Here's a blog post I once read. I think it's an eye opener, especially if you think you can control 100% the quality of the products you buy.

The world market has become such a mess that the process of buying electronics has become a bit stochastic.

 

Here's a blog post I once read. I think it's an eye opener, especially if you think you can control 100% the quality of the products you buy.

The world market has become such a mess that the process of buying electronics has become a bit stochastic.

As I said before, I have been in the business since 1978. None of this is new or even surprising. In and around 1980, there was an "IC shortage" and some of my buddies who worked in purchasing made big $$$ getting ICs on the black market and gouging people on the price. But on guy bought a big lot of IC's and resold them only to have the buyer come down on his head because the parts were 100% rejects. We x-rayed some of the parts and found they were molded around internal lead frames that had no die or bond wires. They were worthless. My buddy ate about a $10k loss on those. You can't call the cops when you buy goods illegally.

When vendors choose to do business in countries which have no laws on trade or simply ignore the laws, they have to take ownership of what happens. But even big companies like Nike and Apple have gotten publicly humiliated by the gross abuses being done in their name.

For many decades, any and all Hi-Reliability parts made had to be 100% manufacture on shore for the simple reason they would not risk any of the kinds of fakery you see in the referenced example.

IMHO, there are no more high quality makers of electronics. Price pressure is so intense they all use cheap pacific rim manufacturers and when there are quality problems, they blame their subcontractors and use that for deniability.

At one point, the name "HP" meant absolute quality and reliability. Look at their PC's now, absolute junk. same with Sony, at one time they were superb and now it's a roll of the dice. It's all throw away junk.

 

"IMHO, there are no more high quality makers of electronics. Price pressure is so intense they all use cheap pacific rim manufacturers and when there are quality problems, they blame their subcontractors and use that for deniability."


Same thing happens everyday, in every government agency.
No one is accountable, and no one ever apologizes for their Billion dollar mistakes.

About the electronics, I agree with you. That's why I thought it was better to buy those components/items, from China.

ISO 9000, doesn't mean much if they don't implement it.

 

isnt fixable. ordered a few other card readers already.
...

Isn't fixable?

I thought you said the problem was the card was a bit loose in the slot?

You could probably have fixed it by wedging a small piece of thin plastic in there behind the card, like a bit of overhead projector mylar sheet. And if that tightened up the slot and fixed it, then you could have permanently fixed the plastic in there with a spot of superglue. It could have been fixed in 5 minutes.

 

Isn't fixable?

I thought you said the problem was the card was a bit loose in the slot?

You could probably have fixed it by wedging a small piece of thin plastic in there behind the card, like a bit of overhead projector mylar sheet. And if that tightened up the slot and fixed it, then you could have permanently fixed the plastic in there with a spot of superglue. It could have been fixed in 5 minutes.

I will just wait until new reader arrives

 

ISO 9000, doesn't mean much if they don't implement it.

IMHO, ISO 9000 is the most widely misunderstood scam being passed off on an unsuspecting world.

ISO is merely a way of implementing a horrendously overblown method of documenting a manufacturing process..... it actually does nothing to ensure that it is a GOOD process and is entirely unrelated to the design itself. In other words, it will let you build completely useless crap as long as you build it EXACTLY as crappy every time.

I went through all of the ISO phases as well as a dozen other "process improvement" systems in my career. The real problem is that they think there are systems which can eliminate the need for people to use their brains..... I never agreed with that.

 

I went through all of the ISO phases as well as a dozen other "process improvement" systems in my career. The real problem is that they think there are systems which can eliminate the need for people to use their brains..... I never agreed with that.

I believe Henry Ford came up with that manufacturing model. Write down enough "standards" and you can get monkeys to build cars or computers. The complete lack of versatility and refusal to listen to anybody without a college degree can only cause better products at lower prices.

 

http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_9000

ISO 9000 is quality management, ensuring a consistent quality. It doesn't make any statements concerning the actual quality of the piece.

from the referenced link ...

There are many standards in the ISO 9000 family, including:

•ISO 9001:2008 - sets out the requirements of a quality management system
•ISO 9000:2005 - covers the basic concepts and language
•ISO 9004:2009 - focuses on how to make a quality management system more efficient and effective
•ISO 19011:2011 - sets out guidance on internal and external audits of quality management systems.

 

with the info from THE_RB, i applied some layers cellophane tape and the LED in the card readers stays on now.

Looks ugly tough.

 

IMHO, ISO 9000 is the most widely misunderstood scam being passed off on an unsuspecting world.

ISO is merely a way of implementing a horrendously overblown method of documenting a manufacturing process..... it actually does nothing to ensure that it is a GOOD process and is entirely unrelated to the design itself. In other words, it will let you build completely useless crap as long as you build it EXACTLY as crappy every time.

I went through all of the ISO phases as well as a dozen other "process improvement" systems in my career. The real problem is that they think there are systems which can eliminate the need for people to use their brains..... I never agreed with that.

Exactly.

The last company I worked for went through the ISO9000 crap. The bill of goods that they bought into included the warning that we would lose our customers if we were not ISO approved. In the years following, I was never asked by a customer even once about our ISO status. What a load of baloney...at filet mignon prices!

While we were going through the "training," I was in the men's room and one of the quality experts came in. One of the verbal "gems" he liked to throw around was, "If you can't measure it, you can't control it." He was at the urinal as I went out the door, and I couldn't resist asking if he had calibrated that process. No response.

 

Activities are evaluated, aligned and implemented
in a unified way

Great. I do that using wordpress. I should add a section to the sidebar "ISO9000 quality management approach in place with regular internal audits."

I've read some lines from the PDF- how can any business survive without taking care these basics? It is only natural.

Maybe for people without a programming background who can not necessarily think clearly and logically and consider "as-is", such guidance is indeed necessary, even let's say, essential and helpful.

 

Principle 7 – Factual approach to decision making

sure. consider "as-is", not what "might be" or don't care at all.

 

It costs 30 dollar ( in dollar currency) in the shop.
I bought it.
I saw it online for $1.

It is exactly the same reader.

This is one of the earliest posts in this thread, and can't remember any one really addressing why it was more in the store. It's more in a store (if it is the exact same item), because you can get it exactly when you need it.

Nothing to do with quality or anything else. If you buy online you have to wait, especially from China. The store bought it when waited for you to buy it. Their money was tied up waiting for you to decide you needed one.

Right or wrong, you pay for the convienence.

 

This is one of the earliest posts in this thread, and can't remember any one really addressing why it was more in the store. It's more in a store (if it is the exact same item), because you can get it exactly when you need it.

Nothing to do with quality or anything else. If you buy online you have to wait, especially from China. The store bought it when waited for you to buy it. Their money was tied up waiting for you to decide you needed one.

Right or wrong, you pay for the convienence.

Sure, I buy a chip for $3.50, better say a box, and it takes some time until they arrive.

then someone wants it fast, and just one, $6.

Reasonable.

They could not commission a harddrive for 40 dollar, and sell it for $1200.

 

Why couldn't they?

If someone is prepared to pay $1200 for it, then that is what it is worth.

If people aren't prepared to pay $1200 for, then it isn't worth that.

 

Why couldn't they?

If someone is prepared to pay $1200 for it, then that is what it is worth.

If people aren't prepared to pay $1200 for, then it isn't worth that.

If I pay $1200 for a hard drive that looks very similar to a $40 one (let's assume it is NOT exactly the same), I'd expect top notch quality.

This is the idea why I wrote the thread: Put up the price a lot + don't care about quality.

I have no wish to name the store at all.

Let all the writing be- people will walk away when they pay a premium and get lousy quality, especially when there are other vendors.

then less customers, increase prices even more? A laptop adapter for $100 is gross. Well euro not dollars, so its 140 dollar. I am not willing to pay half the price of a new laptop just for a replacement adapter- some people maybe do pay that, but guess, that's why some retail stores have to close down.

They do have good offers where they only make a small margin, maybe 20%, but then they do have these blunders on offer- preying on the fact sometimes people need it immediately not just the same day but within an hour.

I would like to mention Dell adapter- it did not cost that much, I ordered from the UK for a $10 or so, but soon the plug broke again.

It is malicious to do that- people depend on a laptop for working. Brittle plastic and very thin pins. As for me, it forms an opinion about Dell as such.

It is the attitude- they do pretty much what they like. Pay a lot of money for a Sony Ericsson phone- website broken pretty bad apple your phone not supported. OK. The phone after some months not using it fails.

Bring it to a service shop (authorized). After a lot of haggling the guy is willing to inspect it for a fee. After trying a few times, and a few days, the info: Moisture damage.

I'd say, software feature for deactivation.

This is not a fair customer/vendor partnership, supposed it would be OK the vendor makes some profit.

It is a junk goods rollercoaster. Not to talk about all the bad mobile phone games built in- they are a pain even to try out.

End of line- refusing to use mobile phones.

 

This is one of the earliest posts in this thread, and can't remember any one really addressing why it was more in the store. It's more in a store (if it is the exact same item), because you can get it exactly when you need it.

What nobody (except me) has addressed is the obvious fact:

NOTHING in consumer electronics costs $1 to make and deliver unless it is stolen, ripped off design/product, or worthless junk. In some cases places go out of business and dump inventory below cost but I guarantee if you buy something for $1, it's chances of being junk is high and let the buyer beware.

As to why a $30 item might not work? Because consumer electronics items that cheap are made at schlock vendors with poor quality control.

And as to your point about convenience adding value: yes, I pointed that out a long time back. Buying locally does cost more because you get the added benefit of examining the item before buying and returning it in person, as well as getting it the same day (that is why stores still exist) The OP ignored my post.

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what the OP is arguing at this point. I have given up trying to decipher it. But on the upside: the "defective" card reader just needed a piece of tape to become operational so it probably was never defective in the first place.

 

Exactly.

The last company I worked for went through the ISO9000 crap. The bill of goods that they bought into included the warning that we would lose our customers if we were not ISO approved. In the years following, I was never asked by a customer even once about our ISO status. What a load of baloney...at filet mignon prices!

While we were going through the "training," I was in the men's room and one of the quality experts came in. One of the verbal "gems" he liked to throw around was, "If you can't measure it, you can't control it." He was at the urinal as I went out the door, and I couldn't resist asking if he had calibrated that process. No response.

We should start a whole thread about the idiocies done in the name of ISO. I could write a long book..... but reliving that stupidity would just raise my blood pressure.

 

Activities are evaluated, aligned and implemented
in a unified way

Great. I do that using wordpress. I should add a section to the sidebar "ISO9000 quality management approach in place with regular internal audits."

I've read some lines from the PDF- how can any business survive without taking care these basics? It is only natural.

Maybe for people without a programming background who can not necessarily think clearly and logically and consider "as-is", such guidance is indeed necessary, even let's say, essential and helpful.

If you think the ISO process is "natural", then I can absolutely conclude you have not been forced to implement it at an actual working business. Those of us who have actually know what it is.

 

I don't ignore your replies. Over time, I think about them, and after a while, I become able to find a solution or to make a further judgement.

If I just want to broadcast/publish my opinion, I bloat it with made up sentences, tag it with keywords + put it on a blog. Over time, it will be indexed, visited and read.

The main purpose of posting on a forum is to see it from another persons perspective.

I archieved a solution so far: adding some cellophane tape as well cutting same with a blade. It barely fits in the camera, but the LED remains on.