bulk spec and buy chinese telescopes

Chinese optics are good and cheap

Why can't we form buying cartels to go directly to the manufacturers - sort
of like a mE-bay
That way any interested group of parties can get anything made (and made
well) according to their own specifications...

ahhh, but

theres the rub - IP, intellectual property... who owns the blueprints or
has the smarts to design the stuff? and whats more, again , who has the IP?
perhaps we should ask Mr Myhrvold and company...

hmmm perhaps a group like sourceforge, with copylefted IP, collaborating to
produce the IP!!!

could be done!

this way we can get the stuff we want, cutting out the middleman, and
perhaps pay a much fairer wage to the poor person slaving away in the
sweatshop all day for 5 lously snivelling dollars. While the fatcat ists
(capitalists, communists, fascists - it doesn't matter - they are all the
same) just get fatter on the sweat of the little guy.

could open the door to a better world for the many rather than the few.

"thanatos" wrote in message
...
Chinese optics are good and cheap
Why can't we form buying cartels to go directly to the manufacturers -
sort
of like a mE-bay
That way any interested group of parties can get anything made (and made
well) according to their own specifications...
ahhh, but
theres the rub - IP, intellectual property... who owns the blueprints or
has the smarts to design the stuff? and whats more, again , who has the
IP?
perhaps we should ask Mr Myhrvold and company...
hmmm perhaps a group like sourceforge, with copylefted IP, collaborating
to
produce the IP!!!
could be done!
this way we can get the stuff we want, cutting out the middleman, and
perhaps pay a much fairer wage to the poor person slaving away in the
sweatshop all day for 5 lously snivelling dollars. While the fatcat ists
(capitalists, communists, fascists - it doesn't matter - they are all the
same) just get fatter on the sweat of the little guy.
could open the door to a better world for the many rather than the few.

Isn't this what the Moonfish Group have done ? (AFAIK They don't admit to
where their stuff is sourced from, but my big eyepiece (2", 30mm 82°) is
made in China, and looks similar to theirs.)

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 11:50:41 GMT, "thanatos"
wrote:

Chinese optics are good and cheap

Why can't we form buying cartels to go directly to the manufacturers - sort
of like a mE-bay
That way any interested group of parties can get anything made (and made
well) according to their own specifications...

ahhh, but

I've been solicited by Chinese optics makers about six times.
All you have to do is meet the minimum buy level (if there is
one) and you can get the product.
-Rich

"RichA" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 11:50:41 GMT, "thanatos"
wrote:

Chinese optics are good and cheap

Why can't we form buying cartels to go directly to the manufacturers -
sort
of like a mE-bay
That way any interested group of parties can get anything made (and made
well) according to their own specifications...

ahhh, but

I've been solicited by Chinese optics makers about six times.
All you have to do is meet the minimum buy level (if there is
one) and you can get the product.
-Rich

so why not form buying cartels? where groups of interested buyers can
actually agree on a spec for a product, then put the spec to the
manufacturers?

Ok
heres my wish list: 120 mm apo, f5, similar in performance to tak or
astrophiz or teleview... but not for the same amount of money!

i do not want to pay a middleman! (well perhaps a courier!) and I want to
make sure that the artisan is paid a DECENT PROPORTION of the amount I
pay...
i am willing to pay an arbiter a fee to ensure the performance is to spec
(perhaps the insurance company for the courier?)

So who wants to go in?

And if this goes ahead, I have some (AFAIK) novel ideas for scopes/stuff
that may be amenable to production via the same model...

hmmm

Thanks for bringing them to my attention!

This is certainly along the lines of what I had in mind.

It would be nice however, to spec what I want, say in the company of like
minded individuals, and then ensure that a fair proportion of what we pay
goes to the artisans in China/India/Elsewhere.

Its the fair payment idea that most interests me (aka enlightened self
interest) - I have no problem with outsourcing per se, I do have a problem
(a REALLY big problem) with the leeches that get in between - you know the
big 'enterprises' (more like feudal warlords) that engage slave labour to
pump out goods that are then rebranded and marked up to 'western costs' -
all the time reaping huge profits...

stuff that

I want the goods that these people make, I also want to be able to spec
stuff that I (and others) want, and pay a fair price for it that rewards the
original worker (and engineer) for their time effort and expertise. I want
them to reap the benefits of their efforts sooner, rather than later. AND I
get to use some really nifty stuff

cheers

"Malcolm Stewart" wrote in
message ...
"thanatos" wrote in message
...
Chinese optics are good and cheap
Why can't we form buying cartels to go directly to the manufacturers -
sort
of like a mE-bay
That way any interested group of parties can get anything made (and made
well) according to their own specifications...
ahhh, but
theres the rub - IP, intellectual property... who owns the blueprints or
has the smarts to design the stuff? and whats more, again , who has the
IP?
perhaps we should ask Mr Myhrvold and company...
hmmm perhaps a group like sourceforge, with copylefted IP, collaborating
to
produce the IP!!!
could be done!
this way we can get the stuff we want, cutting out the middleman, and
perhaps pay a much fairer wage to the poor person slaving away in the
sweatshop all day for 5 lously snivelling dollars. While the fatcat ists
(capitalists, communists, fascists - it doesn't matter - they are all
the
same) just get fatter on the sweat of the little guy.
could open the door to a better world for the many rather than the few.

Isn't this what the Moonfish Group have done ? (AFAIK They don't admit to
where their stuff is sourced from, but my big eyepiece (2", 30mm 82°) is
made in China, and looks similar to theirs.)

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

thanatos wrote:

"RichA" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 12 Feb 2005 11:50:41 GMT, "thanatos"
wrote:

Chinese optics are good and cheap

Why can't we form buying cartels to go directly to the manufacturers -
sort
of like a mE-bay
That way any interested group of parties can get anything made (and made
well) according to their own specifications...

ahhh, but

I've been solicited by Chinese optics makers about six times.
All you have to do is meet the minimum buy level (if there is
one) and you can get the product.
-Rich

so why not form buying cartels? where groups of interested buyers can
actually agree on a spec for a product, then put the spec to the
manufacturers?

well you can put the spec to the mfgr but that does not mean they can or will
change their process just for you. They have much larger marketing specs
to work against.

the problem with socalled cartels is 'who invests, who sucks the hose if
things
fail, meeting quotas', etc ........... its not as easy as it sounds on paper.
Its not
a new idea by any means and retailers do form cartels, but they are strictly
managed to avoid losses, otherwise someone almost inevitably gets hung out to
dry .... or everyone would be doing it!
holden





Ok
heres my wish list: 120 mm apo, f5, similar in performance to tak or
astrophiz or teleview... but not for the same amount of money!

i do not want to pay a middleman! (well perhaps a courier!) and I want to
make sure that the artisan is paid a DECENT PROPORTION of the amount I
pay...
i am willing to pay an arbiter a fee to ensure the performance is to spec
(perhaps the insurance company for the courier?)

So who wants to go in?

And if this goes ahead, I have some (AFAIK) novel ideas for scopes/stuff
that may be amenable to production via the same model...

"thanatos" wrote:
[snip]
theres the rub - IP, intellectual property... who owns the blueprints or
has the smarts to design the stuff? and whats more, again , who has the IP?
perhaps we should ask Mr Myhrvold and company...

The whole point of "intellectual property" is that it is a *temporary*
monopoly. Look at expired patents.


Tim
--
This is not my signature.