China may be just starting to lose the momentum that has made it the world's biggest manufacturing economy. True, Chinese factories make tremendous quantities of stuff, and some of it is of very high quality. But as China's booming coastal factories move up the ladder, costs are rising too, including wages, office rents, and utilities. That leaves manufacturers looking to stay on the leading edge of cost-effectiveness with two options: either move deeper into the Chinese mainland, or move to other nations with seaport access. The Economist reports that Intel has raised a previously announced $350 million investment in a Vietnamese chip-making plant to a cool billion. Mark Schifter of Onix tells me he's moved some (though not all) of his company's loudspeaker production to Cali, Colombia, where labor costs more but MDF and veneers cost less. His Chinese factories have to import those things. Also contributing to corporate unrest: recurring concerns over China's wild-west attitude toward intellectual property.
May the flash be with you! For daily data transport, Star Wars fanatics can now stay on target with USB flash drives that are both practical and whimsical. Mimoco's Star Wars mimobots include a storm trooper as well as Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 & all designed to the exacting standards of Lucas Licensing.
Black Hawk Down (Sony). Finally, it all comes together on one high-def disc: incredibly detailed 1080p images and stunningly clear, uncompressed PCM 5.1-channel surround sound. A sea of fine lines in Sam Shepard's face adds authenticity to his portrayal of the commander of the mission, and his skin tones look utterly natural.
CLEAR CENTER Nothing that special about supermodel-thin speakers (3.5 inches) made to match flat TVs . . . unless they're designed to give you three channels of sound from just two speakers.
TRICKS FOR THE TRADE Denon threw that conspicuous "CI" into this receiver's product number to let you know it has some special tricks for custom installers. Trick 1: Source renaming, so your front panel doesn't just have to say "DVD" - call your player "Philips 721" or even "Ralph" if you want.
Video: 3
Audio: 3
Extras: 5
The original Clerks, released in 1994, was the seminal work for people of my generation. That should be as disturbing as it sounds. I doubt there was a film school in the country that didn’t spew out Kevin Smith wannabes at a tremendous rate for the better part of a decade. All of them, and every other fan of that film, surely got a twang of disappointment when they heard about Clerks II. Had the great bearded auteur finally sold out? Well, amazingly enough, he pulls it off. Where Clerks was about a bunch of losers wanting to do something with their lives, Clerks II takes place 11 years later and finds the same losers now disappointed that they really haven’t done anything with their lives. It actually works, it’s funny, and it’s a story worth telling.
Video: 4
Audio: 4
Extras: 4
Peter Jackson not only creates elaborate special editions of his movies, he lets audiences know that bigger, better versions are in the works when the initial theatrical cuts first hit the store shelves so we can choose wisely. He did it with his Lord of the Rings trilogy and now with his King Kong remake, offering a subsequent director’s cut with new extras that complement the original release.
