It seems quite evident that stress is a result of stronger pressure regarding performance, and this is again a result of tougher competition between companies. So naturally the employers try to squeeze out as much as possible out of their employees as they see it most beneficial. But what I cannot grasp is why they continue to do se even when it has been demonstrated again and again that having overworked and stressed employees doesn't improve efficiency! It may look like it in the short run, but at a point it turns, drastically.
If a company needs more work done, why not hire more qualified people and keep the working hours down? Overtime is compensated quite heavily and by hiring an extra person instead of all the compensation the company will not spend more money on the work force, more people will be working, and there would be less stress. Can it be this simple, or is there something that I am completely missing? If this had been the most efficient solution one would think it had been adopted as a standard in the constant fight in our capitalistic environment.
But how cool is it to walk around with a good looking watch when everyone else around you has got the exact same watch? Of course, they may come up with other designs, but that would take some time since the extra use of the watch would have to become much more widespread.
It might be unsafe in many countries, but Japan is one of the safest. The crime rate is really low, and the chances for having your watch snatched rather than your wallet pickpocketed are very low.
Even in Tokyo, losing your mobile phone (phones have no PIN) is not a big problem. Most likely someone will pick it up and hand it to a train station representative, and you can just go and pick it up at one of their offices.
The ones of you who claim the reason is Japan's population density is only halfway correct. NTT DoCoMo does not put up full coverage all over Japan, they start in the big cities, something that could have been easily implemented in countries such as the US as well. When DoCoMo launched its FOMA service (3G) they focused on Tokyo, if you lived in the countryside, and yes, there are plenty of rural areas in Japan, would not receive any signals. The reason for Japan's success in staying ahead is far more complex.
1. Young people often live at home up to the age of 30. They start working pretty early, not making a lot of money, but without many expenses, they have a lot of money to spend.
2. Most handset manufacturers in the Japanese market are located in Japan. This enables them to customize their product for one market only, increasing the chances of them being accepted by the customers.
3. Cell phones, or keitais as they are called in Japanese, have become sort of fashion objects. NTT DoCoMo pushes out new series of handsets once a year, having the latest series is a must. If you walk down streets in downtown Tokyo like Shibuya, you will see that after only a month or so from the launch of a new series most people around you have replaced their old one with a new.
There are several other reasons that I won't go into here.
There are tons of devices out there with limitations built in through software. Many of these can be changed through hacks to improve functionality and/or effect. But I feel rather that the question is if people actually will take advantage of 'hacks' to improve the product.
One thing that prevents many from changing their product is the warranty. The warranty might become void if the software is changed. Many customers do not want to void the warranty, the product functions to their need, they weigh the risk and decide it is not worth it.
A related issue is if the 'hack' does not work and actually spoil the product, what then?
It is a trend that service becomes increasingly important, many customers will not risk to lose the service.
I have been to this party twice, last time was three years ago. The first time was in 98, and I guess I was amongst the 1% with linux. Second time I was amazed over what kind of people actually went. The majority was below 18 IRC'ers who would sit and chat the entire time. The second largest group was gamers, but they were playing single player most of the time.
During the Demo presentations several people were playing music loudly. There were restricitons on speaker size, but obviously that was not enough.
Frankly, unless you are below 18 and have a need for chatting in the same big room as everyone else, don't bother to go.
I live in Oslo, Norway, Scandinavia. This city is the most high tech in Norway. If you are interested in learning a lot you got the University of Oslo which has many good teachers and a geekish environment. IT competance is sought by many companies, mostly small ones. Oslo is on the verge of offering ADSL to everyone. Telenor (the major company) has completed a pilot project and will offer it this autumn (I got it myself). Downer about Oslo is the weather, it gets chilly in the winter and the summer isn't all that good, but that totally depends oin the weather. Almost everyone speaks English, but some Norwegian is necessary.
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It seems quite evident that stress is a result of stronger pressure regarding performance, and this is again a result of tougher competition between companies. So naturally the employers try to squeeze out as much as possible out of their employees as they see it most beneficial. But what I cannot grasp is why they continue to do se even when it has been demonstrated again and again that having overworked and stressed employees doesn't improve efficiency! It may look like it in the short run, but at a point it turns, drastically.
If a company needs more work done, why not hire more qualified people and keep the working hours down? Overtime is compensated quite heavily and by hiring an extra person instead of all the compensation the company will not spend more money on the work force, more people will be working, and there would be less stress. Can it be this simple, or is there something that I am completely missing? If this had been the most efficient solution one would think it had been adopted as a standard in the constant fight in our capitalistic environment.
But how cool is it to walk around with a good looking watch when everyone else around you has got the exact same watch? Of course, they may come up with other designs, but that would take some time since the extra use of the watch would have to become much more widespread.
It might be unsafe in many countries, but Japan is one of the safest. The crime rate is really low, and the chances for having your watch snatched rather than your wallet pickpocketed are very low.
Even in Tokyo, losing your mobile phone (phones have no PIN) is not a big problem. Most likely someone will pick it up and hand it to a train station representative, and you can just go and pick it up at one of their offices.
The ones of you who claim the reason is Japan's population density is only halfway correct. NTT DoCoMo does not put up full coverage all over Japan, they start in the big cities, something that could have been easily implemented in countries such as the US as well. When DoCoMo launched its FOMA service (3G) they focused on Tokyo, if you lived in the countryside, and yes, there are plenty of rural areas in Japan, would not receive any signals. The reason for Japan's success in staying ahead is far more complex.
1. Young people often live at home up to the age of 30. They start working pretty early, not making a lot of money, but without many expenses, they have a lot of money to spend.
2. Most handset manufacturers in the Japanese market are located in Japan. This enables them to customize their product for one market only, increasing the chances of them being accepted by the customers.
3. Cell phones, or keitais as they are called in Japanese, have become sort of fashion objects. NTT DoCoMo pushes out new series of handsets once a year, having the latest series is a must. If you walk down streets in downtown Tokyo like Shibuya, you will see that after only a month or so from the launch of a new series most people around you have replaced their old one with a new.
There are several other reasons that I won't go into here.
There are tons of devices out there with limitations built in through software. Many of these can be changed through hacks to improve functionality and/or effect. But I feel rather that the question is if people actually will take advantage of 'hacks' to improve the product.
One thing that prevents many from changing their product is the warranty. The warranty might become void if the software is changed. Many customers do not want to void the warranty, the product functions to their need, they weigh the risk and decide it is not worth it.
A related issue is if the 'hack' does not work and actually spoil the product, what then?
It is a trend that service becomes increasingly important, many customers will not risk to lose the service.
I have been to this party twice, last time was three years ago. The first time was in 98, and I guess I was amongst the 1% with linux. Second time I was amazed over what kind of people actually went. The majority was below 18 IRC'ers who would sit and chat the entire time. The second largest group was gamers, but they were playing single player most of the time.
During the Demo presentations several people were playing music loudly. There were restricitons on speaker size, but obviously that was not enough.
Frankly, unless you are below 18 and have a need for chatting in the same big room as everyone else, don't bother to go.
I live in Oslo, Norway, Scandinavia. This city is the most high tech in Norway. If you are interested in learning a lot you got the University of Oslo which has many good teachers and a geekish environment. IT competance is sought by many companies, mostly small ones. Oslo is on the verge of offering ADSL to everyone. Telenor (the major company) has completed a pilot project and will offer it this autumn (I got it myself). Downer about Oslo is the weather, it gets chilly in the winter and the summer isn't all that good, but that totally depends oin the weather. Almost everyone speaks English, but some Norwegian is necessary.