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Mercedes has been building SUVs by robots in Tuscaloosa, AL since mid 1990s. I witnessed the robotic production line with my own eyes during the Tuscaloosa factory tour in 1998. I saw robots putting minute things inside of the SUV with my own eyes. I can also tell you that the majority of the engineering and technical personnel that worked at that factory was German because (I guess) Americans didn't have people who knew how to build or service robots. It seems that now (20 years later) we still have no expertise on robotic production lines; hence, the comments like yours that claim that building an iPhone by robots is not possible.

I don't know if this plant was an exception or it was a general direction that the European automotive industry was taking back 20+ years ago. I know there's a BMW plant in South Carolina that I used to pass all the time. I never took a tour of that plant, so I don't know if BMWs were being built by robots or not. I can only speak for the plant that I toured, which was absolutely the fact literally 20 years ago.

Is there a YouTube video?
 
Tell that to the thousands at GM who lost their jobs this week because of steel tariffs. More money, right?
Every country must pay a tariff to export their goods to the US. Other countries charge us to do the same. It’s really not that difficult to understand.
 
You don't know what you are talking about.

Mercedes has been building SUVs by robots in Tuscaloosa, AL since mid 1990s. I witnessed the robotic production line with my own eyes during the Tuscaloosa factory tour in 1998. I saw robots putting minute things inside of the SUV with my own eyes. I can also tell you that the majority of the engineering and technical personnel that worked at that factory was German because (I guess) Americans didn't have people who knew how to build or service robots. It seems that now (20 years later) we still have no expertise in robotic production lines; hence, the comments like yours that claim that building an iPhone by robots is not possible. Why would we have this expertise? It was much cheaper just to outsource all the production to China. Germans didn't do that. They actually kept production in Germany, and addressed the high labor costs by building robots.

I don't know if this plant was an exception or it was a general direction that the European automotive industry was taking back 20+ years ago. I know there's a BMW plant in South Carolina that I used to pass all the time. I never took a tour of that plant, so I don't know if BMWs were being built by robots or not. I can only speak for the Mercedes plant that I toured, which had robotic production lines literally 20 years ago.

It is absolutely possible to build an iPhone by a robot in 2018 if Cook was smart enough to start building robotic factories in the US back in 2016 when Trump told him so. Apparently, Cook didn't think Trump was being serious.

The first robotic factories would have been making iPhone XS and XS Max by now if Cook didn't waste all this time.

Ok, so either you're right and Tesla/Elon Musk are idiots. Or you're wrong.

LOL.

Even the most advanced vehicle manufacturers in Japan are not fully automated. Large bulky pieces of metal, dashboard assemblies, wheels, yes. Electrical components, wiring, routing, no.
 
I agree with all three of these points (that I highlighted)!

I used the "dog thing" because that frustrating poster has been repeating that nonsense all over the thread - especially praising USA's education system, college component, when it is not delivering while being ridiculously expensive. The K-12 is free, yes, but very bad with STEM to date.

Forcing USA to still import brain-labor!
K-12 is NOT free. We are spending more money on education than any other developed nation. The biggest chunk of my property taxes go to education, so how is this free?
 
he is a megalomaniac...playing God... which he isnt, except to maybe his idiot daughter and two idiot sons
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this...
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so does every other electronic manufacturer. strange how you only point to apple for doing this. I worked at a company that produced home kitchen electronics etc...rhymes with Smack and Pecker..ALL made in china.... all at huge profit (over 50% - which is standard business models right)...yet you aren't whining about that.
Ahem, this is a “Mac” website. Try to stay focused
 
Ok, so either you're right and Tesla/Elon Musk are idiots. Or you're wrong.

LOL.

Even the most advanced vehicle manufacturers in Japan are not fully automated. Large bulky pieces of metal, dashboard assemblies, wheels, yes. Electrical components, wiring, routing, no.
It takes a lot of money to build robotic production lines. Musk or Tesla has no money for that. They almost went under in January / February of this year, as Musk has just said in an interview.

Apple has the cash, and they had the time. They blew it.
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Ok, so either you're right and Tesla/Elon Musk are idiots. Or you're wrong.

LOL.

Even the most advanced vehicle manufacturers in Japan are not fully automated. Large bulky pieces of metal, dashboard assemblies, wheels, yes. Electrical components, wiring, routing, no.
Did I ever say they were FULLY automated?

The questions here are how would robotic factories benefit US workers. You answered that question yourself. Robotic assembly lines have to be augmented by humans. However, this is not the slave labor conditions that Foxconn factories in China have for hundreds of thousands of low-paid slave-like laborers.
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Is there a YouTube video?
I don't know. Why don't you search for it. In 1998, we had to check in all the cameras at the door. No filming was allowed. There were no smartphones then. We were accompanied by several security personnel during the tour, who were watching us like hawks. The entire factory was extremely secretive and was guarded like a military installation. It was very difficult to get a tour of that factory back then. Mercedes was guarding their robotic assembly line IP very closely. I don't live near that plant anymore, so I don't know if it's still so secretive.
 
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It takes a lot of money to build robotic production lines. Musk or Tesla has no money for that. They almost went under in January / February of this year, as Musk has just said in an interview.

Apple has the cash, and they had the time. They blew it.

Tesla has spent more than $10 billion on R&D.

If robotic manufacturing were possible, we would have seen it from other auto manufacturers. You're not the only person to realize the potential labor savings. Apple would have done it, instead of relying on Foxconn. We would have seen documentaries from automakers.

It simply isn't possible. And won't be possible for at least another 20 years.
 
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K-12 is NOT free. We are spending more money on education than any other developed nation. The biggest chunk of my property taxes go to education, so how is this free?

As conventionally believed, K-12 is "free" in the USA; I do know where my property tax goes;).

Same as how College education is free in Norway, and other such viled by Nationalist GOP "socialist" countries in Europe.:)
 
The iPhone can be assembled in robotic factories.

If anything, a robotically assembled in the US iPhone would cost less, not more, than an iPhone built by the Chinese.

As a shareholder, I want to ask Tim Cook this question. Why are you not building robotic assembly factories in the US, Tim?
If you think Tim Cook would rather use a more expensive assembly method, then you really haven't followed Tim Cook. If it really did cost less to assemble in the US, he'd do it here in a heartbeat. In fact, Apple does do a lot of work with robots, in particular the iPhone disassembly. If you think they're not doing it because a robotic assembly plant requires investment, you haven't followed Apple's business model for the past 20 years. They've repeatedly made enormous investments that have long-term payoff, starting with cornering the market on memory for the original iPod.

No, what we have happening here is a person who simply doesn't understand international trade implementing policies that are beyond his comprehension, resulting in a collapse of the soybean market and job losses in industries which rely upon steel. And now we've had a $250 billion loss in market capitalization in the world's largest and most profitable company, with likely pressure on the millions of jobs that rely on Apple. His ability to destroy wealth is just astounding.
 
Did I ever say they were FULLY automated?

I don't know. Why don't you search for it. In 1998, we had to check in all the cameras at the door. No filming was allowed. There were no smartphones then. I don't live near that plant anymore.

Was it something like this? This is a German plant.


Each one of those robots (the smallest component) will cost more than what Apple (or any other company) pays a Chinese assembly line worker over a lifetime.
 
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Tesla has spent more than $10 billion on R&D.

If robotic manufacturing were possible, we would have seen it from other auto manufacturers. You're not the only person to realize the potential labor savings. Apple would have done it, instead of relying on Foxconn. We would have seen documentaries from automakers.

It simply isn't possible. And won't be possible for at least another 20 years.
When Apple outsourced production to China, Apple didn't have money to invest in robotic assembly lines R&D. Additionally, back then, the robotic technologies were not as advanced as they are today. Once Cook figured out how to use cheap Chinese labor, there was no incentive to build robotic factories in the US. That is until Trump came along and threatened China with tariffs. It would have made sense for Cook to start investing in robotic line R&D in 2016, once Trump won the election. Trump actually called Cook in for a meeting and told him so in no uncertain terms. Of course, Cook dismissed it as Trump's usual bluster, except that Trump pretty much followed up on every promise he has given so far, except maybe the border wall. The tariffs will happen, and Cook will be caught with his pants down. Unfortunately, this will further hurt my AAPL portfolio. What an ineffective CEO Cook is.
 
Was it something like this? This is a German plant.


Each one of those robots (the smallest component) will cost more than what Apple (or any other company) pays a Chinese assembly line worker over a lifetime.
It was very similar to this. Why do the Germans build these production lines and not outsource to China, and why does it make no sense for the Americans to do this?
 
Why shouldn't Americans perform manual laboro_O?

Because other countries can do it for cheaper, and we train Americans to not do manual labor.
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Give it up man. You reveal how uninformed you are in your original comment when you said that those tarrifs are why GM is laying off all those workers. Perhaps you aren't aware that GM LOST 3.9 Billion last year. Perhaps you haven't read what they have said about streamlining, and eliminating models that aren't selling well.

And don't even try to change topics and start mentioning the debt. Name me a single year that Obama was on office that he didn't increase the national debt. I'll wait while you try to do so.

Were you under the mistaken impression that tariffs don't cause prices to rise, and therefore reducing sales?
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Probably has nothing to do with the junk cars they make, huh?
Junk cars aren't going to sell well if they're expensive because prices rise due to tariffs.

Junk cars only sell if they are cheap.
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Give me a break. If it isn't a truck or a Corvette, no one cares about GM. There is plenty you can blame on Trump, but this isn't one of them.

So you think raising prices on them due to raising steel prices is going to help GM sell cars?
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Yes, but that may not be enough for all 325.7 million of US citizens to survive
If you're trying to compete against Chinese and Mexican workforce by being more expensive than them, you're going to have a bad time.
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Steel tariffs had nothing to do with it. They are dropping the Cruze, Volt, Impala, Cadillac CT6, and Buick LaCrosse due to lack of sales and a move toward SUV's.

Why do people think raising prices on junk cars would have helped sales?
 
Because other countries can do it for cheaper, and we train Americans to not do manual labor.

Who is this "we"?

That model might work for Switzerland, where even the Swiss use manual labor in construction.

America's entire infrastructure needs over hauling or turnkey construction, from drinking water supply to road and rail ways. Who are these "we" going to export this labor too?
 



In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he might implement a 10 percent tariff on iPhones and laptops imported from China.

Trump is set to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week, and he said he is prepared to implement additional tariffs on products that are not currently subjected to tariffs should negotiations not go well.

Need any more proof that you've got an imbecile running your country?
 
GM sucks. Always has. The American taxpayer should not have bailed out that pile of crap corporation. The fact that GM has as many brands as it does under the GM badge is beyond me. According to reports, the layoffs come as the company FINALLY re-pivots to electric... something the company actually did back in 1997 with the EV1 but then quietly quit. So much shame.

The CEO mentioned the Cruze, Impala and Volt are dead due to sales. These 3 vehicles look like turd and preform even worse. So much shame.

One thing I'd like to know is where the money went in the tax savings... if this CEO is taking a massive bonus this Christmas, this company needs to finally be punished. Moar shame.
If we punish them, will that create and or save jobs? Likely make the job lay-off worse. Punish them or we the people, your point.
 
If we punish them, will that create and or save jobs? Likely make the job lay-off worse. Punish them or we the people, your point.
I couldn't believe it when Trump said he would withhold all the subsidies. We (the US taxpayers) are still giving GM subsidies? It's absolutely unbelievable that these companies continue to milk the American taxpayers. No wonder my udder has been hurting so badly lately.

If we were to give subsidies to car companies, give them to Tesla, not GM.
 
A good example of complete economic failure is Russia - their economy is entirely based on selling things they find on the ground. When was the last time anyone bought something designed/made in Russia?

AK47? The weapon of choice for every enemy combatant, African rebel, Marxist South American revolutionary and any run-of-the-mill terrorist wanting to wreak havoc on a bunch of infidels.
Their Air Defense Systems are also pretty hot right now, I believe.
And Matryoshka Dolls. Don't forget about those.
 
AK47? The weapon of choice for every enemy combatant, African rebel, Marxist South American revolutionary and any run-of-the-mill terrorist wanting to wreak havoc on a bunch of infidels.
Their Air Defense Systems are also pretty hot right now, I believe.
And Matryoshka Dolls. Don't forget about those.
Caviar.

Oh yeah, whose rockets did NASA has flown to space for the last 15 years? It's true, though. In Russia, rockets grow from the ground like trees.

Kaspersky anti-virus.

US elections.
 
And now everyone should understand why everything went up so much this year, Apple saw this coming.
 
I couldn't believe it when Trump said he would withhold all the subsidies. We (the US taxpayers) are still giving GM subsidies? It's absolutely unbelievable that these companies continue to milk the American taxpayers. No wonder my udder has been hurting so badly lately.

If we were to give subsidies to car companies, give them to Tesla, not GM.

Name One Corporation that does not get City, State, and or Federal Subsidies. The saying, Socialism takes all the risks while Capitalism take all the rewards, true. The way we roll in the USA.
 
Are being satirical or do you honestly believe that? Yeah, you have the MIT and a fistful of other elite universities where only rich people can afford to study. Hint: Just because it's super expensive to obtain education in the US does not make it a good system. But it definitely means that it's a far cry away from being "the best".
There are lots of lesser universities here that are still good. And IDK about other states, but in California, anyone who's smart enough (usually means >3.8 GPA in public high school) can get into a UC and afford it regardless of family income.
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Name One Corporation that does not get City, State, and or Federal Subsidies. The saying, Socialism takes all the risks while Capitalism take all the rewards, true. The way we roll in the USA.
Every small business
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Caviar.

Oh yeah, whose rockets did NASA has flown to space for the last 15 years? It's true, though. In Russia, rockets grow from the ground like trees.

Kaspersky anti-virus.

US elections.
Well finally SpaceX is selling rockets both to NASA and to Russia's "satellite" (haha) states.
 
Every country must pay a tariff to export their goods to the US. Other countries charge us to do the same. It’s really not that difficult to understand.

You can’t debate by changing the focus of what you originally claimed. Your original argument claimed that because you personally did not notice any material effect on your economic situation, the tariff is then justified at a societal level that impacts other people besides yourself.
 
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