Things that stood out to me about technology in the US
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 1st Dec 2012 09:05 UTC
OSNews, Generic OSes 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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WorknMan
Member since:
2005-11-13

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.


Do all the Dutch feel this way as well? I hope to make it over to Amsterdam one day and do some window shopping ;)

Reply Parent Score: 3

Laurence 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!)

Reply Parent Score: 2