tero, let me assure you that I, for one, hope you are absolutely right on your prediction that "Europe is/will be the hot, new high-tech haven". I say this for a variety of reasons, virtually all of them selfish (selfish as in: I see the emergence of European technological excellence as being good for lots of folks including me).
1) USA cannot forever remain "the little engine that could" and keeping pulling the rest of the globe back from the financial brink. If y'all want to join in as another economic powerhouse and share the load, I say: jump on in, welcome, the water's fine.
2) Competition is terrific. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will get a company off its ass faster than a swift kick in the chops by its rival. Airbus just decked Boeing big time. (I say this with more than academic interest owning a shitload of BA). Well you know what? BA was getting arrogant, their manufacturing methods were way overdue for a shake up, the payroll was bloated, and management just couldn't bring itself to make any substantive changes. It pisses me off that I missed all of the above as I think BA is just a terrific company but that's what makes the stock market such a bundle of fun. I have little doubt that BA will come back with a vengance and will have Airbus to thank for it.
3) You are absolutely right to criticize Q for handset inferiority to Nokia. The Q's quality control is not up to snuff and their handsets ain't as sexy by a long shot. Nokia has emerged as the preeminent handset manufacturer on the planet. Congratulations to NOK.A for raising the bar, say I. Consumers are the beneficiaries and the Mighty Q has its work cut out for it. My argument is that the Q spent its time, capital, and talent on the electronic gizzards as its first priority. Now they can afford to swing the heavy guns around to the "form factor" as we tekkies love to say, and a very spirited race will be run.
4) The U.S. just lost the International Cup [actually they were obliterated to be more accurate] to the Australians, Fijians, and a bunch of guys from Maurice's neck of the woods. Hell, a Japanese dude that nobody every heard of racked up a 5-0 record in match play. Well, I was disappointed for the red, white, and blue but jeez, louise what a terrific development for golf! It, along with soccer, has emerged as a truly international sport NOT dominated by one country/continent. Everybody is going to push everybody else to get better. Call me zany but I think that's nothing but good news for Earth.
5) You European dudes have always had a leg up in the style category as far as I can tell. Every time I get lucky and have a chance to visit, I am invariably knocked out by how danged pretty your clothes, and cars, and consumer electronic products, and just about every other thing is. The Yanks still seem very much a work in progress (unless you want to talk about guns at which we seem to be world class but don't get me started) in this style thing so by all means tero my man: keep on stylin'!
Best, Surfer Mike |
