4 ms·

The problem is that if you make your stuff easy to fix, it's also easy to reverse engineer. What can I do against the Chinese guy who sells 1000 of my designs a

The problem is that if you make your stuff easy to fix, it's also easy to reverse engineer. What can I do against the Chinese guy who sells 1000 of my designs a month against my 20, because his labor costs are one tenth? Blow up his factory? I certainly can't sue and expect it to go anywhere...

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
>What can I do You can make better quality stuff. Keeping the messaging protocol a secret hurts customers more than it helps you.
- spiritplumber 12y ago
  I agree with you in principle, but - quality propagates slowly (you have to build up a reputation for it, etc.) and price propagates quickly, it's right there to see next to the "order" button.
- gambiting 12y ago
  If that was true people would be only buying $20 US-made Tshirts of good quality,not $5 Chinese ones that fall apart. It's a nice dream that the market decides what's best, but in practice it simply doesn't work.
  - fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
    I'll not pretend to be a business genius, but I don't think your analogy is applicable in the farm machinery analytics business. I don't even think it ever will be commoditized to the degree that t-shirts are.
luckydude 12y ago
As a guy who owns 2 tractors and an excavator, and as a software guy who has faced the same problem, you have my sympathy. I think the answer is quality. All my equipment is Kubota, they make good stuff, if you keep on the filters and fluids they will outlive your kids. I never seriously considered chinese tractors. I looked at them, they are cheaper for sure, but you are pretty much on your own if they break, there isn't the dealer network like there is for Kubota or Deere. I'd much rather have a used Kubota than a brand new whatever with yanmar engine in it. My mechanic, who has 40 years of fixing tractors in the San Joaquin valley under his built, claims he has never had to full rebuild on a Kubota. He loves that chinese stuff though, keeps him busy :)
- fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
  I agree with everything here except the bit about Yanmar. I like Yanmar engines; John Deere even uses them on some of their small tractors and commercial mowers. Don't know much about actual Yanmar produced tractors, but I suspect they may have got a bad rep due to their lack of US dealer network, or maybe racism/nationalism.

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago

>What can I do You can make better quality stuff. Keeping the messaging protocol a secret hurts customers more than it helps you.

spiritplumber 12y ago
I agree with you in principle, but - quality propagates slowly (you have to build up a reputation for it, etc.) and price propagates quickly, it's right there to see next to the "order" button.
gambiting 12y ago
If that was true people would be only buying $20 US-made Tshirts of good quality,not $5 Chinese ones that fall apart. It's a nice dream that the market decides what's best, but in practice it simply doesn't work.
- fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
  I'll not pretend to be a business genius, but I don't think your analogy is applicable in the farm machinery analytics business. I don't even think it ever will be commoditized to the degree that t-shirts are.

luckydude 12y ago

As a guy who owns 2 tractors and an excavator, and as a software guy who has faced the same problem, you have my sympathy. I think the answer is quality. All my equipment is Kubota, they make good stuff, if you keep on the filters and fluids they will outlive your kids. I never seriously considered chinese tractors. I looked at them, they are cheaper for sure, but you are pretty much on your own if they break, there isn't the dealer network like there is for Kubota or Deere. I'd much rather have a used Kubota than a brand new whatever with yanmar engine in it. My mechanic, who has 40 years of fixing tractors in the San Joaquin valley under his built, claims he has never had to full rebuild on a Kubota. He loves that chinese stuff though, keeps him busy :)

fnordfnordfnord 12y ago
I agree with everything here except the bit about Yanmar. I like Yanmar engines; John Deere even uses them on some of their small tractors and commercial mowers. Don't know much about actual Yanmar produced tractors, but I suspect they may have got a bad rep due to their lack of US dealer network, or maybe racism/nationalism.