This isn't a question, but I just found out about this company- https://www.bakusa.com/
Not sure if they are in production... but I wish I knew before I got my computer. I would compromise some to get that.
This isn't a question, but I just found out about this company- https://www.bakusa.com/
Not sure if they are in production... but I wish I knew before I got my computer. I would compromise some to get that.
You have to ask yourself what exactly "made" means here. Very little low-level computer component manufacture is done in the US, so they're probably just doing high-level assembly:
And it turns out there's a potential security advantage to buying computers that never touch US soil:
Although there are workarounds...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/03/cisco_shipping_.html
In reply to GameboyRMH :
First post reply- against the idea. Awesome.
Given the state of manufacturing in the US, right now, I don't see it as a huge issue that they are more assembled than made in the US- you have to start somewhere.
Would I rather buy a computer from China or the US? If the NSA is getting into computers made here, do you honestly think China is not doing the same thing?
edit- it's also interesting that the one person who quickly downplays this is the poster who is the most likely could work for a computer manufacturer.
I'm not against computers being made in the US at all, but I am against companies pretending to make computers where they don't.
If I must be spied on by a government, being spied on by governments less capable of interfering with my life is preferable, so I would prefer to be spied on by China rather than the US. They seem to be far more interested in average-Joe Uighurs than cipherpunks anyway.
Tin foil hat antics aside, on first glance this looks like more like marketing gimicks than a decent product.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
How are you so sure that they are not making the computers here?
But even if they are like Shinola here in Detroit, they have +100 skilled employees making real stuff. That's a good thing, and it could lead to some supplier starting in the US. Besides, some of the components are made in the US.
As for being spied on, I'd rather be spied on from the US. because articles like the ones you post can actually be written, which will lead to changes.
Daylan C said:Tin foil hat antics aside, on first glance this looks like more like marketing gimicks than a decent product.
How are tablets and laptops marketing gimicks? I don't understand that.
But if the general feeling is that you would rather import your stuff, fine. I'll stop posting these items.
alfadriver said:In reply to GameboyRMH :
How are you so sure that they are not making the computers here?
Because I'm pretty up-to-date on industry news, and I would've seen the news about all the low-level component supply chains being put in place that would be necessary to do such a thing in any remotely competitive way.
alfadriver said:But even if they are like Shinola here in Detroit, they have +100 skilled employees making real stuff. That's a good thing, and it could lead to some supplier starting in the US. Besides, some of the components are made in the US.
Fair point, but it does bother me when companies bolt some large foreign-sourced sub-assemblies together and not only say a thing was "made in" that location, but make that a major point of their marketing.
alfadriver said:As for being spied on, I'd rather be spied on from the US. because articles like the ones you post can actually be written, which will lead to changes.
Not smart...you should prefer to be spied on by China even more than I do, even if their processes are completely unaccountable to anyone, because their spying is less likely to affect you in any way. Your ideal government spy should be the self-appointed emperor for life of a tiny desert island who has a complete record of everything you do but has no budget to act with and is most interested in the affairs of the local lizards (who he is sure are up to something).
I read through the website and I'm afraid I'm leaning towards Gamboy's side with this one. It reminds me of a friend who was a hardware engineer for a bar-top game company. The games were built here in southeast PA but the less game-specific components (screens, circuit boards, etc) came from all over the world. Mostly from Taiwan and China.
To put it into automotive terms, it seems like the early days of Japanese-US plants: cars built in the US from a majority of parts sourced from Japan. While they rolled off a US assembly line, the VIN still started with a "J". That said, those cars eventually were built from parts mostly sourced from US suppliers and begat the US-market Asian cars we have today.
You have to start somewhere.
The product isn't a gimmick, it's all the social empowerment nonsense.
In reply to alfadriver :
If you are not aware, Game boy is not a US Citizen or even living on US soil so it seems to be reasonable that he may not share you idea of, "things that come from where I live are the greatest things."
Considering the labor conditions at the Chinese and South Korean megacorps that make large fractions of all the world's computer components, I could surely see some upsides to computers being made in the US.
News fresh off the press, now is a really bad time to try making computers in the US (with anything other than locally made basic parts):
https://hackaday.com/2018/06/15/making-electronics-just-got-25-more-expensive-in-the-us/
One of our customers makes a good majority of all the semiconductor substrates in circulation. Their main plant is here in the US and they also have one in Germany.
A level up, Intel, Qualcomm, and AMD all have foundry's here in the US. They all print on those substrates to make the chips.
There's a couple of minor players that produce LCD displays here in the US and a few that produce mainboards.
It should, in theory, be possible to put together a nearly 100% US produced computer or tablet if you were deliberate enough and carefully sourced the components individually. The caveat is that parent companies may not all be US entities.
The unknowns are really the base level rare earth materials and sub components like the capacitors etc.
You guys do realize that virtually nothing of any level of complexity is 100% 'Made in the USA' anymore, right? Go back far enough in the supply chain-subassemblies>individual components>raw materials>mineral ores...-and a large percentage of the content is coming from anywhere across the globe. Just look up US made parts content of any domestic vehicle, most aren't much over 50-75% last I looked, and that is almost certainly not acccounting for raw material content, which the OEMs wouldn't even necessarily know.
That doesn't mean that making, or at least assembling, things in this country doesn't create jobs. And it's more than just the 100 people, or whatever, assembling the laptops. Its the truckers that pick up and deliver shipments, the outside vendors who might supply components or services, equipment vendors, maintenance guys, cleaning crews for the plant and office, manufacturers of the packaging materials...It's a vast spiderweb of interconnected businesses that are all employing people, the manufacturer itself is just the tip of the iceberg.
In reply to Furious_E :
Well aware considering what I do. It's an interesting thought exercise over lunch.
Thread resurrection: An American company that used to outsource all production is bringing low-level assembly and supposedly even some fabrication in-house:
https://blog.system76.com/post/175995780368/system76-new-manufacturing-facility
If you're wondering how that will ever be price-competitive when there are now hefty tariffs on electronic components, the answer is that it won't be, but that's par for the course for this company. System76 is a premium manufacturer (or at least designer) of computers intended to run Linux out of the box. But if you want a US-made computer and aren't afraid to pay for it, they could be a good option.
Update: System76 Thelio-series desktops are available for preorder now, they're open-source hardware, and low-level assembled and partially manufactured in the US. Starting at $1.1k:
GameboyRMH said:Update: System76 Thelio-series desktops are available for preorder now, they're open-source hardware, and low-level assembled and partially manufactured in the US. Starting at $1.1k:
That is one stylish desktop!
GameboyRMH said:Update: System76 Thelio-series desktops are available for preorder now, they're open-source hardware, and low-level assembled and partially manufactured in the US. Starting at $1.1k:
I'm not up to snuff on open source hardware... does this mean open source mechanically? Are cad plans available for this stuff?
Is the open source hardware just the header-thingy? What motherboard are they using?
ProDarwin said:I'm not up to snuff on open source hardware... does this mean open source mechanically? Are cad plans available for this stuff?
Is the open source hardware just the header-thingy? What motherboard are they using?
Looks like mechanical and some electrical stuff and firmware...CAD plans are available for the case and PCB layouts are available for the IO board. Don't know what mainboard they're using (looks like at least two variants) but it's not an open-source hardware component:
https://github.com/system76/thelio
alfadriver said:Daylan C said:Tin foil hat antics aside, on first glance this looks like more like marketing gimicks than a decent product.
How are tablets and laptops marketing gimicks? I don't understand that.
But if the general feeling is that you would rather import your stuff, fine. I'll stop posting these items.
I think he means a marketing gimmick, rather than actual hardware/software.
GameboyRMH said:Update: System76 Thelio-series desktops are available for preorder now, they're open-source hardware, and low-level assembled and partially manufactured in the US. Starting at $1.1k:
It's fun to build a $24K desktop computer. 
^Try the boxx website. I got to 100k on the first option :P
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