[Info-vax] Chinese Alpha?

[Paul Sture]

On Thu, 03 May 2012 10:12:26 +0200, Michael Kraemer wrote:

> Hans Vlems schrieb:
> 
>> Put differently: start learning Chinese because in 10 years it'll be
>> taught in school as a second language.
> 
> This is one of those predictions which pop up every now and then and may
> or may not come true.
> Back in the 1980s the motd was "lean production" and thus "learn
> Japanese because they'll take over the world soon". Hasn't happened, and
> I doubt it'll happen with Chinese.

I did a few months with a Japanese vehicle manufacturer in the UK. They 
were very successful and I believe they still are.  However, they did 
that by starting a brand new facility rather than inheriting an existing 
one (BMW tried that and failed).

The Japanese were certainly pioneers in Just In Time assembly and 
properly managed that can work well, but I am sure others have copied 
that now.

> Undoubtedly they have big economic
> success (with the help of the capitalist Western countries, who were
> stupid enough to outsource their industries), but they also have big
> problems, which easily could lead to the implosion of the system.

And that is where the danger lies.  Can the West go back to manufacturing 
if China does implode?

> Btw, Chinese (as well as Japanese)
> is already offered everywhere as a second language everywhere, I even
> tried it myself thirty years ago, just for fun. I don't think it will
> win, it's simply to old-fashioned and inappropriate for the
> technical/scientific world.


-- 
Paul Sture