I just returned from a holiday in Japan, a country with a fascinating culture for electronics. My biggest takeaway is how mainstream gadgets are in Japan; unlike most other countries, there seems to be electronics stores at every corner, with average, everyday kind of people shopping there.
The first impression you get from visiting one is the barrage of colors and signs that beset you. Check out one below:
Last week on David Letterman, an anime character sang while a live band played. The audience watched in stunned silence. Check it out:
Meet Hatsune Miku, a make believe celebrity who (that) is hugely popular Japan. It sounds utterly crazy. Only in Japan right? But when you delve into its origin story, unbelievably, it makes sense.
Can videogames be a sport? There’s an article about the subject at The Verge that’s so-so reading, but this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. In my younger days, I was a decent Virtua Fighter player, having won a national tournament in the US. (That sounds better than it actually is, because the best US players are merely average in Japan and Korea, the meccas of Virtua Fighter players.)
I argue that videogames can and should be considered sports; but there are also fundamental reasons why it may never be an Olympic-worthy one.
Satya Nadella posted a mission-styled memo to Microsoft employees yesterday. There’s good stuff in there, and while Nadella writes in clear prose, he does use jargon and corporate speak that might make it difficult to read between the lines. So we will attempt to distill his words into plain speak. Here we go:
Our Worldview
I’ve been to every Echelon since it began, and the conference has changed a lot over that time. Everything is bigger, slicker, more polished. A reported 1700 attended the conference! There are more interesting people from a wider variety of backgrounds. Ideas are well researched and articulated. Start-ups pitch well and are better funded; you can say almost professional.
The tech scene’s maturation is unbelievable; like watching a child grow up into a young adult.
While so much of this is good, I have noticed two trends that while are not yet concerns, can easily be if we as a community are not careful.
THE CORNERPLAY 