Re: from SLATE

[Dennis Robert Redmond <dredmond@xxxxxxx>]

On Sun, 1 Oct 2000, Jim Devine wrote:

> >U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 2
> >  ... An article describes the decline of quality control in Japan. The
> > country that worshipped quality is experiencing a wave of embarrassments,
> > including the recent discovery of a lizard in a bag of potato chips and a
> > rash of exploding televisions. What happened? The slow economy led to
> > cost cutting and reduced worker loyalty.

The reality is a bit more complex than this -- what seems to be happening
is a massive cultural transformation, where consumers are beginning to
complain about products in a public way (Japan still leads the world in
terms of overall industrial quality, though certain US and EU firms are
catching up).  It's just that the problems aren't being hushed up anymore
by corrupt officials or what have you, which is of course a good
thing.

-- Dennis