Japan – the Land of Technology (but forget certain common ones)

                Everyone I know says that Japan is the land of technology. It’s very true that they have mastered some the art of convenience. If you’re in Tokyo, you can usually go 10 minutes in any direction and come across a convenience store. The trains are prompt and efficient. The toilets do indeed have buttons for music and a variety of functions I’m terrified to try.

                But they don’t have the same concept of Wi-Fi as the rest of the world. When the Japanese refer to Wi-fi, it usually means you can access the internet, but to actually use it you must log in through your Japanese internet provider. The only true exception is internet cafes. The country itself has just hopped into the 4G market, where a monthly 4G plan for one phone is around $100 a month. My university campus only has wi-fi available in certain classrooms (usually only a few in each building) or the loungers and for whatever reason, I’m only able to access the library’s e-resource website. Someone told me I need to go to the technology building and ask for access codes, but all the teachers just point me to the “wi-fi” hotspot and say I need to just use my Waseda ID, which doesn’t seem to work.

                They also don’t have the same ideas when it comes to computer efficiency. They use programs that aren’t designed for what they use them for. My prime example is a company I worked with briefly. They acknowledged that the system was confusing and difficult to use, but after listening to my suggestions, they haven’t changed a thing 3 weeks later.  I eventually just refused the project because I refused to work with such an inefficient system.

                They also love redundancy. The land of convenience enjoys making you sign your life away for an apartment – you have to sign about 10 times per packet and there are two.  I have a university ID, but it’s not used for everything. I need to have separate accounts for each University site.

                Where are the designers for this terrible system of systems? I understand the one-login-fits-all security problem, but we’re bloody students here. It’s not like we have copious amounts of important data that needs to be secured properly.