Stray Thoughts

Most American technology enthusiasts often look to East Asia (Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, etc.) in envy, for all the new and cool technologies and gadgets always seems to hit the region first, then on to Europe, then always to America very very last. Here are only some of the examples of the “truths” about the technological “superiority” (I guess, but not really) in this part of the world:

• 100Mbps Internet do really exist at an affordable price at personal homes. I have previously gotten download speeds of 15 MBps (read, megaBYTES per second). It took about 2 minutes to download an entire DVD-quality movie.
• I think Japan is developing 1Gbps internet now…. holy s@#*
• Cool Phones: Cool phones are always come out first in Korea. Did you know that the iPhone was NOT the first touch phone ever? *gasp! My mom has the Prada phone (which was RIDICULOUSLY expensive) which has full touch screen. Its variants are just coming out in the American market, sans the “Prada” marking.
• 3G technology (for those who don’t know, it’s a relatively speedy mobile technology) is widely used, allowing for fast mobile internet, developed 3D phone gaming, and…
• Mobile Video-Chat Phones. They are not too widely used, but they are well developed enough where it IS usable and have appeared on numerous soap operas and commercials.
• Wi-Bro which is a high-speed mobile internet for computers. It differs from the technology currently in America (like the Verizon/Sprint plugin card) that it can be used in high speeds (such as in a KTX train which goes up to 350 km/h) and offers high speeds
• 5G technology is in development for use in the next decade in Korea.
• Free Quality Online Games (for everyone). If you pay attention to the gaming industry outside America, you probably noticed a company called “Nexon” now trying to set a foothold in the American Market with games such as “Nexus” and “KartRider.” Many of those companies have existed in Korea free of charge (unless you want to get items which helps you win) for a long time and the gaming industry has developed that way. Of course, there are paid games too.

I actually don’t know many myths that exists about Asian technology, although I have been asked many years back in Hawaii by a classmate if internet actually existed in Korea

• Fast Internet ≠ Web 2.0 Korean internet has fallen behind America TREMENDOUSLY in the Web 2.0 market. Blogs are dominated by large internet portals such as Naver, and collaboration is almost nonexistent.

I actually don’t know what to add to the myths list… if you have a myth that you would like me to confirm or bust, comment and I’ll reply ASAP.

Tags: Korea, technology, East Asia, cell phones, phones, 3G, 5G, internet, fast internet, web 2.0, 100Mbps, 1Gbps, video chat phones, online games,

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

No related posts found!