As a quality professional for over 15 years (Quality Engineer), I must disagree with your implication that no one cares about quality. In fact, the opposite is true.Over the last 10 years, great progress has been made in the arena of quality, and the number of firms embracing (Finally!) quality programs and continuous improvement has increased dramatically. Some of the benefits of this "new" way of thinking are, as you state, increases in speed and manufacturing capability. This was possible only through an increase in the quality of the product, and the process, which led to greater customer satisfaction, which translates into increased sales, greater demand for the product, and usually a decrease in the cost. This is where greater profits come from, not from an increase in sales price as you imply. The consumer, "us", is what drives the producers to increase the level of quality. Their incentive, of course, is higher profits.
Compaq computers are an excellent example. They usually lead the market in price reductions, while at the same time, providing increased capability in their products. In 1985, an IBM PC XT, state of the art at the time, had the following specs: 2- 5 1/4" floppy drives, maybe a hard drive, with 20MB capacity, an 8086 or 8088 processor, 640Kb RAM, no modem, no sound card, no video card, no monitor, no printer, no mouse, no Windows, no DOS, power cord and keyboard. Cost was about $2,000.
Compare your current machine with the one above, then consider price. Do you have a better machine, at a lower price? Probably.
My point is this: Through corporate greed, you have been able to access this board with a superior machine at a lower cost, while at the same time providing an income for the people who designed, manufactured, transported, and sold the mahine. Its nice system (capitalism), isn't it?
None.
