Japanese Tourism

Good piece in the Informed Reader here, on why Japan attracts so few tourists.
The original BusinessWeek article, and Pollack, seem to buy the claim that its

partly because with an export-driven economy, the country has invested far
less in its tourism infrastructure than many other nations

While potentially true, I think that Japan has invested far less in tourism infrastructure because they dont care. Japan, in my view, has always been one of the most xenophobic and racist cultures in the world, and my impression is that the Japanese dont really want foreigners to come and visit.

Obviously this is inflammatory, and a broad painting of an entire people. I dont claim to imply that this applies to individuals, only to the country as a whole (we are talking macro-level here).

iPhone coming to a country near you?

Finally it appears that Apple and AT&T's unwise bid at a monopoly over iPhone use has been undermined. A 17-year old new Jersey kid, collaborating with 4 online strangers, figured out how to unlock his iPhone and is now using it on T-Mobile:

George Hotz, 17, confirmed Friday that he had unlocked an iPhone and was using it on T-Mobile’s network, the only major U.S. carrier apart from AT&T that is compatible with the iPhone’s cellular technology. While the possibility of switching from AT&T to T-Mobile may not be a major development for U.S. consumers, it opens up the iPhone for use on the networks of overseas carriers.

In a classic collaborative open-source screw-the-corporation mindset, Hotz made a video of how to crack your phone and posted it on his blog.

Since the details are public, it seems likely that a small industry may spring
up to buy U.S. iPhones, unlock them and send them overseas.
“That’s exactly, like, what I don’t want,” Hotz said. “I don’t want people making money off this.”He said he wished he could make the instructions simpler, so users
could modify the phones themselves.“But that’s the simplest I could make them,” Hotz said.

Amusing, always amusing, to see an individual (minor no less!) stick their finger in the eye of big corporations. Especially because I think the Apple-AT&T agreement was fundamentally a bad move for Apple (it is the exact opposite of Web2.0 and the entire collaborative ethos that Apple is trying to foster).

Couple of questions....what exactly is the legal agreement covering iPhone use with AT&T? If the terms of use that comes with the iPhone specifically prohibits you from using the device with any provider other than AT&T, this will have no impact on US dynamics, only in international markets.

However, what could be interesting is that AT&T may be forced to compete (the horror!). Considering that the vast majority of complaints since iPhone launch have been about AT&T (see this story about a $4k bill), this could be good for everyone (except AT&T).

Hilarious banned commercial:

Ridiculous person alert

Via Tracy at FRAUDfiles comes this hilarious story.

A guy got convicted for voting twice in the 2006 elections. The kicker, however, is that he tried to defend himself by saying he forgot!!!! Most commentators have neatly dissembled this argument, and I think I'm prepared to take it as given that he deliberately voted twice. In an era when far less than half of the electoral body actually votes, shouldn't we be lauding someone who tried to vote twice?

Or maybe just expelling them from the gene pool.

Why I shouldn't be rejoicing at Britney and Lohan's misery

because it can get much, much worse. Lainey's right that:

It is heartbreaking. And decidedly different from the almost absurd, circus-like scandal surrounding the Britneys and the Lilos.
Amy’s situation is so much more… authentic.