The Register: Country that still uses fax machines wants to lead the world on data standards at G7. https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/11/15/japan_g7_data_standards/
Who cares. It’s not like Kono is saying that Japan is currently leading the field
America and Germany still use fax machines. Together with Japan that makes up almost half of the G7.
> The minister added that thanks to Japan’s aging population, the country is losing half a million people every year – significantly affecting the workforce and making it all the more imperative to remove tasks from human hands where possible.
Wait a minute, how many of these folks are dying of old age while still employed?
Come to think of it though, there was an old fella who died of old age at my last company, he was only 70 something. He didn’t die at his desk, I heard that his wife called in to say that he wouldn’t be coming to work that morning, due to his having died. However, he was an exception, I think. Most of the other staff were somewhere between 20 and 60.
Were they really made fun of? From Kono’s own speech:
> “You probably have heard about our war on floppy disk or facsimile. Japan has been so good with analog technology from the 20th century,” said Kono. “I think we are lagging behind in digital transformation. We hope we can catch up with you soon.”
Freely admitting that they need to be better and catch up. Nothing wrong with that.
Fax machine use is nowhere near as common as The Register or OP seem to believe. I’ve lived and worked here for 4 years now and have neither sent nor received a fax once in all that time. And that’s with 2 years working for a big-four consulting firm and 2 years working for a Japanese multinational conglomerate.
In America you can use a check to buy a computer, so there’s that…
I’m not sure why still using fax machines is considered a sign of failing technology. I had to fax a document to the US recently because they wouldn’t accept a scanned copy sent by computer.
8 comments
Dunning-Kruger effect 🙂
Who cares. It’s not like Kono is saying that Japan is currently leading the field
America and Germany still use fax machines. Together with Japan that makes up almost half of the G7.
> The minister added that thanks to Japan’s aging population, the country is losing half a million people every year – significantly affecting the workforce and making it all the more imperative to remove tasks from human hands where possible.
Wait a minute, how many of these folks are dying of old age while still employed?
Come to think of it though, there was an old fella who died of old age at my last company, he was only 70 something. He didn’t die at his desk, I heard that his wife called in to say that he wouldn’t be coming to work that morning, due to his having died. However, he was an exception, I think. Most of the other staff were somewhere between 20 and 60.
Were they really made fun of? From Kono’s own speech:
> “You probably have heard about our war on floppy disk or facsimile. Japan has been so good with analog technology from the 20th century,” said Kono. “I think we are lagging behind in digital transformation. We hope we can catch up with you soon.”
Freely admitting that they need to be better and catch up. Nothing wrong with that.
Fax machine use is nowhere near as common as The Register or OP seem to believe. I’ve lived and worked here for 4 years now and have neither sent nor received a fax once in all that time. And that’s with 2 years working for a big-four consulting firm and 2 years working for a Japanese multinational conglomerate.
In America you can use a check to buy a computer, so there’s that…
I’m not sure why still using fax machines is considered a sign of failing technology. I had to fax a document to the US recently because they wouldn’t accept a scanned copy sent by computer.