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At least Japan has the capacity to launch satellites whereas the Brits failed to launch a small batch from an out of production Virgin Boeing 747 shortly after

At least Japan has the capacity to launch satellites whereas the Brits failed to launch a small batch from an out of production Virgin Boeing 747 shortly after SpaceX had launched over 50 then 100 satellites in one go. Although Jaxa's last attempt was a fail consistent with the Brits. What I couldn't understand was why Sony couldn't keep up with Apple's stellar hockey stick growth when it had the talent in hardware. Don't know about the software because Microsoft.

gkanai 4y ago
> What I couldn't understand was why Sony couldn't keep up with Apple's stellar hockey stick growth Apple's strength is it's software. Sony lost out because it could not compete with Apple's software.
- m0llusk 4y ago
  Apple started it's recent strong of successes with the iPod. That was a device built around a cutting edge hard drive. Apple did well at choosing features, but iPod software was all contracted out. The hard drive was it's most important feature and Apple locked that on by buying all of the units Toshiba could produce before most had even heard about it.
drumhead 4y ago
Britain gave up it's independent launch system program partly because it was part of the ESA and partly because it bought Polaris/Trident from the US. Virgin Space is actually a US company not a British one, but their launch system is cheap and definitely worth persevering with.
smcl 4y ago
This isn’t an article saying “Japan sucks, Britain is the best!”. It is saying that Japan appears to have encountered some social and economic problems a few years ahead of the rest of the developed world.
LatteLazy 4y ago
All of the tech in (say) the iPhone was already in use elsewhere. Apple's great success was (1) bringing it all together and (2) selling consumers on one great leap forwards. That's where Apple beats the likes of Sony: Not in incremental improvements but in creating new product categories and marketing them so that 100m+ consumers want one on launch day.
- actionfromafar 4y ago
  Sony used to be like that.
  - anigbrowl 4y ago
    Indeed. I remember having a slimline Sony Walkman in the late 1980s and people in London asking to buy it from me. Not friends, complete strangers like store proprietors who had a 'wow' reaction and made an offer on the spot.

gkanai 4y ago

> What I couldn't understand was why Sony couldn't keep up with Apple's stellar hockey stick growth Apple's strength is it's software. Sony lost out because it could not compete with Apple's software.

m0llusk 4y ago
Apple started it's recent strong of successes with the iPod. That was a device built around a cutting edge hard drive. Apple did well at choosing features, but iPod software was all contracted out. The hard drive was it's most important feature and Apple locked that on by buying all of the units Toshiba could produce before most had even heard about it.

drumhead 4y ago

Britain gave up it's independent launch system program partly because it was part of the ESA and partly because it bought Polaris/Trident from the US. Virgin Space is actually a US company not a British one, but their launch system is cheap and definitely worth persevering with.

smcl 4y ago

This isn’t an article saying “Japan sucks, Britain is the best!”. It is saying that Japan appears to have encountered some social and economic problems a few years ahead of the rest of the developed world.

LatteLazy 4y ago

All of the tech in (say) the iPhone was already in use elsewhere. Apple's great success was (1) bringing it all together and (2) selling consumers on one great leap forwards. That's where Apple beats the likes of Sony: Not in incremental improvements but in creating new product categories and marketing them so that 100m+ consumers want one on launch day.

actionfromafar 4y ago
Sony used to be like that.
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  Indeed. I remember having a slimline Sony Walkman in the late 1980s and people in London asking to buy it from me. Not friends, complete strangers like store proprietors who had a 'wow' reaction and made an offer on the spot.