this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2024
840 points (98.2% liked)
Technology
59534 readers
3195 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related content.
- Be excellent to each another!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
Approved Bots
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
As an outside observation, Germans seem to make things better than they need to be in a detrimental way. For example, we redid one of our bathroom showers using the Schluter Kerdi waterpoofing system. They have very specific instructions on how to space the screws, how to seal the screws, how to seal the edges, how to mix the thinset, and probably some other things I can't remember off the top of my head. They put it through a battery of tests, including going under 100' of water. Who needs that? Don't worry about it.
This stuff replaces cement board, which isn't strictly waterproof, at least not on its own. It's also significantly more expensive.
I do think it's worthwhile for a home DIYer to get. The instructions are clear and it's less likely you'll screw something up that could result in disaster. That said, this thing is just waiting for a Japanese company to come along and make something 90% as good for 50% of the price. That's basically what happened in the German vs Japanese car market, and there's already some products on this market like that.
An old mechanic friend of mine used to say "German cars are over-engineered and under-designed", lol.
Having worked on every brand of car out there, his description, and your explanation make a lot of sense together.
I've never seen such a clear and concise comparison of German/Japanese manufacturing, you really nailed it.
Both approaches have their place, the key is to know when to apply them.