuff of YA novels.

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#142

Post by mpweiher »

rtx wrote: post #17
lightedman wrote: post #5

Because German engineering is world-renowned. This much has been known for a good long while. You can take a German bearing of 'low quality' vs. a Chinese bearing of 'high quality' and easily tell that the German bearing is far superior. It only makes sense such engineering capability would result in a lot of manufacturing work in the middle-class range.

On the other hand German cars have one of the worst reliability scores year after year.

Huh? Citation needed.

"The myth suggests that these German brands produce unreliable vehicles, but actual long-term dependability results do not lie. Lately, German makes have been producing reliable vehicles, and the belief that they are unreliable should remain as nothing more than a myth."

http://www.jdpower.com/cars/articles/automotion-blog/5-car-q...

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#143

Post by lightedman »

dmoo wrote: post #70
rtx wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand German cars have one of the worst reliability scores year after year.

Data from the UK seems to suggest it's not as clear as that. Depends on the make, even cats from the same group VAG vary heavily. Skoda and VW seem good and Audi poor. http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2015-uk-vehicle-depend...

In my circles in the USA, AUDI means "A Used Dodge Intrepid" so no wonder it's got a poor rap.

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#144

Post by bootload »

antnisp wrote: post #75
bootload wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"How does the school of mathematics of the University of Goettingen help make German factory workers competitive with Chinese ones?" The search for precision and applied scientific discovery. [0] Enlightenment drives every aspect of German manufacturing. Factory workers are in an environment that makes things driven by these processes. [0] An immediate example that comes to mind is the electric signal activation of t…

Every A4 owner is crying over his repair bills reading this.

I mentioned R8 specifically (hand built), what's the A4 problem? How does this compare to Chinese cars (Great-Wall, Cherry) Especially where extensive asbestos is still used in brakes?

[0] https://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2012/08/16/chinese-cars-r...

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#145

Post by eksemplar »

pjmlp wrote: post #78
eksemplar wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could. The majority of software development isn't science it's craftsmanship and often good business skills make more value than something like calculus or linear algebra. Not for people inventing new stuff or pushing boundaries, but for the horde of developers who are copy pasting, google programming and writing classic ASP every day.

I did the Portuguese apprenticeship program back in the late 80's/early 90's, as I wasn't sure to be able to qualify for the university on my first round and wanted to have already some kind of degree, to pay bills until the next attempt. Those three years of apprentice were great and I learned a lot, but at the university I got to learn how little did I knew, even if those of us coming from informatics apprenticeshi…

Well, nothing beats learning how to make informative decisions in your field, which is something you'll have a much easier time picking up at a university than on your own. Though with all the free video lectures online, the gap is slowly disappearing.

Almost all the practical stuff I use for actual development has been learned outside of CS though. So you could easily have a talented CS degree with middlemanegement skills run an apprenticeship and teach someone how to be a great developer.

You probably couldn't build an entire company around people who cant decipher the shit from the quality stuff though. But a degree isn't a certainty in that department. I've interviewed CS majors who couldn't explain ACID, hadn't heard of SOLID and who also thought the singleton pattern was absolutely vital.

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#146

Post by sverige »

kodfodrasz wrote: post #53
sverige wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American with some German ancestry, I find this to be very embarrassing. (The Swedes in my family can all change a tire as well, including my sister, but the German side is embarrassed.) Americans have become complacent and lazy, with no sense of "know how" or "make do." Hell, kids don't even know how to clean and cook a rabbit, let alone how to catch one with a snare. If the zombie apocalypse ever happened for…

Would you risk eating a "zombie rabbit"? :)

The main thing is to check the liver for spots. If it has spots, don't eat the meat.

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#147

Post by sverige »

pjc50 wrote: post #117
sverige wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an American with some German ancestry, I find this to be very embarrassing. (The Swedes in my family can all change a tire as well, including my sister, but the German side is embarrassed.) Americans have become complacent and lazy, with no sense of "know how" or "make do." Hell, kids don't even know how to clean and cook a rabbit, let alone how to catch one with a snare. If the zombie apocalypse ever happened for…

Everyone knowing how to skin a rabbit doesn't help if there aren't enough rabbits. A population of 320m Americans catching rabbits? A billion rabbits a week? (The US currently consumes 8 billion chickens a year)

There are lots and lots of wild rabbits. They breed ... like rabbits, lol.

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#148

Post by sverige »

sverige wrote: post #52
mtempm wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so German actually. I've been living in Australia the past year (which has a lot of Germans) and twice I helped someone change a flat tyre. Both times a German also came to assist, and both times it was an American who didnt know how to change a flat (there arent that many of them in Aus).

As an American with some German ancestry, I find this to be very embarrassing. (The Swedes in my family can all change a tire as well, including my sister, but the German side is embarrassed.) Americans have become complacent and lazy, with no sense of "know how" or "make do." Hell, kids don't even know how to clean and cook a rabbit, let alone how to catch one with a snare. If the zombie apocalypse ever happened for…

Coming back to this late. I guess my point about rabbits is that when I was a kid in the 60s in a rural place, it was a very common skill that kids were taught -- along with a bunch of other practical stuff. My generation generally did a poor job of passing along those skills. (My daughter can clean a fish, not a rabbit, but she's a vegan now haha.)

Re: Why Germany Still Has So Many Middle-Class Manufacturing Jobs

#149

Post by lightedman »

lacampbell wrote: post #39
ams6110 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also get real high quality bearings made in China, but they will not be as cheap, and you will have to verify that you are getting what you asked for.

Can you? Where? Until this year, China was unable to manufacture ballpoint pens. "It was a years-long effort that cost millions of dollars and required the leadership of a state-run corporate colossus. It was front-page news, widely discussed on talk shows and celebrated on social media." ... "China doesn't possess the advanced alloys and machines necessary to make a high-quality pen ball and socket." https://www.blo…

One thing that confuses me is how China doesn't possess the advanced alloys for ballpoint pen nibs? It's just an osmium alloy, not that difficult to do. They've got osmium out the yin-yang (no pun intended) and should have had alloys of that long, long ago.
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