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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."
They'll turn a blind eye to grey-market imports, but try to sell most european and asian hi-tech gizmos in america, and some fuck will sue you for infringement of some stupid american patent. I run a small business in europe, and we just don't deal with americans
How about Self-Preservationists 'R' Us.
The truth is that dealing with the U.S. really is just more hassle than it's worth in an increasing number of areas. I don't hate Americans by any stretch, but the litigiousness and brutal sense of entitlement shown by the American populous in general has just driven a few of us to throw our hands up and say "No more" when it comes to business dealings.
So, call me what you want, and take this post for whatever it's worth to you -- it doesn't make any difference to me. But, there's a wide gap between being a bigot and being one who learns from personal misery and that of others.
Funny but a few years ago we had a relative from the UK come for his first visit to the US. He wanted to see Disney World, the Grand Cayon, Hollywood, New York City, and the Kenndy Space Center. They wanted to know if we thought a week would be enough time...
The US "lagged behind" Europe in mobile phones because of the way phone service in the US is priced. Local calls which in the US tend to cover a large area are free on land lines. That is one of the big reasons that the US lagged in broadband.
I thought it very funny that when I was in the UK that I shocked people because I knew what the battle of Trafalgar was.
The simple fact is that the US will almost always come off looking bad when you compare what US citizens know about a country and what the people in that country know about the US. Just about everybody knows about the US. But I would bet very few people in say the UK know much about the history of Japan. Or that many Japanese know much about the politics of Norway.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
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.
I don't hate America, and I also have a couple really good friends who are Americans. However, I don't think you can blame the lawyers entirely... they'd be nowhere if there wasn't a long line of enthusiastic clients who revel in the thought of being a compensated victim.
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
Well, I've had some business dealings with Americans, and here's what I've found:
- They appear to really believe that "the customer is always right" without any limitations whatsoever, and that I should be willing to compromise absolutely anything to satisfy unreasonable requests. I'll happily go out of my way to keep customers satisfied when my product fails, but I've also been called an "asshole" because I wouldn't replace a device for free, including the cost of shipping, that an American customer's kid had run through with a knife.
- They're not very friendly. When I receive e-mails or phone calls from American clients, the e-mail almost never starts with "hello" or any other greeting, and the phone conversations usually start with "yeah, I'm..." They also just hang up when they're done talking, and there's often no "goodbye" or anything.
Personally, I've never been stifled by the U.S. patent system or anything, but I do find dealing with U.S. customers to be trying---they tend never to be satisfied, and they treat me like the enemy because I'm at this to make a living. I like to think of myself as a fair businessman, but I never get the feeling that I'm viewed that way by my American customers.
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!