Originally posted by WerTicus made in japan used to mean total junk, 15 yrs ago.
15 years ago??? What year are you living in? After WWII Japan began to copy western technology cheaply and slowly the quality was risen to a superior level and even later they became the driving force in technology they are today. But I believe the "total junk" days were over in the 80s at the latest.
China seems to be doing exactly the same and in many fields they are IMO now somewhere in the grey zone between cheap copies and bleeding edge.