"Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

[Big Rick Cook]

http://blog.gatunka.com/2008/05/05/w...eate-the-ipod/

An interesting article that purports to explain why Japan has not been as active in the PC-connectivity market, aka the Western World side of new technology. It also, as a side effect of that, explains why the Japanese are so obsessed with mobile phones. I don't know how accurate any of it is, nor do I care to look at the technical specs, but I thought it was a very interesting read with a very unique perspective on world influences in accordance with technological advancement.

[John Mora]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

Hey, that IS interesting. I almost never get tired of hearing how different we are than the Japanese. |:3

[Translucid]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

well, we're usually a bit taller.

[John Mora]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

tell me mooooooooooooooore

[gray]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

we have more jerks

[Toaster]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

A FEW INCHES OF DIFFERENCE

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQp9PQm5Q3A

[Red Dragon]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

[orius]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

I wasn't ware of the graphical difficulties of displaying Japanese characters on a computer screen, but I already was aware of the fact that the difficulty in producing characters with a keyboard led to less PC use in Japan. That's one of the reasons that serious gaming in the west went to the PC, while it went to consoles in Japan.

[Big Rick Cook]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

I just thought it a compelling argument for why the Japanese hound-dog their cell phones so God-damned much.

[John Mora]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

That's one of the reasons that serious gaming in the west went to the PC, while it went to consoles in Japan.

Wait, I haven't been gaming seriously all this time?!

[Crimson Knight]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

well, we're usually a bit taller.

we have more jerks

And now I've discovered, that they make better rock music than we do.

[Toaster]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

But are they as effemeniate?

[Wavelength]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

That's a really interesting read, thanks.

Can someone explain to me why cell phones became so big there, under the logic that the kanji alphabet is so hard to turn digital? Onegaishimasu? Was it simply a result of good timing or PCs having an even harder relative time of it, or have cell phones brought about some way to make things easier?

Now that Japan has gotten up to speed with Western PCs, it'll be interesting to see whether they continue to lag a bit behind or jump ahead of the rest of the world.

EDIT: A quick second thought. Countries like Japan and Korea are small and their populations tend to be clustered tightly. That makes wireless technology as a lot more beneficial and feasible as compared to a country like the US or Canada (where the population is more spread out, the land area is larger, and wired tech makes more sense at this point). I've seen some tech experts talk about this and it's amazingly interesting to me. So it makes sense that cell phones and other handheld tech is big over in SE Asia. But that still doesn't explain how the languages are any easier to type in...

[John Mora]

Re: "Why Japan didn't create the i-Pod"

And now I've discovered, that they make better rock music than we do.

...No, they don't. Unless you really like funny costumes.