<font color=skyblue>My wife called from Alabama where she is attending a business trip seminar, and one of the speakers went on a tangent about how poorly the US is doing with getting up to speed with technology with the rest of the world, especially in the Far East. Here is some of what she said the speaker told the class is out there.

South Korea is more technology-advanced than the US, and there is so much technology there, there exists between 30-40 organizations to help people who have video game addiction...and these people can take online gaming anywhere they go.

Three years ago, the speaker attended a workshop where he was introduced to a HD television set that was basically a fully-interactive computer. The workshop instructor showed the class how he could watch a show which starred a guy wearing a tie, click on the tie that the guy on TV was wearing because he liked it, and that same-looking tie show up at the door the very next day, bought and paid for...and all he did was click the dang thing. Everything else was handled from there without his needing to do anything else.

He also mentioned that Asian countries have high-speed internet which makes the US look like we're still using Dial-up speeds...and they only pay at most $10US for it, while I personally pay $45 for cable.

Why does the US suck so bad these days?
We used to have something to brag about.</font>

Mwah....there's still the USAF, who can parry that ?

<font color=skyblue>Okay...you got me there...but why the freak are we not using them to kill people with? Instead, we send people on the ground to run around and play Mr. Target of the day. I love me some USAF...I just wish they did not smell like old, dusty grandma's house. </font>

<font color=8fbc8f>So that is where the $18K went in the CC case study we summerized in my "Marketing" class.</font>

Using the USAF because a bunch of Koreans have faster internetconnection ? :D

the U.S. is not necessarily behind in technology...only in certain areas. Check <a href = "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6064620.stm">this</a> cool thing out.

well south korea was lucky having to start from scratch after the war to build thier infrastructure. so its prety well planned out. my 2c. not other asian countries are lucky as south korea and japan you know.

We know, lets just hope their neighbours' envy doesn't turn into hatred.

The US may be behind in comparison to some places, but you could be much worse off.

Australia is miles behind the US when it comes to some things.

That's why we're working together, no ? Share technology, ideas, and whatnot ? I can't imagine in what things Australia would be behind the US, except for military technology, name me some if you can.

I dunno, I don't really think we're that far behind. It may honestly be a different lifestyle approach. The US is a very active-lifestyle oriented place, even if we are pretty chubby these days ;)

Plus, it's a lot harder to coordinate things amongst the layers of government that are set in place to govern 300 million people. Some places are more tech-oriented than others. Plus...we sure as crap have to lay down more wires and build more cellular towers than South Korea does...

...and we're busy launching satellites for, y'know, South Korea, Japan, Europe's communication infrastructure.

<font color=skyblue>As a side story to back my original post that there is a problem with gaming addiction in the East...here's a story out of China.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/interne...eut/index.html

A 26 year old man died in China after having played online games for nearly all of a 7-day vacation.

Also, 2.6 Million (13%) of 20 million teenagers under the age of 18 are classified as gaming addicts. </font>

Larry: Don't trust the Chinese figures, they send people to be "cured of addiction" at special centers because they spread dissident messages or figure out how to break the government's censorship on their internet access.

Mostly this "treatment" seems to consist of things that are essentially the same as torture.

Johnny: I really doubt they have to worry. South Korea and Japan are probably the two of the safest countries in the world, militarily. If either was to be invaded, it would have to be a sea invasion(Assuming that North Korea isn't going to invade South Korea, which I think we safely can, jealousy is extremely impossible to happen there since the citizens know nothing of the outside world and the leadership is convinced of it's own superiority.), and a sea invasion of a modern nation would be the same as a massacre of the invading forces. The only way to really take them down would be some sort of artillery barrage, but both of them are tight with the US who can probably rain down a more high-tech barrage than anyone else. Whoever launched an all-out assault, attempting either invasion or termination, would have to be ready for MAD.

Ilander: NASA does not have a monopoly on space access. The ESA has a launch facility in French Guyana, Russia has a launch facility in Kazakhstan, Japan also has the Tanegashima Space Center(On Tanegashima Island), India has three launch facilities(Thumba, Shriharikota and Balasore.) and for the moment I cannot recall where China has it's launch facility. I have not dug up the exact details on all launches, but I do know that the most advanced European communications satellite currently in orbit was an ESA launch.

[ 03-01-2007, 02:06 PM: Message edited by: PurpleXVI ]