Americans don’t care about technology
An interesting comment from Slashdot:
Electronics are “dumbed down” for the american consumer…The Sharp Zaurus was pulled from US markets because it’s too “hard” for americans. Yet the Zaurus is a raging success in Japan and they are on their 6th version that blows anything you can buy in the states out of the water. In Japan it is common to have combo DVD-MiniDV tape devices…
Why do they do this? Because the average US consumer IS too damned stupid. Give them a DVD recorder remote with 52 buttons and a LCD status screen and they freak out. Give them full control menus on their TV for adjustment and they freak out. How many people went through the 80’s with a blinking 12:00 clock on the VCR because it was “too hard to set”?
Reply from another Slashdotter:
cultural priorities really explain it — knowledge of how to use a technical device isn’t all that important in the grand scheme of things. For example, I doubt the average Japanese developer is any better than an average Indian, Chinese, or American one. Their culture doesn’t have an inherent +10 skill for technology, its just cultural priority. When you live in a shoebox, technology is an escape… i only need 1×1 meters for my sony playstation + lcd monitor + final fantasy VXIII.
How many cellphones have I had in a lifetime? 5 at least. I no longer learn all the functions of my electronic device, i want it to ‘work’. Douglas Adams said it best (paraphrasing)– “Technology is a word used for a device that doesn’t work yet. A chair is technology, but no one things of it as such.”
Techno-snobs are generally dull, and a little too pleased with themselves.
If a consumer may prefer to buy a product that “just works”, there is no reason to question their intelligence.
Consider the automobile. There is the ‘tuner’ crowd that enjoy doing an electonic mind-meld with their vehicle, and fine-tuning every conceivable aspect of its performance.
The greater majority of people that would prefer to turn the key, put it and gear, and go are not stupid. They just have different hobbies.
Oh, and I’ve never had a problem programming a clock on a VCR. But it’s not a facinating pastime that I couldn’t do without, if I didn’t need to.
[…] I am not stupid (don’t argue that please), but Elliot quoted a comment from Slashdot that kind of described me, other than the stupid part. […]