Doing the numbers, the Japanese population 127M, the US's 293M. So the population ration is 2.3.
From the figures given, the Japanese spend 4.1B on games, with 1.27 or 30% on hardware.
The US spends 7B on software, assuming the same breakdown that means about 10B on software.
Now, if Japan were as large as the US and the amount spent on games increased similarly they would spend 2.3 * 4.1B or 9.4B on games.
So actually, both markets are about the same at the moment. However, if Japanese spending is down 40 percent then years ago this was true.
Of course, all this neglects age distributions which would be crucial.
Perhaps the game companies should take note, perhaps people will get bored of games and their sales are set to fall. After all, what is the difference between great looking Fifas or Maddens?
True, but they have $US53B in the bank and growing and arguably they ARE making a profit on the games market when you think that games on Windows are a large part of the overal gaming market.
And, MS are notorious for their first version of something being poor and the second being much more impressive. XBox 2 is going to be out before the PS3, will be much easier to program and will pack an amazing punch.
I worked in an office where the boss had decided that most people having their own printer was a good idea. What happened, of course, was that eventually there were not enough printers and we had to share them or someone came in with a laptop and wanted to print.
Presumably things would have been better if we'd been smarter and bought fewer better printers and used them on the network.
I could use the printers OK, but as the lowest programmer on the rung I did tech support and on a weekly basis I had to fix people's connections, on the same OS (XP) and get the printers working.
The problem with ESR's article is that printer configuration is often screwed up, so many configurations on so many different systems have to deal with XYZ printer which has some weird idea about how things should work and then you have problems.
The OS stuff is probably a little worse than proprietary OSes, but his assumption that it 'just works' always, on proprietary OSs is wrong.
Still, hopefully the discussions may prompt some of the larger companies to hire a few more UI engineers and improve the situation.
That all journalism in the future will have slashdot's quality of grammar, spelling and punctuation?
It's cool to have all this media around, but the problem is now how do we get LESS better media? Quality is far more important than quality. Perhaps the web has made this even worse.
Your terms are wrong. The first world was the West, the second world the communist world and the third world the non-aligned developing countries. The second world does not really exist anymore.
I work with a guy who is a total guru who has actually done what you suggest, i.e. sat down with C++ code and improved the assembly output of parts of code. He said he would sometimes get a 5-10% improvement in some areas.
However the Aerospace Engineering Department at Old Dominion University figured they could use the wind tunnel and started to operate it themselves and were able to both train students and make money from it.
Recently the Wind Tunnel has been used to test full scale model of a Wright Flyer that is scheduled to fly at the end of this year.
NASA may not be able to operate these facilities economically, but smaller groups that have less beauracracy and smaller aims often can. You would almost bet that some enterprising University will get a hold of the facilities and start using them.
The Archos Jukebox is half the price of an Ipod and has the same capacities AND predates the Ipod. In addition the video Archos has new features that no Ipod yet has, as well as a larger drive.
The Ipod has a better UI, but when you consider cost an Archos is hard to pass up for an Ipod.
If you could find the share of research done by the DoD I'd be grateful. I couldn't quickly google for it. But rest assured, compared to other countries it is really huge and the impact is enourmous. For example the 747 was originally designed to be a military transport.
As for large computer companies there are quite a few, Siemens and some huge Chinese company come to mind. But bear in mind, the US auto industry builds it's own cars, the US computer industry assembles what has been made in Taiwan.
Of course these are all gross generalizations. This is slashdot.....
Of course. In the US research is done for the DoD.
Private companies then exploit this and make money.
Also, due to the efficiency of the US capital market and the enormous US home market new technology is rapidly developed in the US but perfected elsewhere. But the same speed to start things also drives an outlook that is only quarterly at most US firms which kills quality after a while.
The perfect example is the car industry. The US just got big and for a long time the only US car innovations are the cupholder and the SUV. ABS, fuel injection, constant 4WD multiple valves and other improvements do not come from Detroit. Another is large jets.
Slashdot Mirror
From the figures given, the Japanese spend 4.1B on games, with 1.27 or 30% on hardware.
The US spends 7B on software, assuming the same breakdown that means about 10B on software.
Now, if Japan were as large as the US and the amount spent on games increased similarly they would spend 2.3 * 4.1B or 9.4B on games.
So actually, both markets are about the same at the moment. However, if Japanese spending is down 40 percent then years ago this was true.
Of course, all this neglects age distributions which would be crucial.
Perhaps the game companies should take note, perhaps people will get bored of games and their sales are set to fall. After all, what is the difference between great looking Fifas or Maddens?
Umm, where do you think most PCs are made? The moon? Zimbabwe? Folks, this is the world we live in.
Totally
Are there any sizable 3D games, i.e. code that really needs performance written in Java?
Would you prefer to develop on the X-Box? Does it affect your companies decisions much?
The good thing is that it is Nvidia, who do the best OpenGL implementations around.
And, MS are notorious for their first version of something being poor and the second being much more impressive. XBox 2 is going to be out before the PS3, will be much easier to program and will pack an amazing punch.
Add to that Xna, where MS turns the 40% of the game market they control ( 30% PC 10% Xbox ) and you wonder how long before they bury Sony.
Scary really.
Presumably things would have been better if we'd been smarter and bought fewer better printers and used them on the network.
I could use the printers OK, but as the lowest programmer on the rung I did tech support and on a weekly basis I had to fix people's connections, on the same OS (XP) and get the printers working.
The problem with ESR's article is that printer configuration is often screwed up, so many configurations on so many different systems have to deal with XYZ printer which has some weird idea about how things should work and then you have problems.
The OS stuff is probably a little worse than proprietary OSes, but his assumption that it 'just works' always, on proprietary OSs is wrong.
Still, hopefully the discussions may prompt some of the larger companies to hire a few more UI engineers and improve the situation.
Has there ever been a stronger cause for Americans to unite behind?
Games don't need more grit, they just need hot grits, goddamnit.
God, what a great opportunity.....
The Economist has an article which outlines what the previous post describes and describes how Mr Eisner is now probably the problem.
It's cool to have all this media around, but the problem is now how do we get LESS better media? Quality is far more important than quality. Perhaps the web has made this even worse.
Your terms are wrong. The first world was the West, the second world the communist world and the third world the non-aligned developing countries. The second world does not really exist anymore.
I work with a guy who is a total guru who has actually done what you suggest, i.e. sat down with C++ code and improved the assembly output of parts of code. He said he would sometimes get a 5-10% improvement in some areas.
Read this and use your common sense and don't panic.
It is interesting to see someone documenting something where coding is close to what it's really like.
Just don't get me started on Pirelli or Michelin.
However the Aerospace Engineering Department at Old Dominion University figured they could use the wind tunnel and started to operate it themselves and were able to both train students and make money from it.
Recently the Wind Tunnel has been used to test full scale model of a Wright Flyer that is scheduled to fly at the end of this year.
NASA may not be able to operate these facilities economically, but smaller groups that have less beauracracy and smaller aims often can. You would almost bet that some enterprising University will get a hold of the facilities and start using them.
Totally strong branding, like OpenGL OpenML, OpenAL ( OK SGI lawyers sue me ) or DirectShow, DirectSound, DirectPlay, DirectInput, DirectFish.
The Ipod has a better UI, but when you consider cost an Archos is hard to pass up for an Ipod.
As for large computer companies there are quite a few, Siemens and some huge Chinese company come to mind. But bear in mind, the US auto industry builds it's own cars, the US computer industry assembles what has been made in Taiwan.
Of course these are all gross generalizations. This is slashdot.....
But there does appear to be a pattern.
Private companies then exploit this and make money.
Also, due to the efficiency of the US capital market and the enormous US home market new technology is rapidly developed in the US but perfected elsewhere. But the same speed to start things also drives an outlook that is only quarterly at most US firms which kills quality after a while.
The perfect example is the car industry. The US just got big and for a long time the only US car innovations are the cupholder and the SUV. ABS, fuel injection, constant 4WD multiple valves and other improvements do not come from Detroit. Another is large jets.
Why should computing be any different ?
What are they losing on the X-Box ( say $300 million a year ) they can keep doing for oh, another hundred years or so.
Also remember that most MS first attempts are crap. The X-box is actually a very good first attempt compared to early versions of CE and other things.