A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry? • Hacker News Board

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#11

Post by rippercushions » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 6:55 AM UTC

I don't disagree with much of the story, but there are other factors too. A big one is that due to the complexity of the Japanese writing system, PCs never went mainstream: the older generations survived with handwriting, faxes and dedicated word processors, and the newer ones jumped right to mobile phones, meaning the PC hacking generation of the 70s and 80s that kicked off the dot-com boom was much smaller than in the West. Plus you had the usual Galapagos problem of Japanese computers being incompatible with the rest of the world (MSX, PC-98, DOS/V etc).

I'm also much less optimistic than the author about the future of the Japanese software industry. Mobile dev in particular is massive across Asia and Japan has no competitive advantage over (say) China, Vietnam, Korea, Indonesia etc here.

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#12

Post by idiocratic » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 6:56 AM UTC

So many parallels with the Italian software industry. Plagued by low pay, clerical work and system integrators monopolising the entire industry for decades. I also see cloud computing and Silicon Valley glamour as the turning point for the industry.

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#13

Post by suction » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 6:58 AM UTC

Firmwarrior wrote: post #9

Thanks for this. I'm probably going to have to move back to Japan soon, since the wife is from there and can't handle living in the USA Rather than take an 80% pay cut to partake in the salaryman lifestyle, I'm going to have to start some sort of business. This podcast should have some relevant info, haha

Could you elaborate a little on why she can’t handle living in the US?

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#14

Post by dchftcs » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 6:59 AM UTC

Start reading from "How this mess started". You're welcome.

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#15

Post by rippercushions » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 6:59 AM UTC

Firmwarrior wrote: post #9

Thanks for this. I'm probably going to have to move back to Japan soon, since the wife is from there and can't handle living in the USA Rather than take an 80% pay cut to partake in the salaryman lifestyle, I'm going to have to start some sort of business. This podcast should have some relevant info, haha

Join a Western company's Japanese branch, both pay and working conditions will be much better.

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#16

Post by post-it » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 7:00 AM UTC

> If you want details and debate about exactly how Japanese software falls short, or if you just in the mood for some good old-fashioned venting about being forced to use it, check out Reddit or maybe Hacker News.

Anyone have some good links to examples?

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#17

Post by boomboomsubban » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 7:01 AM UTC

tyiz wrote: post #4

What a wall of text. Please add a TL;DR

In the 80's, the old entrenched conglomerates decided it'd be easier and more profitable to expand their hardware divisions than invest in a new unproven software market.

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#18

Post by mihaaly » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 7:03 AM UTC

For those reading comments first the story starts in the third paragraph.

It could only me but the way it is written obstructs the consumption of the content. Two long paragraph went on before started to talk about the actual topic, after elaborating about how much the author worked and work on it and what is not going to talk about in a stage entertainer kind of inflated manner (the comment "I am not going to waste your time" is ironic then). It kind of derails the focus from the content in my opinion.

Edit: the story is pretty interesting btw.

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#19

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 7:05 AM UTC

mihaaly wrote: post #18

For those reading comments first the story starts in the third paragraph. It could only me but the way it is written obstructs the consumption of the content. Two long paragraph went on before started to talk about the actual topic, after elaborating about how much the author worked and work on it and what is not going to talk about in a stage entertainer kind of inflated manner (the comment "I am not going to waste…

[deleted]

Re: A mistake that killed Japan’s software industry?

#20

Post by fexecve » Tue, Jan 10, 2023, 7:06 AM UTC

I disagree with everything in this article post-2000. There were no "software gatekeepers" preventing Japanese software from flourishing on the PC or Mac. I'm not sure what the author is talking about there.

So there's still the unexplained question of why Japanese software is still bad, in 2023. And I think the answer is the language barrier. Windows and Mac dominate the world's computer systems, and the development tools for those environments are English-centric. The translations are lacking or no existent. The struggle of a Japanese developer to make an app is greater than that of a primarily English-speaking developer.

Also, outside of USA/China/India, software developers are still not given much respect or seen as equal to say, mechanical engineers or electrical engineers. So there's little reason for Japanese students to major in software.