|
Posted by michael (35% noise) View
Why do the Japanese get all the coolest gadgets, while the U.S. is left with the second-tier, less-innovative ones? The San Francisco Chronicle delves into this age-old mystery and provides a few explanations for those of us who don’t live near Akihabara.
|
|
Smart toilet. - by titusjan (Score: 3, Funny) Thread
Johnny stumbles to the bathroom to answer the call of nature using the household’s amazing Matsushita-brand Smart Toilet, which automatically measures his weight, body fat, blood pressure and urine sugar and sends the results to the Sokko family physician via the Internet.
“Your urine contains traces of an illegal subtance. The bathroom door has been locked and the police has been notified. Please remain seated until they arrive.
Thank you for using Matsushita.”
|
|
It’s the tech in Japan, and the food in Europe… - by ivan256 (Score: 5, Interesting) Thread
At least we can import Japanese technology. Customs won’t confiscate something for not complying with FCC regulations, but they will confiscate food!
In Europe you’re allowed to make and sell things that contain non-pasturized dairy products. In the US, you’re not. Apparently americans aren’t allowed to determine for themselves what is or isn’t an acceptable risk. So the best European young cheeses and chocolates have poor substitutes as their namesakes in the US.
To make matters worse, they’ve convinced people here that “ultra-pasturized” means “better”, even though it just means they used extra high temperatures to get it done more quickly and save money at the expense of flavor. That means the milk here doesn’t taste nearly as good as it could under the current regulations. All this in the name of safety, yet at the same time, you can’t get irradiated beef…
Sigh.
|
|
In some respects… - by nordicfrost (Score: 4, Interesting) Thread
…USA lags behind Europe too. Europe was quicker to adopt the digital mobile world with SMS and e-payment. USA has been the leader in big iron, Japan and Europe leaders in small, creative and applied tech.
|
|
Disposable income…I remember it well. - by lamz (Score: 5, Insightful) Thread
That article makes a lot of sense, especially about the cultural differences. The extremely tight real estate market ensures that people live with their parents for a long time, and that guarantees a higher level of disposable income. I can relate to that myself. Back in the summer of 1994, while I was working at Babbages and living at home, I bought an Atari Jaguar, and practically every game released for it.
The store manager’s wife asked me how I could afford all that, and I told her that I had 100% disposable income. She freaked, and hated me forever for that comment, but it was true! I couldn’t afford my own place or even a car, but I could buy all the game cartridges I wanted.
|
|
First things - by SIGALRM (Score: 5, Insightful) Thread
Why do the Japanese get all the coolest gadgets … ?
True, but let’s put this into perspective. The U.S. usually views blockbuster movie releases first. Many hot game titles are available here first. It all evens out in the long run. Besides, our consumer markets are (of course) driven by entirely different value systems—for better or worse, Japan and the United States have contrasting prerogatives in importing/exporting technology and entertainment.
|
[
