They didn't mention how everyone hang dries their clothes.

-iPhones were kind of a joke in Japan, although ithey've been helped with Apple's marketing. People who want a real phone get a real phone, like a high-dollar Nokia that can run a Linux command shell that you can do real work with. People who want a phone to talk with, get a phone that's good to talk with- the iPhone's reception and clarity are only average.

Who does this? Nobody does this. Nobody runs a-- are you kidding me? Really, who does this? Can you name one person? Do you do this? I don't believe it. I think you live in a fantasy world.

Compare to tech in America. There are pieces of U.S. land that are the size of Japan, that don't have proper land-line telephone access. Our internet coverage, and the price we pay for it, is a joke heard round the world.

Where? Describe this mythical swathe of land to me. Perhaps you're talking about the wilds of Alaska? ANWAR maybe?

This article is imperialism at its finest- we consider these things the newest and the best, so if you don't have them, you're a godless savage and you should accept our ways if you want to be saved.

Sitting there and shittalking the U.S.A. in response to a British article about the quality of life situation in Japan is an interesting angle. I'm guessing you wrote all of this up on your top dollar Nokia superphone via a linux terminal to the Motherbrain after you got all your "real work" done?

Jarvik's got it right. The issue here is that when people think of Japan, they think of their own fantasy-version of Tokyo. The areas where the majority of people live, the inaka, and even the outskirts of larger cities like Tokyo or Nagoya, the technology situation can be maddening.

FutureBlues wrote:

The areas where the majority of people live, the inaka, and even the outskirts of larger cities like Tokyo or Nagoya, the technology situation can be maddening.

I just wanted to point out that no, the majority of people do not live in the inaka.  Japan is one of the most densely urbanized countries on earth.

I've seen it on this forum, and in others, where people like to state that Tokyo/Osaka/etc isn't the "real Japan".  The reality is that yes, it is, far more so than the inaka in fact.

activeaero wrote:

I just wanted to point out that no, the majority of people do not live in the inaka.  Japan is one of the most densely urbanized countries on earth.

I've seen it on this forum, and in others, where people like to state that Tokyo/Osaka/etc isn't the "real Japan".  The reality is that yes, it is, far more so than the inaka in fact.

This is true in America too: more than 50% of the population lives in suburbs or cities (about 31% live in cities, and 26% in suburbs.   Yet, a lot of politicians paint the picture of 'real America' as if it's small towns or rural areas--if that's the real America, then most Americans aren't real Americans.

As for Japan and internet, I pay about 70 bucks a month for dial-up.  I'm IN Kyoto city technically.  No fast internet of any type for about 15 kilometers (Kyoto city stretches up through Kitayama and past there until Nantan city starts at Miyama, even though the population is very low in most of that area).

Of course, individual cases don't really matter.  My guess would be that a higher percentage of Japanese people have the choice of high-speed internet when compared to America.  Mostly because, the Japanese population is more concentrated into urban areas.

Another piece of technology: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xekox7 … nki_webcam

komorikun wrote:

They didn't mention how everyone hang dries their clothes.

I consider that to be a good thing.

The only reason I don't do that year round is that my clothes would freeze solid within five minutes outside and I don't want to have a clothes line in my bathtub.

Ryuujin27 wrote:

FutureBlues wrote:

-iPhones were kind of a joke in Japan, although ithey've been helped with Apple's marketing. People who want a real phone get a real phone, like a high-dollar Nokia that can run a Linux command shell that you can do real work with. People who want a phone to talk with, get a phone that's good to talk with- the iPhone's reception and clarity are only average.

Who does this? Nobody does this. Nobody runs a-- are you kidding me? Really, who does this? Can you name one person? Do you do this? I don't believe it. I think you live in a fantasy world.

I have nothing of value to add to this thread except to say that this response actually made me laugh out loud. I don't know if it is the way I read it in my head, but it was perfectly executed. Thank you.

If anything, I thought his entire post was very rude and should have been deleted.

The article is surely written by someone looking from the outside, and not taking everything into consideration.

"When the 60's-era floor indicator above the ministry's elevator door goes digital."
Why change it if it works?

If the writer gave more reasonable reasons I would have taken his criticism seriously and questioned its development.

Last edited by Kanjiiz (2011 January 15, 4:39 pm)

Gingerninja wrote:

The insulation is driving me mental, My tiny room is against the outside wall of my apartment block. i swear my floor is actually mostly a sheet of ice at night.  but then they have toilets you can wash your hands in as you pee...

Japan, so advanced and yet so far behind at the same time.

You should get a kotatsu running a Linux command shell and live under that

Cheap electronics is about it, I think. Japan isn't any less or more high tech than elsewhere.

Things I do like that are tech orientated are:
A good range of cell phones.
Heaps of TV channels even for free.
The internet isn't that bad. The fastest we have back home is 25mbs/11mbs and that's expensive. I'm on 50-100 or something in my flat (I've never bothered to actually test it out).
Heaps of different types of restaurants offering cheap food - storage/packaging technology.
Trains that are on time!
Being able to pay cash at the door for goods (my home country you MUST pay in advance before the items will even leave the shop).
Being able to get from big city to big city in no time at all.
Vending machines that can take commuter cards even way out in the sticks (Where I come from someone would have robbed the machine 5 seconds after it was placed on a lonely street corner.)

Things that are sooooooooo low tech:
I gotta agree with squat toilets (especially on the Shinkansen! I mean dude!)
Hmmm... cold apartments where you can hear other people's every move tick me off.
Low tech dramas on TV are a bit annoying. The US is really quite good when it comes to media (CSI vs. SP anyone?)

Last edited by Cranks (2011 April 01, 5:39 am)

marcmiddag wrote:

If you ever saw a Japanese office it would be overflowing with old papers and folders.. they will still do everything with the fax machine..  and file every single paper.

Very true. I wonder how such companies manage to compete, especially since digitization of filing and communications leads to such big savings. I was shocked when I found out that job applications typically need to be completely handwritten in Japan. I thought that writing business correspondence by hand ended with the typewriter.

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