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By the way, the article isn't so much about the fax machine as about the Japanese belief that they were technologically leading the world (read it). I don't ha

By the way, the article isn't so much about the fax machine as about the Japanese belief that they were technologically leading the world (read it). I don't have a strong opinion about whether they were / continue to lead in tech, but I do have a strong belief that Japan and its general culture does lend itself to a much stronger valuing of conscientiousness in work and doing things well / fully / to the best. Maybe that's a bit of cultural myth of course, which the Japanese benefit from propagating. (All the movies, mentions of people who take decades to perfect their craft; even small everyday jobs being done well; things on time; everyone polite, considerate, etc) But there definitely is something about what attentiveness to detail can achieve, when allowed to happen by emphasis of culture or the work at hand. I don't know if I or anyone I work with every gets to be conscientious about doing something really well and to high competence. It seems that everything I'm involved in is "let's try it and see whether it works" and then give up and move onto the next thing. Or "well, good enough". Which is good for some purposes and ends, but not good for developing a decades-long expertise, deep expertise and wisdom, about doing things.

PakG1 3y ago
This is an interesting comment. I once took an exchange course at Oxford regarding the history of business. One of the professor's lectures was on innovative edge and the issues it brings. He brought up various examples in history, but his most notable one was from Japan. Japanese swords were hardcore the best of the best. When foreigners first came to Japan, Japan laughed at their weaponry. Japan believed it had the pinnacle of weaponry and they were right for the most part, especially when it came to sword combat. But even the projectile weaponry that the foreigners brought also sucked in terms of operational reality. The Japanese sat confidently atop their mountain of sophistication. Then many many years later, foreigners came again, this time with more effective ships, cannons, guns, etc. The Japanese sword meant nothing in that context because the new weapons changed the rules of battle. It's interesting that Japan may keep experiencing this as a cultural phenomenon. On the one hand, there is beauty in seeking perfection in something, achieving it, and being satisfied with it. On the other hand, there is the risk of getting blindsided by a third party's innovation. Interestingly enough, after many years of 20-20 hindsight, the achievement of and satisfaction with perfection may be a more sustainable attitude than constantly trying to innovate. It's probably better for society and better for the environment. But humanity doesn't move forward if not for the innovation that breaks the rules. You probably want both in the world and constant tension between the two in order for the world because on their own, they probably both have issues.
mattl 3y ago
Japanese hardware is usually up there with Apple in terms of quality. In my area, miniature modeling, Japanese tools and products are superior and cheaper than western alternatives from companies like Games Workshop
pasabagi 3y ago
My guess is that it's mostly economics, not culture. Japan has lifetime employment (you generally work at the same firm until you die) so a lot of the incentives for quick, flashy, shoddy work are not there. Second, they have a export economy with a high-value currency. That means that they can only compete on the very high end of the quality scale. Third, they are right next door to China, and the one area where Japan is sort of leading the world (robotics) makes sense when China is your biggest export market. I feel like japanese culture is pretty willing to take big bets - the whole AI (FGCS)thing in the 80's is an example.
eternityforest 3y ago
It seems like, at least to an outside observer, Japan and Germany are very good at high precision, high quality stuff. Not necessarily the style I'd want for most items though. China seems to good at defect tolerant, mass producible, hard to break because it's squishy plastic, everything done in software, kind of work, which is my preferred style. America seems to be way behind because all our stuff is heavy. We want stuff to have "A nice weight to it", we'll use wood and steel and cast iron, we make stuff big and bulky and simple and leave the tech to everyone else. We do seem to be pretty good at stuff that needs a ton of paperwork proving it was made a certain way, but half the time "Made in America" seems to mean "Made like it's 1950, with a lot of skill and good materials, but low tech and expensive". All except a few bits of high tech that we seem to do really well on, like CPUs. But that's just what I gather from consumer stuff, I'm sure people who work in more specialized fields notice other patterns.
- jdlshore 3y ago
  America may be behind on physical consumer goods, but we dominate in virtual goods—software, music, and movies/TV.

PakG1 3y ago

This is an interesting comment. I once took an exchange course at Oxford regarding the history of business. One of the professor's lectures was on innovative edge and the issues it brings. He brought up various examples in history, but his most notable one was from Japan. Japanese swords were hardcore the best of the best. When foreigners first came to Japan, Japan laughed at their weaponry. Japan believed it had the pinnacle of weaponry and they were right for the most part, especially when it came to sword combat. But even the projectile weaponry that the foreigners brought also sucked in terms of operational reality. The Japanese sat confidently atop their mountain of sophistication. Then many many years later, foreigners came again, this time with more effective ships, cannons, guns, etc. The Japanese sword meant nothing in that context because the new weapons changed the rules of battle. It's interesting that Japan may keep experiencing this as a cultural phenomenon. On the one hand, there is beauty in seeking perfection in something, achieving it, and being satisfied with it. On the other hand, there is the risk of getting blindsided by a third party's innovation. Interestingly enough, after many years of 20-20 hindsight, the achievement of and satisfaction with perfection may be a more sustainable attitude than constantly trying to innovate. It's probably better for society and better for the environment. But humanity doesn't move forward if not for the innovation that breaks the rules. You probably want both in the world and constant tension between the two in order for the world because on their own, they probably both have issues.

mattl 3y ago

Japanese hardware is usually up there with Apple in terms of quality. In my area, miniature modeling, Japanese tools and products are superior and cheaper than western alternatives from companies like Games Workshop

pasabagi 3y ago

My guess is that it's mostly economics, not culture. Japan has lifetime employment (you generally work at the same firm until you die) so a lot of the incentives for quick, flashy, shoddy work are not there. Second, they have a export economy with a high-value currency. That means that they can only compete on the very high end of the quality scale. Third, they are right next door to China, and the one area where Japan is sort of leading the world (robotics) makes sense when China is your biggest export market. I feel like japanese culture is pretty willing to take big bets - the whole AI (FGCS)thing in the 80's is an example.

eternityforest 3y ago

It seems like, at least to an outside observer, Japan and Germany are very good at high precision, high quality stuff. Not necessarily the style I'd want for most items though. China seems to good at defect tolerant, mass producible, hard to break because it's squishy plastic, everything done in software, kind of work, which is my preferred style. America seems to be way behind because all our stuff is heavy. We want stuff to have "A nice weight to it", we'll use wood and steel and cast iron, we make stuff big and bulky and simple and leave the tech to everyone else. We do seem to be pretty good at stuff that needs a ton of paperwork proving it was made a certain way, but half the time "Made in America" seems to mean "Made like it's 1950, with a lot of skill and good materials, but low tech and expensive". All except a few bits of high tech that we seem to do really well on, like CPUs. But that's just what I gather from consumer stuff, I'm sure people who work in more specialized fields notice other patterns.

jdlshore 3y ago
America may be behind on physical consumer goods, but we dominate in virtual goods—software, music, and movies/TV.