I'm pretty sure that my first Dell, that I bought back in '95, was assembled in the USA. I'm not claiming that all of which the computer was comprised were made in the USA. I'm just saying that final assembly was done in the US -- at least, that's what I remember.
While sticking my head inside the case of the machine that I got today, I noticed that a lot of components were made in China. Components like the case, power supply, cables, motherboard. And I got to thinkin' -- I bet this thing was assembled in China, based almost entirely on Chinese-built parts.
And then I thought about how times had changed.
And then I got one last whiff of the "new computer smell", and got to playing with my new toy.
-Andy.
While the thing might appear to be as Chinese as the Chairman, a lot of the money involved stays stuck in America. The parts and labor are lots cheaper over there so the money saved in the production gets passed along to the Dell owners in the States and the consumer (probably in that order). That is to say that it's the money that stays in circulation here, not the jobs.
I realize that's kind of a mixed message about offshoring jobs and I'm probably a villain for putting it that way but that's my understanding of the situation.
I wasn't really writing this post to say that my new Dell getting made in China was a bad thing. Nor was I really writing to say that it was a good thing.
I was just writing to say that it was a thing. That amazed me.
I think what is truly amazing, is that this change has happened in less than 10 years. 10 years ago, China wasn't capable of fabricating something as complex as a case cheaply and accurately, to say anything of a motherboard. Now? They're all over that shit.
Amazing.
-Andy.