[looscnnn]

"The better stuff: R&D and design remains here in the States."

Give it time, they will also be sent out of the country.

[ZeitgeistSurfer]

A major (and I mean major) manufacturer of networking equipment already has its next generation of products being designed in Asia. Its manufacturing is all outsourced as well as its customer service. The core that's left is sales, marketing and finance. THAT is the future. Asia is manufacturing very inexpensive components today. Tomorrow they will integrate them into systems. No exclusively American company will be able to compete with these products. The same thing that happened to consumer electronics will happen (is happening) to computer and information technologies. Silicon Valley is today a virtual ghost town. Larry Ellison essentially said that the party is over. He should look over his back too, because open source versions of databases that will compete directly with Oracle are just around the corner. Think innovation will save us? Think again. Very little venture capital is going into new start-ups. Almost all the money is going into established companies and very low risk ventures.

Yes, there are still entrepreneurs and smart people here. The Indian entrepreurs of Silicon Valley formed self-help (ethnically-based) affinity groups to support each other. They will probably prosper in the new world order. There is a revolution happening here and only a blind person can't see it.

[Outsourcing=Competition]

"The better stuff: R&D and design remains here in the States." Give it time, they will also be sent out of the country.

Well, if the big multinationals send it outside then they will be the losers because the American deisgners will go and create better products that'll knock the socks off the one made by their former company.