[zeplin]

Why is it that the technological market in Japan is always so far ahead of any other market on earth??? Even the common or average consumer in Japan owns what many would consider here in America to be *cutting edge* or a pricey piece of electronic equipment! A friend I spoke to earlier today caught the end of a story on 48 hours, (I think?) which basically said that most people (even people around my age...23-28) in Japan own what most would consider to be very expensive technology like it was an everyday house-hold item. Not only that, but apparently a lot of people in Japan also have easy access to things that aren't even in the prototype stages here in the U.S. (NOTE: for those that might think so...I am in no way implying that the US should always be on top and the best in everything)

My answer to her questioning was that Japan simply has a market geared towards different directions, goals, and needs. To me, it obviously looks like technology is of a higher priority in the minds of Japanese people and economy. Me being the electronic/technology geek that I am, I only wish the U.S. was the same!

So, are all the questions brought up by my friend and the news story legitimate observations, or is the rate at which the Japanese create new technology the speed as the rest of the countries involved in creating and developing new technology?? Or do the Japanese simply have the means to produce more of this new, cutting edge technology?? What is exactly goin on here?

I of course would like anyone who can respond to respond, but it would also be great if people from Japan could help shed some light on this concern of mine. Thanx!

PS>>>I am visiting some friends in Arizona right now, and man O' MAN is it hotter than hell here

I'm thankful that I could bring along my Ety's to keep me at least somewhat sane.

 

[ProFingerSk8er]

not only japan, something applies to most asian countries.
cell phones is a good example, most popular asian-brand cellphones here in US are Samsungs, which are korean... infact most asian countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China all make hot cellphones. New cellphones from these companies usually go on sale in asia first, then export to US a year or two later. i cant remember how long ago color cellphones first came out in the asian market, all i know from my dad is that there are already video-phone calls and cable TVs on cell phones already

i want one

im guessing mostly becasue most of the "bigger" companies are Japanese, Sony has a long history of being first in lots of things, which is why Sony is soo well-known today, maybe they need to hire more people to come up with more high-tech toys to keep their name and keep people intersted in their products

 

[Tuberoller]

The "tech lag" time is actually only a few months. I have a good friend whom I buy Japanese gear from and it's certainly true they get stuff first in Japan but the lag between the Asian and US launches is typically 5-7 months on everything except video games. He says that the Japanese market is far more tolerant of stuff like software glitches and since most of the users there are more technically proficient these are never huge problems. I'm sure we would all be having hissy fits if something we purchased didn't work right. He also says there is bigger status in Japan of being the first to get the latest new gear.

 

[gaijin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuberoller He also says there is bigger status in Japan of being the first to get the latest new gear.

Perhaps this can be explained by the greater value the japanese associate with things 'new'.

In japanese the word for pretty/beautiful, 'kirei', also means clean/tidy/neat which are all attributes of ‘new’.

On a number of occasions when you give money as a gift or as a payment, to a shrine for example, it is customary to give 'new' bills that are provided as a special service by banks. You will very rarely see old cars on the street in japan. Old Japanese style wooden houses are torn down to build modern ones (unfortunately often very ugly and made of cheap material) - the turnover here is much quicker than in the US.

Here in japan things are not made to last (this does not mean they are of poor quality - although i find that japanese quality is something of a myth; witness Mitsubishi's recall scandal). Products come and go, and the Japanese are always eager to buy the latest model.

 

[earful]

it's also a question of disposable income versus what you can buy with it. owning a large home costs the earth, so many japanese live in what they themselves call "usagi goya" - rabbit hutches. many of the younger generation continue to live at home despite decent jobs - living elsewhere is too expensive. so where to spend that income? the new, the trendy, etc. the other side is that the japanese consumer is known as "sophisticated" and "discriminating" - but those words are somewhat ill-defined; sometimes it just means brand-name conscious. when it means pushing the envelope, however, i'm all for it, especially when i'm in the market for a better camcorder.

 

[adhoc]

perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that dwellings in asia are typically far more cramped than most of their american counterparts (save the biggest cities).

i somehow drew a mental parallel with the american-soviet space race: the soviets, having the technology for building the most powerful rockets around down pat, had antiquated (and heavy) equipment in their capsules. the americans, not having very powerful rockets, instead focussed on building lighter and more technologically-advanced equipment to cram inside their smaller capsules.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

He says that the Japanese market is far more tolerant of stuff like software glitches

Related to this is the fact that if a new product does have any initial Quality Control or design problems, it's more cost efficient to find out about it closer to home than half way around the world. Shipping defective/replacement product back and forth between nearby manufacturers and retailers avoids the added costs associated not only with long distance, world-wide shipping/warehousing, but eliminates getting foreign distributors and another layer of mark-ups involved in these losses.

 

[bangraman]

We do have some crazy stuff hit the market... I think in addition to the above, the Japanese and many Asians are less cynical than those living in the West. That's why there's a lot of stuff that wouldn't sell in the West being sold over there, and sell well.


The other thing is that everyday living in Japan isn't actually that expensive. I have relatives and friends come over and they're shocked at the price of everyday items like food (and how crap it is in relation to how much it costs).

 

[myself, aka me]

I thought England was a pretty expensive place to live? Japan's more expensive than NZ for sure, depending on where you go of course. Auckland's getting a bit $$. Is Osaka more expensive than Tokyo, or around the same but with funny speaking people?

 

[pank2002]

So
technoligy wise:
Asia>the US>Europe

Beer wise:
Europe>Asia>the US (Sorry, Budwiser's fault)

Crappy movie wise
Hollywood>Bollywood

 

[adhoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangraman The other thing is that everyday living in Japan isn't actually that expensive. I have relatives and friends come over and they're shocked at the price of everyday items like food (and how crap it is in relation to how much it costs).

well, coming from someone who live in england, that might not really mean that much.

and myself, aka me, iirc a recent study found that japan only maintained it's spot as the most expensive place in the world to live in.

 

[Takashi]

While I must be the one who is qualified to disagree with minor details here and there, I have to admit all of above posts are filled with quite interesting thoughts and insights. Surely there are as many aspects to see things as number of people. And they are all true, at least to some extent.

Another thing about "cutting edge technology" is that Japan is facing strong competition from other Asian countries like Korea and China, so we are trying to stay at top, if we are. To help the momentum, one example is that Japanese government decided to change all TV broadcast to digital by 2011. That means all Japanese household must but new digital TV in 5 years.

Oh and there's one urban legend, saying Sony product has buit-in "Sony timer", which goes off right after its warranty expired. LOL. (Or can't laugh?)

 

[3lusiv3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takashi Oh and there's one urban legend, saying Sony product has buit-in "Sony timer", which goes off right after its warranty expired. LOL. (Or can't laugh?)

Both the Sony TV and VCR that I have developed faults a month after the warranty ran out. Almost everything Sony I have ever bought has had some sort of problem so I have made a personal decision to avoid Sony products if possible.

On the Japan/tech thing. I don't think this it's true that Japan is that far ahead of everyone else with tech stuff. That's just an incorrect generisation that just isn't true as far as I can tell. Products come from all over the place not just Japan. As an example, the iTunes music store and the iPod mini aren't available in Japan. Even with digital TV, I read that here in Australia they will turn off the analogue TV service in under five years.

 

[Takashi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3lusiv3 On the Japan/tech thing. I don't think this it's true that Japan is that far ahead of everyone else with tech stuff. That's just an incorrect generisation that just isn't true as far as I can tell. Products come from all over the place not just Japan. As an example, the iTunes music store and the iPod mini aren't available in Japan. Even with digital TV, I read that here in Australia they will turn off the analogue TV service in under five years.

Then what we are doing here is just desperately trying not to become obsolete. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[tiberian]

i don't know if i am qualified to reply to this thread, but as an international undergraduate from hong kong i think its all about supply and demand.
people in HK pay great attention to gadgets like mobile phones, discman, md players and mp3 players, they think paying megabucks to get new models is good and necessary because of reasons like 'hey everyone has the new one' 'the new one looks cooler and smaller' 'the new one has functions that can't be found on old models'. they don't really care do they really need to get a new one, they just buy it first. afterall they can sell them off easily later on...so there is a cause for rapid technological advancement because people WILL buy new stuff no matter what unless they are broke...its like the bling bling thing in America, personal status and pride.
when i was in secondary school some of my schoolmates spent like 600 USD on new nokia mobile phones...they did replace them when new models came out. i never had a mobile phone, i just didn't need one. heh i still don't have one now.
in america i think people focus on cost and something being practical or not. a discman that can 'get the job done' is enough, people don't need fancy stuff as much as the asians. thats why i saw lots of people holding ugly sony discmans all around, they cost like 49.99 in circuit city right? heh the sony discman i had 5 years ago blew them out of water for sure, it costed like 125 USD. in fact people in HK are willing to pay at least twice the price for a decent discman than americans. MD players and 'sony mp3 players' cost even more. "125 for a discman? you are kidding!' is the common american response i got so far. i know ipods are popular but a majority of the people still use those big and ugly portables CD players with crappy headphones. i think lots of electronics are the same in america...people don't have the urge to upgrade because 'its still working!'
last time i went to circuit i saw lots of big screen TVs tho. I think americans love them, right?