** Reply to message from "Lewis G Rosenthal"
<os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com> on Fri, 29 Sep 2006 10:47:34 -0700
> Imagine how expensive these machines would be if a single manufacturer
> did everything from plastic injection moldings to chip design and
> manufacture...!
LOL! Just try and find a competent die/mold maker these days. We would be in
a world of hurt without the NC machines. I spent way too many hours qualifying
sources for castings and moldings to ever think about a DIY approach.
A little history is informative: the vast majority of the specialty suppliers
in electronics were at one time larger monolithic corporations - look how many
of the current crop trace their lineage back to TI and its "integrated
circuit". Over time, the realities of marketing and management saw these
initial founders fragment either through intentional divestment or by way of
attrition of key personnel. Many spinoffs grew to dwarf the original parents -
ain't free enterprise great?
?????