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China has a "second-mover" advantage in that they can copy the most successful models and technologies in the West (including Taiwan and Japan) and leapfrog ahe

by ckinnan 17y ago

China has a "second-mover" advantage in that they can copy the most successful models and technologies in the West (including Taiwan and Japan) and leapfrog ahead. But China's development isn't that sudden-- they've embraced more-or-less capitalism for a good 20 years. It was already insane when I was living there a decade ago. It is an enormous and potentially great country of ambitious, hard working people who respect business and learning. The challenge is ensuring we make room for them in the global community, and that their political systems evolve with their economic progress.

bitdiddle 17y ago
Well actually the growth rate has been phenomenal when one considers the starting point. I first visited Xiamen in 1982 when it was designated a special economic zone and the changes since have been phenomenal. The rate at which workers moved from farming to industry dwarfs the comparable rate here in the US. Your adjectives of ambitious and hard working are spot on. Having 1.2 billion people has always been both China's greatest strength and it's greatest weakness. They have been poor for so long that their thirst is now unquenchable. China's growth is going to force serious changes in the US if we are to remain a competitive world player. Consider how many chinese schools teach english and how many american schools chinese. However I would argue that in software, americans have an inventiveness, I call it yankee ingenuity (mickey mouse) that is unique and is part of our culture. This is something that takes years to develop. So perhaps there's an edge we can keep but the key will be to engage and play. The chinese love doing business with americans because we are a good people. They have different notions of IP but we need to recognize that much of those are historical artifacts of western law, or as kids sharing music would say: "unsustainable business models" "Ici repose un géant endormi, laissez le dormir, car quand il s'éveillera, il étonnera le monde" -- Napolean

by ckinnan 17y ago

bitdiddle 17y ago

Well actually the growth rate has been phenomenal when one considers the starting point. I first visited Xiamen in 1982 when it was designated a special economic zone and the changes since have been phenomenal. The rate at which workers moved from farming to industry dwarfs the comparable rate here in the US. Your adjectives of ambitious and hard working are spot on. Having 1.2 billion people has always been both China's greatest strength and it's greatest weakness. They have been poor for so long that their thirst is now unquenchable. China's growth is going to force serious changes in the US if we are to remain a competitive world player. Consider how many chinese schools teach english and how many american schools chinese. However I would argue that in software, americans have an inventiveness, I call it yankee ingenuity (mickey mouse) that is unique and is part of our culture. This is something that takes years to develop. So perhaps there's an edge we can keep but the key will be to engage and play. The chinese love doing business with americans because we are a good people. They have different notions of IP but we need to recognize that much of those are historical artifacts of western law, or as kids sharing music would say: "unsustainable business models" "Ici repose un géant endormi, laissez le dormir, car quand il s'éveillera, il étonnera le monde" -- Napolean