3 ms·

I'm an Estonian, also a nordic country. We have a bunch of things we are years ahead of in terms of digital innovations (https://e-estonia.com/ https://e-estoni

by askosh 7y ago

I'm an Estonian, also a nordic country. We have a bunch of things we are years ahead of in terms of digital innovations (https://e-estonia.com/ https://e-estonia.com/), all while having a 1.3m population. What does the USA do better exactly?

verttii 7y ago
Estonia is certainly performing well. But since it's so tiny it's really hard to compare against a giant like USA. Although much of the same problem applies to Nordics. We use Google, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Apple - all American products. Whereas the Nordic countries produce very few major digital innovations used globally. Also, I didn't know Estonia was a Nordic country.
- askosh 7y ago
  Well, true, all the big players are from USA. But as far digital innovation inside of a nation go, and for the nation, USA needs to do a lot of catching up. Because while true that USA made a thing called "instagram influencers", it has done very little for its people. If by Nordic you mean Northern European, then Estonia is Nordic, all tho' often misrepresented as Eastern European.
- mih 7y ago
  >> Also, I didn't know Estonia was a Nordic country. Relevant: https://satwcomic.com/party-crasher https://satwcomic.com/party-crasher https://satwcomic.com/imposter https://satwcomic.com/imposter https://satwcomic.com/new-nordic https://satwcomic.com/new-nordic A funny take on why other 'Nordic' countries don't think so
- verttii 7y ago
  Ok I'm used to considering only Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland as Nordic countries. They're also the only members of the Nordic council. Estonia I've always just considered a Baltic country, which I suppose is accurate as well. Not that these definitions really matter anyway.
- agapon 7y ago
  I still remember Skype before Microsoft. And Nokia before Microsoft :-)
- ptr 7y ago
  What's your point? The Nordics have a relatively high contribution of "innovations", higher than other countries that don't work "half the hours". Examples: Linux, Spotify, Unity, King, the radio base stations that your phone might be connected to, ...
  - verttii 7y ago
    But even Linux was ultimately developed in USA. So was/is Unity. I don't know if Linux would've ever been the success it is had Linus Torvalds stayed in Finland developing it. I'd hope we would have a big list of recent examples of major innovations from the Nordics but unfortunately nearly all the major digital products or innovations seem to be decades old. I can't think of almost any globally really promising Finnish digital startup right now.
- leftbrain 7y ago
  > We use Google, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Apple - all American products. You say we use them now. But some of these companies are barely past their teenage years. Nokia as a company is around 150 years old, they didnt win fast and they are still in business (but not in the phone business) How long any of these current, not winners but ”winning it right now” last? Who knows. They are still young, but they will all fail or ceases to exist eventually and hopefully dont leave cities bankrupt behind them. Also, we all had instant messages, social networks (very small, geographically) etc. before these behemoths and now days globalism is getting some pushback around the globe, who knows how long and what markets they can later dominate.
  - verttii 7y ago
    But on the other hand, any meaningful comparisons get harder and less relevant for us if we use a time span of the past 150 years. I don't know if it really even matters that much that most companies die eventually. They're still producing lots of value right now. While Nokia is certainly not doing particularly well nowadays despite having a long and partially very successful history. Edit: year
goatinaboat 7y ago
What does the USA do better exactly? Well, it seems crass to point this out, but NATO has a big presence in the Baltic states right now because you guys won’t invest in your own defence. So yeah, that is what they do.

by askosh 7y ago

verttii 7y ago

Estonia is certainly performing well. But since it's so tiny it's really hard to compare against a giant like USA. Although much of the same problem applies to Nordics. We use Google, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Apple - all American products. Whereas the Nordic countries produce very few major digital innovations used globally. Also, I didn't know Estonia was a Nordic country.

askosh 7y ago
Well, true, all the big players are from USA. But as far digital innovation inside of a nation go, and for the nation, USA needs to do a lot of catching up. Because while true that USA made a thing called "instagram influencers", it has done very little for its people. If by Nordic you mean Northern European, then Estonia is Nordic, all tho' often misrepresented as Eastern European.
mih 7y ago
>> Also, I didn't know Estonia was a Nordic country. Relevant: https://satwcomic.com/party-crasher https://satwcomic.com/party-crasher https://satwcomic.com/imposter https://satwcomic.com/imposter https://satwcomic.com/new-nordic https://satwcomic.com/new-nordic A funny take on why other 'Nordic' countries don't think so
verttii 7y ago
Ok I'm used to considering only Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland as Nordic countries. They're also the only members of the Nordic council. Estonia I've always just considered a Baltic country, which I suppose is accurate as well. Not that these definitions really matter anyway.
agapon 7y ago
I still remember Skype before Microsoft. And Nokia before Microsoft :-)
ptr 7y ago
What's your point? The Nordics have a relatively high contribution of "innovations", higher than other countries that don't work "half the hours". Examples: Linux, Spotify, Unity, King, the radio base stations that your phone might be connected to, ...
- verttii 7y ago
  But even Linux was ultimately developed in USA. So was/is Unity. I don't know if Linux would've ever been the success it is had Linus Torvalds stayed in Finland developing it. I'd hope we would have a big list of recent examples of major innovations from the Nordics but unfortunately nearly all the major digital products or innovations seem to be decades old. I can't think of almost any globally really promising Finnish digital startup right now.
leftbrain 7y ago
> We use Google, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Apple - all American products. You say we use them now. But some of these companies are barely past their teenage years. Nokia as a company is around 150 years old, they didnt win fast and they are still in business (but not in the phone business) How long any of these current, not winners but ”winning it right now” last? Who knows. They are still young, but they will all fail or ceases to exist eventually and hopefully dont leave cities bankrupt behind them. Also, we all had instant messages, social networks (very small, geographically) etc. before these behemoths and now days globalism is getting some pushback around the globe, who knows how long and what markets they can later dominate.
- verttii 7y ago
  But on the other hand, any meaningful comparisons get harder and less relevant for us if we use a time span of the past 150 years. I don't know if it really even matters that much that most companies die eventually. They're still producing lots of value right now. While Nokia is certainly not doing particularly well nowadays despite having a long and partially very successful history. Edit: year

goatinaboat 7y ago

What does the USA do better exactly? Well, it seems crass to point this out, but NATO has a big presence in the Baltic states right now because you guys won’t invest in your own defence. So yeah, that is what they do.