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I spent some time living in Japan, and I recognize a lot in this article. When I came to Japan I was surprised by how people are really not computer savvy in ge

I spent some time living in Japan, and I recognize a lot in this article. When I came to Japan I was surprised by how people are really not computer savvy in general. Most families have a computer, but only one, it's in the kitchen and nobody is very good at using it. This is strange, because people are quite tech-savvy in general and not at all techno-phobic like many non-geeks in the west. Japanese mobile phones have been awesome for years and there are plenty or really cool mobile web services. Non-mobile websites on the other hand frequently look like a mid-90s abdomination, only with more colors and animated gifs. Perhaps that is just a different preference in layout style though. Computer gaming really doesn't exist in Japan. It's all on consoles, handhelds and phones. Few Japanese have even heard of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Quake, Counterstrike or Civilization. I think there are some erotic games for PC because the console makers will not give them licenses. So the few who know about computer gaming think it's for perverts. The authors explanation seems reasonable to me. Japan simply took a different direction towards appliances rather than general-purpose computers, and has continued on that path. Appliances are easy to use, but are far less suitable for hacking. This means you really don't find many "hackers" in Japan. There are plenty of nerds, but few of them are into programming. Similar to my impression of China, software is seen as a branch of engineering like any other. Software companies will actually hire developers with no programming experience, as long as they have a good engineering degree and seem like a person that would fit into the company. They didn't lie on the CV either, the company fully expect to put them in front of computers with "Perl for beginners". On a side note, I really don't like the western HR buzzword bingo either, where having exactly the right acronyms on your CV means more than your aptitude and actual ability to program. Is there any country in the world that strikes the right balance in general?

kazuya 17y ago
I am here on HN to contribute a different view about this allegedly exotic country, again. > Computer gaming really doesn't exist in Japan. It's all on consoles, handhelds and phones. Few Japanese have even heard of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Quake, Counterstrike or Civilization. Computer gaming does exist. They aren't aware of the titles you mentioned just because they aren't localized. Many Japanese have difficulty with English despite of the amount of education throw in, but that's another story. > This means you really don't find many "hackers" in Japan. Hackers do exist. Again just because... well they don't speak English and often not visible to the hacker community at large. However I admit English is lingua franca of programming, and often I have to bridge them. Re CV, it's not the same CV as in the western, in fact it's almost wrong call it CV. On the contrary, many Japanese job applicants assume the CV same as their counterparts and fail miserably.

kazuya 17y ago

I am here on HN to contribute a different view about this allegedly exotic country, again. > Computer gaming really doesn't exist in Japan. It's all on consoles, handhelds and phones. Few Japanese have even heard of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Quake, Counterstrike or Civilization. Computer gaming does exist. They aren't aware of the titles you mentioned just because they aren't localized. Many Japanese have difficulty with English despite of the amount of education throw in, but that's another story. > This means you really don't find many "hackers" in Japan. Hackers do exist. Again just because... well they don't speak English and often not visible to the hacker community at large. However I admit English is lingua franca of programming, and often I have to bridge them. Re CV, it's not the same CV as in the western, in fact it's almost wrong call it CV. On the contrary, many Japanese job applicants assume the CV same as their counterparts and fail miserably.