Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hpda!hpsemc!mbk From: mbk@hpsemc.HP.COM (Miles Kehoe) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Apple Gets Greedier (Read it and Weep!) Message-ID: <620010@hpsemc.HP.COM> Date: 19 Sep 88 18:19:48 GMT References: <1018@lakesys.UUCP> Organization: HP Technology Access Center, Cupertino, CA Lines: 23 Maybe instead of complaining at Apple and other US manufacturers who are now raising prices due to critical DRAm shortage.. maybe we should be asking our congressmen/women and senators why we have this artificial trade barrier with japan to 'protect' the US semiconductor industry which doesn't seem interested in making the chips we need. The Japanese might have been 'dumping' memory at $2 a chip 15 months ago.. but I can guarentee they're making profits now that the prices are above $12! So we put on this artificial trade barrier, the effect of which is to raise prices 6 fold for US consumers; to increase the profit margin for Japanese companies 6 fold; and provide not one bit of incentive for any US companies to make the parts. And, of course, the japanese can take their profits and invest them in US paper so we get to pay them interest (as taxpayers) on the profit they make. Somehow it seems the consumer is the one getting the bum deal. And you know that militarty projects, when threatened with DRAM shortage, will manage topay whatever it takes to get their needs met. Well..so much for the free trade theory of international relationships. $FLAME OFF Miles