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Answerman - Why Is It Unusual For Japanese People To Use Computers?


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Amara Tenoh



Joined: 22 Mar 2014
Posts: 333
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:00 pm Reply with quote
Nice!
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Saffire



Joined: 25 Nov 2007
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:05 pm Reply with quote
Huh, I had no idea. Sharp observation by the asker.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:12 pm Reply with quote
Also explains why Japanese youth are so concerned about hiding their porn mags rather than keeping that stuff in a hidden folder on their computer.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:29 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
And so, if you like computers in Japan, you are a nerd. And as we are all aware, Japan grows some really, really impressive nerds. While the rest of the country falls further and further behind, the country has started depending on its nerds to keep their businesses and their economy going.

But never mind the economy! The eroge industry's very existence relies on such a demographic.
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CheezcakeMe





PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:32 pm Reply with quote
I guess that's also why in Shirobako animators were shown still drawing on paper instead of using Cintiqs or tablets which are so, SO much more efficient for animating.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:39 pm Reply with quote
Tomoko has a desktop computer in Watamote. Tomoko is a nerd.

I guess this also informs the scene in Evangelion where Maya is impressed by her progress at using a keyboard and is doubly impressed when Ritsuko blows her out of the water at the same.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:49 pm Reply with quote
The consequences of the Japanese technical decline (Ft. Very crafty thieves from South Africa)

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/05/22/national/crime-legal/convenience-store-atm-heist-sees-¥1-4-billion-stolen-two-hours-across-japan/

Japanese banks need to get with the times or more people will make off with your money. The rest of Japan as well, technology saves time, money, and lives.
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 12:53 pm Reply with quote
There are good developers for Linux and other free software in Japan - see for example the Ruby programming language and the mikutter twitter client written in Ruby but developing software as a personal interest doesn't seem to have taken hold in Japan like it did with shareware for pc's (and the Free Software movement which provided the foundation for Linux) in the west.

It would be good to read some research on this subject, if any has been done to date.
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SNaGem



Joined: 23 May 2016
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:22 pm Reply with quote
Awesome, my question got answered. Thanks Justin!
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2398
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:22 pm Reply with quote
"Nerd talk": I got my first PC in 1998, with Win. 98, just 1 year after i immigrated to Germany and i now built 2 PCs from the ground up. I highly recommend my current setup. Just use a how-to guide from YouTube if you want to build your own PC:
Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3P Mainboard (Rev.1.0)
Intel i5-6500 Core
MSI V314-011R AMD Radeon R9 380
Cooler Master B500 ver.2 500 Watt
HyperX 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 (2X8GB)
Generisches 320GB SATA 3.5
LG 24x8x16x DVD+RW
Sharkoon VS4-V PC-Tower (2x USB 3.0, ATX)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP 1 OEM (Upgradable to Win.10)

I went for multiple refurbished parts (all from amazon, for the warranty) and payed only 685€. A comparable off-the-rack PC would cost you about 1100€ and i use a (used) ASUS VE278H - 68,6 cm / 27 Zoll for my PC and console needs. Win 10 is lastly a dream! Upgrade if you can but turn off the build in spy ware.
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relyat08



Joined: 20 Mar 2013
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Location: Northern Virginia
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:24 pm Reply with quote
Interesting. I was aware that they were generally less technologically developed than the West in many ways, but I had no idea that there was an actual decline in Computer Literacy. That seems really strange. I would have thought they would be catching up rather quickly at this point.
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Shiflan



Joined: 29 Jul 2015
Posts: 418
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:27 pm Reply with quote
This is certainly an interesting topic!

Frankly, I only see this problem as getting worse as time goes on. I, like a lot of people, learned to use a computer during the late 80's and early 90's. While I did use a computer for school, most of the motivation to learn how to use one was to play video games and get online for chat, web-browsing, and so on. But with the advent of smartphones that sort of motivation has disappeared. I suppose it's no different than the decline of PC sales in the west: hardcore gamers and business users still buy PCs, but the average person uses a smartphone, tablet, or other device (video game console, smart TV) to do everything instead.
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PurpleWarrior13



Joined: 05 Sep 2009
Posts: 2024
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:31 pm Reply with quote
Even in the US, I think personal laptop/desktop usage is going down with the rise of smartphones and tablets being used for things like web browsing. The average person really doesn't need a personal computer away from their office unless they have a specific reason. The computer labs at my college are really popular because that's the only way many of the students can type up Word documents.
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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:36 pm Reply with quote
One thing I've thought in regards to the business side of this is that maybe the permanent employment system might have something to do with Japan's sluggishness to embrace new technology. Say a company has a chance to acquire a new system or program that, once learned, can allow one person to do the work of two. Since they essentially can't remove the second person, they would have to find something else for that person to do. At that point, it might seem a lot easier to stick with the old-fashioned method.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:41 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
There are a few cultural and historical reasons for this problem. Early computer systems really struggled with the difficulties of supporting the Japanese language, limiting their usefulness in the 80s and early 90s. Socially, the computer was often seen as a solitary, antisocial activity -- something to be discouraged by parents, who lived in a world where getting ahead meant face-to-face communication and discussion.


And then, by the time they embraced the Internet, the cellphone culture caught on, and real, popular achievers could be Internet-addicted WHILE enjoying the full-flower of their youth in the bright sunshine with their many friends Rolling Eyes , and with fewer keyboard-based interfaces to make it seem like a kanji-hobbled chore.
It's the same double-standard of what they want to embrace vs. how they want to be seen, and the keyboard-computer just historically fell in between.

Also, probably fewer households could be early-adopters in the 90's when home Internet first caught on, so most early keyboard-computer use could have ben on older models in the club rooms at school, which pretty much made it look like something that "wow, you've studied?" after school.
(The poster's question only reminded me of Usagi's "Wow, you can use a real computer? Surprised " when Ami or Luna use one in the early-90's Sailor Moon episodes. Yes, Usagi's not the brightest pursuer of academics, but using one should have been taken for granted by that point.)
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