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And the product that they were reverse engineered for, the iCufflinks http://www.adafruit.com/icufflinks http://www.adafruit.com/icufflinks Quite appealing if

• crocowhile 15y ago
  Does the "made in North America" thing really adds any value to that item?
  • ugh 15y ago
    No, but it’s good marketing. Nothing wrong with that. Funny story: At the end of the 19th century Great Britain pushed for all products to be branded with their country of origin, not to market their products better but for protectionism – to make it easier for customers to recognize real or perceived knock-offs. That works if those other countries really make inferior products but it backfires when other countries make products of equal or better quality. “Made in Germany” (for example) then becomes a mark of quality, not inferiority.
    • tomp 15y ago
      The customers win, either way. They are informed and have a choice. It's not only quality, its also supporting the national economy. E.g. you might buy a made in Germany washer, or you might buy a made in US one, to support local economy and to prevent the outflow of money, even thou it is of lower quality (I'm not saying that it really is).
      • deleted 15y ago
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    • crocowhile 15y ago
      Yes, that was normal in Italy too during fascism. Protectionism has always been a great popularistic argument and that's why I am surprised to see it on a geeky product like that. One would think that the user of battery powered cufflinks wouldn't care about that.
      • deleted 15y ago
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      • fossuser 15y ago
        Apple does this on all of their products with "engineered in California"
      • nupark2 15y ago
        I'm not sure why you think geeks unilaterally oppose protectionism (or that we'd even call it protectionism). Seems like a broad, inaccurate generalization. Personally, I like keeping money in the local economy when it makes sense to.
        • crocowhile 15y ago
          Because hackers are usually curious people, with many interests; chances are they study some economics and found that this kind of 'protectionism' doesn't make much sense. But yes, you're right, it's quite an assumption. On a parallel (OT) note, I have no idea whether there is a political bias amongst geeks. I've read some pool from NSF a few years ago and it was quite impressive how scientists tend to be left wing/liberal, why engineers tend to be right wing/conservative. So politically speaking there's probably two kinds of geeks but how about two kind of hackers?
          • nupark2 15y ago
            > ... this kind of 'protectionism' doesn't make much sense. This is obviously open to some debate; your condescending declarations of certainty are grating and rude.
    • JonnieCache 15y ago
      These days a lot of it is due to localism. A lot of people would rather avoid buying stuff that's already circumnavigated the globe three times before it reaches them. It applies more to food I guess, but the principle is the same.
    • drdaeman 15y ago
      A lot of products state that they're "Made in [Europe or UK]", but they are actually manufactured in some Eastern country (most frequently China, Taiwan or Malaysia). Still, the mark is not a lie, as the product was engineered/designed in named country (but manufactured in another).
  • quinndupont 15y ago
    For many people (concerned with keeping American manufacturing viable) it is probably a big selling feature.