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The Best Tech You Can't Get in the US
DigitalDame2 writes "The US isn't always on the cutting edge of technology. We see a new product release that has just the blend of styling and features we've been looking for, but alas, it's only available overseas. From the Thanko MP4 watch to Sony's OLED TV, these are the hottest new gadgets to drool over, that you can't get here."
I'm not usually one to rag on the editors for shitty or misleading summaries, but that one was completely pointless.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
From the Thanko MP4 watch to Sony's OLED TV, these are the hottest new gadgets to drool over, that you can't get here.
They *need* cutting-edge displays like that to keep up with the continuing advances in tentacle hentai technology.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
The US is a mixed bag, on average it's far behind the technology curve. It's not population density because Canada is less dense but more in touch with technology. Some areas and industries are cutting edge but the average American seems pretty low on the tech literacy totem. At least from my interactions with Americans on trips there and on visitors here.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Stupid. It's a whole list of gadgets that are roughly comparable to things we already have, but these particularly ones are only available in Japan. -yawn- I'll summarize the list:
UMPCs
Laptops
TVs
Media players (including a watch with a screen guaranteed to give you eyestrain)
Phones
Yeah, great stuff.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
Most of today's consumer-electronics available in US are designed and/or made elsewhere.
That some of the stuff is not available here is not, in itself, the sign of US lagging behind, but rather that of US consumers not being interested enough for the companies to introduce these particular products here.
If root beer is not (widely) available in Japan, it is because the Japanese don't like root beer — not because they can't afford it, or don't know where to get it.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Nine of the sixteen were just cell phones that had pretty standard variations on the normal designs of any recent cell phone. None were remarkable or any more desirable than an iPhone in terms of function or design.
Some of the UMPCs were nice, but again, aside from the addition of colors, none were significantly better than what can be obtained here.
Yeah, it's a bunch of whiz-bang crap without any real value. The prime example is the "MP4 Watch". Besides apparently not supporting MP4 (but who really knows, at this low level of journalism) it's stupid in the first place. It's not like it's hard to make a crappy little MP3 player, glue some straps to it, and call it a "watch". Whoopdy-do.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
Wake me up when I can get a Lucy Liu bot
America-bashing sucks, yes. But so does mindless chauvinistic patriotism. The fact of the matter is, there are ways in which America is seriously behind Europe and Asia (no, I'm not talking about MP4 wristwatches) and there's no reason we shouldn't learn from their experience. The mindless fury with which many Americans react to any suggestion that the USA is not absolutely, positively #1 in every single way is a much bigger problem for the country than anti-American bigotry ... not to mention that a lot of the bigotry is a reaction to that particular type of arrogance.
The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
Tech differences between the US and Japan are a mixed bag. When I'm in the bay area or Seattle area people are far more tech savvy and have far more gadgets then the people I met when I lived in Tokyo. There is some great technology in Japan but has to do with tech gadgets and at times we have better stuff in the US. In the US you have a much better selection of computers and computer parts and they are cheaper. Fujitsu and Sony don't make the greatest machines so your not missing much by not having their latest model right away. In contrast if you want a great gaming machine your options are more limited in Japan. Cell phones are one of those items people like to bring up and thats also a mixed bag. The service is more expensive and the data rates are far more expensive in Japan. My cellphone bill last month went from $50 to $200 just from sending emails to other people's phones. In contrast I have sent far more emails and text messages from my US phone without extra charges. They have some neat models if you look but most places offer the same lineup of phones who's design is more limited than the designs we see here. Take a ride on the subway and it will seem like 90% of the people are using the same model flip phone. You will see far more people using smartphones and similar devices in the US. When people in Japan saw my old T-Mobile MDA they are always amazed. Those types of devices aren't as popular there among everyday people. Here you can easily find people using smartphones and blackberrys who don't even use the email features or web browser. They tend to stick to the flip phone design with no keyboard in Japan. But they do tend use web services that are tailored to mobile devices more often. If you really want to see superior Japanese technology that is not common here go to a love hotel. The last one I went to required no face to face communication with any employees. You walk in the building take a number, go to the room number on the slip. When you get to the door a voice greets you from an intercom and then your door unlocks. You go inside, the door locks you in :( and it stays that way until you pay the talking touch screen machine that is built into the wall which bills you by the hour. In the bathroom there is a hot tub with a large plasma tv built into the wall. In the bed room is another plasma, a PS2, a Sega Genesis, an NES, a karaoke machine and a sex toy vending machine. Overall it was average for that type of establishment.
Um, since when is "technology" solely defined by consumer gizmos? How many countries outside the US have a working rover on the surface of Mars? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller...?I consider that feat a BIT more impressive than a watch that plays music, but maybe I'm just old fashioned.
Slashdot seems to think consumer technology = technology in general. It's just not true.
Monstar L
The omnipresent cell phone with a clock that sets itself via network access to extreme accuracy has pretty much killed the need for most people to have a watch.
I don't have a watch because I need accurate time. I have a mechanical watch because:
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How many countries outside the US have a working rover on the surface of Mars?
How many countries outside Europe have landed a probe on Titan? How many countries outside USSR have landed probes on Venus (in the 1970's!). Of course, if you handpick the criterion for being on the cutting edge of technology..
You just got troll'd!
I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to revoke your geek license until you turn in the watch. If you insist on wearing shiny objects, you may be issued a Leatherman.