I was on vacation to the US last week, and a few technology-related things stood out to me. One, the in-flight entertainment things aboard international Delta flights are absolutely terrible. Worst software I've ever used, and many of them were plain broken. iPads/Android tablets please, Delta. Second, there were more employees than customers in the Las Vegas Apple Store. Since there were a reasonable amount of customers, there were even more employees. It looked ridiculous. Are they all like that? Three, using a Windows Phone 8 device to mooch off an Apple Store's wifi is strangely satisfying. Four, there are a lot of technology commercials on US TV, and they are all corny as hell. Two iPads playing piano? Children holding a PowerPoint presentation to convince their parents to switch mobile plans? Seriously? Is this what this industry has come to? Five, it's pretty clear iPads and iPhones are way, way, way more popular in the US than in The Netherlands. You see them everywhere, and people display them so openly. It was jarring. In The Netherlands, I always feel as if people are ashamed to take devices out of their pockets in the first place. No wonder US-based writers like Gruber and Arment think Apple dominates everything - if you rarely leave the US, it seems as if they do! Six, and this is not technology related at all but I want to get it off my chest because us Europeans could learn a thing or two from it: Americans are the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I knew this from my existing American friends and from my previous trip to the US (Texas, ten years ago), but it bears repeating. Open, interested, kind, helpful, considerate, and nice. Not exactly qualities I'd ascribe to most of my fellow countrymen. Alright, as you were!
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Member since:2005-11-13
Do all the Dutch feel this way as well? I hope to make it over to Amsterdam one day and do some window shopping
Member since:2007-03-26
I was there just a few months ago and like anywhere else touristy, you get friendly people and those who just tolerate tourists.
However I find even some of the colder people are pleasant enough if you're friendly and at least try a little to embrace their culture and language. (nobody expects tourists to be fluent in the hosts languages, but speaking English louder and slower, as if the recipient is an idiot, is not going to win an favours either!)
Member since:2009-03-27
Haven't been to the Netherlands, but when I went to Italy I was struck by the "difference in public behavior", to put it diplomatically. Having my feet in two of the most polite and hospitable cultures in the world (American and Turkish), it was almost enough to ruin my trip. I'm not sure where the "rude American tourist" stereotype comes from at all, it seems quite the opposite in my limited experience!
Member since:1997-10-01
I think the stereotype is more like "loud and uncouth" American tourist, which would certainly apply to some, but not all. In places where the American visitors tend to be more provincial and less worldly, such as Caribbean and Mexican beach destinations, I can see that stereotype playing out. But hey, we're human beings, and we love to divide people into categories and make generalizations.
Member since:2012-12-01
Exactly.
I went to Paris a few years ago (fall of 2008), and it was great, even as an American. Just be polite, and at least learn how to ask if they speak English in French. And how to say a few words here and there. You'll get credit for trying, and you'll be fine - they're not going to want to speak French with you anyways, and will switch to English 
My neighbors who went the previous summer, and the friend who went with me, did not do so well. Would just walk up to people and start asking questions in English (rolls eyes). Did better than me in Rome, though. The people were nice to me, and the food was great, but the chaos and old rocks just got to me after a while.
Member since:2005-10-18
When I was in Norway in May, I tried to revive my rusty Norwegian. The problem was, I needed people to talk slower to understand them, and I felt they preferred to switch to English once realized that I did not follow them at the normal pace of their speech. I did mostly succeed with the request "Can we continue in Norwegian, but a bit slower?", but felt some reluctance on their part.
Member since:2005-07-06
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Member since:
2005-06-29
Definitely. This is so important. As a tourist, you're a guest, so act like one. If you find something weird, keep it to yourself, and don't act all hoity-toity. Or, better yet, try to discuss the thing you find weird with a local to understand what's going on - most of the time, it's nothing.
And what always helps: do some effort to speak the local language - even if it's just hello, thank you, and where's the bathroom. As a Dutchman, nothing makes me happier than a foreign tourist trying to speak some Dutch.