Japan Promises an Ultra-High-Tech 2020 Olympics

jfruh writes "When Japan first hosted the Olympics in 1964, it was a platform for the country to showcase that it was a first-rate technical nation, with brand new bullet trains for visitors and the games broadcast in color via satellite for the first time. Japan's tech industry is already preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Games, with Japanese companies promising ultra-high-def TV, super-fast cell phone networks, and autonomous self-driving cars on the roads."

Comments

All for naught if there are no mechs on the street

[logicassasin]

In 2020, I would expect nothing less than armed Mechs patrolling the streets. Not some American OCP ED-209 garbage either, no, only a sleek and shiny Gundam, Veritech, or some other type of mech will do.

Re:How much satellite bandwith is there to cover U

[gstoddart]

Well, judging by the fact that my cable company routinely scales stuff down to 720p (or worse in some cases) and calls it high-def, I'm sure some marketing idiots will just come up with their own definition for UHD and claim they're delivering it.

To be honest, I figure 4k and 8k TV is many years away from widespread adoption. My current TV is only about 2 years old, and I have no interest in replacing my stuff because the movie companies think they can get even more money out of me.

I'd be more interested in higher resolutions for my computer monitor than my TV.

Role of the modern Olympics

[Picass0]

The Olympics have overshadowed the World's Fair as a forum and showcase for technology, art, social events, and efforts by each host country to create a "model society" if but for a brief period. Most host countries pour far more money in than they will recover because of the prestige and the opportunity to push their political ideology on the world's televisions.

Those bullet trains are still in use, too

[sandytaru]

I bet if we went back to 1964 and told the folks designing the Shikansen that they'd get double the Olympics out of them, they would dance with glee. I have to say the two hour train ride between Tokyo and Kyoto was clean, comfortable, and kicked the butt of any equivalent plane ride.

Re:8k

[geekoid]

Japan isn't as technologically forward as people seem to think, especially in business. They still us the fax machine more then email, and good luck finding an ATM you can use if tyou are out of your area.