Working Late, originally uploaded by Ed Weaver.This guy was always working (as a part owner of his MP3/MP4 manufacturing company, it should come as no surprise). This picture was taken during dinner around 10pm after a long day. The restaurant was the only place I saw a rat the whole week in Shenzhen.
Wow, it’s been a while again. For those of you that read this blog from time to time, I apologize. It’s been a bit of a whirlwhind.
I’ve started a new project, which has put me on an around-the-world trip, starting in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. We are touring factories of MP4 players, whether flash-based or HDD-based. Flash capacity for most manufacturers in Shenzhen has increased dramatically, but not yet to the capacity of the iPod Nanos. For example, the highest capacity I have found that someone will sell me is 4GB, with an SD card slot for an additional 4GB.
HDD based manufacturers are able to support easily 20GB, and some 40-60GB. We have one supplier now that can support up to a 120GB HDD Media Player. That will hold a lot of music, movies, training, education, etc. That’s bigger than the HDD on my notebook I’m writing this post on!!
6 factories in 4 days. Considering Shenzhen has about 10 million people in the city, that’s a lot of traffic to navigate, my friends. And, we’ve collected “city” coffee mugs from some of the many Starbucks in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Next stop, Dubai. Then on to London. Then home (Dallas). 17 days; 25,000 miles (give or take a few); 4 major cultural groups, 4 languages; Starbucks, McDonalds, Chili’s, Pizza Hut, KFC - they’re everywhere and the same.