Worst data sheets?

The list was intended to include companies which once made tubes and also currently make semiconductors.

Aside from PMTs and other light detector tubes (Hammamatsu also makes some semiconductor parts, so it belongs in the list too) there are still many specialized tubes being made today such as klystrons, magnetrons, VFDs, electrostatic-deflection CRTs etc. In new consumer goods, magnetrons, VFDs and a very few magnetic-deflection CRTs (eg. in sKaraoke machines) can still be found, but only the first one or two will likely last much longer.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Plus huge transmitter tubes. "Hey, Joe, can you get the ladder and mount the plate connector rod?"

The Japanese seem better able to juggle a number of different divisions, like Yamaha making pianos and motorcycles, or Kawasaki making ships, helicopters, and motorcycles. Hinda does all sorts of things, including a new spiffy jet plane.

I want one!

US companies seem to have limited management attention spans somehow. There are exceptions, like GE and Perkin-Elmer that seem to be able to manage a lot of subsidiaries well. But it's increasingly rare for a big company to have a semiconductor division, or for a semiconductor company to do, say, end-products too.

John

I think a lot of that is because they've been shut out of most of the military market. When Japan re-arms those companies will probably re-align their businesses to look more like US businesses.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Japan rearming presumes economic or political benefit to do so.

Strange. Years ago I used their fax-me-a-datasheet service for an old UART chip.

It is slowly happening now, somewhat by stealth. They are gradually acquiring breakout capabiities in nuclear warfare (2-3,000 warheads worth of fissile material are on hand), ICBMs (solid fueled for quick launch), spy satellites, aerospace and missile defense technology etc. I believe that Japanese companies are still legally prohibited from participating the lucrative world-wide trade in instruments of death. Politically, given the deep popular dislike & distrust of the other players, I doubt it will be a problem though it might take the exploitation of some kind of catalytic incident to set things off on a more rapid trajectory initially.

I just got this book in this afternoon:

Japan Rising (The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose) Kenneth B. Pyle

Looks good. It explains how the pacifist constitution (via the Yoshida Doctrine) was used during the Cold War to limit Japan from having to contribute more than token amounts financially to US military spending that didn't benefit Japanese interests (so they could concentrate on economic expansion). According to the author, their military spending is already up in the top handful of countries, although officially not much of GDP.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany