Sharing is Caring...unless it is with Asia

General Discussion
41

Its a NEW WORLD ORDER.China is the template for how things wil be in the future.Soon there will be the amero and then asia will have its own currency and our children will be slaves to money just like us.

My dad was a civil engineer.I traveled all over the world when I was younger and have seen things that most will never see or feel.He went to china and worked there for 6 months setting up brick refractories for them and when the equipment would come from america the chinese would take aprart the equipment and reverse engineer the whole machine.It was so bad that my dad had to keep the plans locked up so they couldn't see them.

Very hard working people though he said that they would pour concrete slabs that were 12 feet thick with no machines used at all just lots of manual labor.

I am a immgrant from OZ and I love America and would do anything for her.I fear that we are becoming the property of china and it sucks.

Sorry for the rambling !!!!!!!!

42

hey ben, nice to see Asia being mentioned in the same breath as surfing hehe. but allow me to address a few of the points you raised.

where i come from, surfing's pretty new. scores of local surf spots have yet to be discovered and with majority of the 80 to 90 million filipinos still ignorant about the sport, all the known spots from north to south are frequented by adventurous haoles, plus the usual community of locals who happen to live in those areas. those who regularly travel from the city to go surfing are the sort of folk who can afford the lifestyle. frankly there aren't a lot.

majority of local surfers don't own their own boards, and what's available for rent at surf spots are either castoff shortboard & fishes from departing haoles, or mint-condition, branded longboards from the US, sold at the malls here. haven't seen any china-made popouts in any lineup to date.

in about 5 to 10 years, all the rich kids who've gotten surf lessons will be old enough to work and to aspire for their own custom-shaped board. 

if you've been paying attention, all this spells opportunity for those who can supply demand for custom boards-- imported or locally-made.

the rest of asia with still-to-be-discovered surf spots-- china, japan, korea, malaysia, indonesia to name a few-- will also have their own demand curves a few years down the line.

considering there aren't too many local shapers-- or haole shapers who've decided to go native-- where do you think they'll all buy their custom boards from ?

anyone looking for HWS distribution & representation in metro manila, send me a PM   " )

43

eh

44

Ben,

Don’t stop releasing as much info as you can generate in order to improve surfboards.  Anyone interested in keeping local surfboard manufacturing as healthy as possible should do the same.

I’m sure Ben already knows, but the reason is because global mondo-corp is and will always be slow to act.  It costs them a fortune to change anything of significance, and sometimes even things that don’t seem significant.  

So, the more knowledge that can be generated and disseminated means the more change they must enact to compete.  An over-simplified example:

Hypothetically, let’s say Ben’s channel ideas are the mutt’s nutts.  Greatest idea since sliced bread.  Now it’s free and out there to everyone, from Jim the Genius to whoever is whoring out to the Asian manufacturers.  Jim can start building boards with these channels this afternoon.  His customers hear about these channels, start a sheep stampede to his door, and he says, “Sure I can do 'em – EPS or poly?”  Evil Empire wants to imitate, but their molds must be re-designed, re-made, re-shipped to their factories, re-installed, along with whatever ripple effects these new molds will have on the other aspects of their manufacturing process.

They start down that road – call the engineers, have them re-design all the molds, here’s a check for X million dollars.

By the time they are ready to sell those boards, Jim will have made big bank of the idea, because his business can adapt much faster.  Let’s say it’s 6 months in, and Ben does further research showing that channels are actually weak sauce compared to making golf-ball dimples --the Phazer bottom was close to the True Solution!  Kelly Slater himself is seen surfing the new bottom, and proclaims it to be “way radder than channels”.

Jim drops channels, and starts dimpling in just the right way as researched by Ben (or anyone willing to share) that same day.  The Evil Empire, who have already invested Y million & 6 months in their new production line of channels, has to start all over again.

This process never need end if everyone is willing to share.  The Evil Empire can only sell boards that are so outdated their designs are only ridden by beginners.

I can say this with some degree of assurance because this is exactly how it works in my corner of the software industry.  We have hundreds of people like Ben, and the big companies couldn’t touch us with all the lawyers in the world.

45

 . . . because I no longer want to be part of this garbage . . .

46

Ben -

You’re young and naiive, that’s not bad per se, but you must realize that asian (and most western) businessmen treat business just like war. To give advantages away is to commit suicide my friend.

In the academic world things are very different than in the business world. You’ll see…

Take Care.

47

 

If you have found a way to make yourself a good chunk of change.  Give me the idea so I can patent it, claim it and then make the chunk of change for myself and then pay others to write the history of how I came up with the idea in one of the magazines I buy advertising in.   Also, if you later try and use the idea, that you came up with, I’ll file a patent infringement lawsuit against you.

 

That is the issue with sharing information that will help you make a living.  If your not trying to make living.   Then feel great sharing away, but don’t be too mad at someone else for finding a way to make a buck at it without even giving credit.

 

As for China.  When they begin not slaughtering their folk, and giving them basic rights, I’ll believe they are being proactive.  As it is, they are simply dealing with a major problem of overpopulation in a way other than mass slaughter as they have done in the past.  That stuff doesn’t make for good business in the modern world.  Not out in the open anyway.

 

As for the Chinese people.  They deserve all the same rights the rest of us cherish or want.  The Chinese folk are not the problem.

 

BTW: I have changed my view a bit on the whole thing.   If all I wanted was a stock thruster…I see no reason to pay Al Merrick $650.00 for his boards when I can buy the same thruster with the same glass job and shape for $300.00 made in Asia. Regardless of the whoops and yells…the average surfer can’t tell the difference it it doesn’t matter to a ripper.  Of course, I like shapes that require custom shapers and the mass producers don’t see a market for because they are used to selling to the herd.

48

None of the most successful people in the world live by dog eat dog and hierarchical social structures?

 

You must be kidding.

49

…the Chinese are tearing apart and killing all the hard work and ethics that craftmen, thinkers, etc have been doing in the past centuries…

so the mankind in the the future will have other “roots” when see to the past

50

I think Asia should be viewed as a "country by country" situation. There are many different countries in Asia, with their own style and beliefs and social structures . China is China-its not Japan or Indo or Filipines- its China

51

poulations continue to grow - but the pie ain't gettin any bigger !!

52

[quote="$1"]

its dog eat dog

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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8998NzaxjM74JAHU18lVgEXiV6wD9CKMTGO3

 

53

it will be eurasia/ globalisation means exporting workers as well as products. 1 man unit worth the same in every country. it you think that means wages go up in china you are tripping. it means wages go down in the west cuz legislation doesnt protect national workforce. contract rates mean employer sell to lowest bidder. strange the big employers have started building accomadation for immigrant worrkers and sometime 4 or 5 work under one tax number. arrgoant people think there jobs are safe. i cant stant stand pc blowhards preaching this crap . these fuckers havent lost there job. traitors to our nations

 

 

 

 

54

This process never need end if everyone is willing to share.  The Evil Empire can only sell boards that are so outdated their designs are only ridden by beginners.

55

Ben,

Sharing is caring to an extent. This site is a great example of how sharing the stoke of surf design helps in the innovation of new designs, materials and techniques related to board building. 

" And if someone takes or steals the truth, and makes it available to everyone, so that everyone benefits, then that is a good thing. I am not a fan of intellectual elitism; I believe that the internet is an excellent tool to break down barriers of educational and informational inequities, created by the old system."

Are you serious? This statement is hard to believe. It seems pretty clear but I hope I somehow misunderstood it.

 Imagine if you put 10 or 20 years of hard work into developing something totally new. You mean to tell us that you would be totally cool when your idea is stolen, reproduced in a foreign country at half the cost, only to have to compete against your own product?  I suppose this hypothetical situation is based on the fact that you had an interest in taking credit for your work and maybe making a profit off of your invested time. While not surf related there is a movie out called Flash of Genius. It is based around the 1960's and is about the guy that developed the intermittent windshield wiper. This might seem like an insignificant contribution in today's advanced technology, but it is something that has been a standard option on most if not every vehicle sold since. I bring this movie up because it is a great example of intellectual property being stolen and the impact it has on the people who put in the hard work and countless hours to develop the idea . You should watch it and let me know if you still feel ok about stolen ideas.

In my opinion if someone puts forth the effort, time and hard work they should be the one to get the credit and reward for their accomplishment. Maybe all this seems ok when it happens to other people, but I bet it won't be so pleasant if it happens to you.