Hacker News Reader

I would definitely describe "putting two coins into a vending machine to receive a ticket to hand to someone in exchange for a tasty bowl of ramen" as more technically advanced than "table for two?...[waiting, waiting]...one ramen, please...[waiting, waiting]..."everything ok here?" "yes go away" [waiting waiting] ... "here's the bill"...[waiting waiting]..."have a nice night"

Advanced tech doesn't have to be high tech.

View on HN

Well no, it just seems completely bizarre and adds little value to the process in my experience and HO. (Still, happy to be corrected...)

When just arrived in Tokyo for the first or second time and still feeling a bit nervous I went into an empty noodle place and was completely lost until the cook put down what he was doing and in utterly perfect English walked me through the whole process...

The country is a very very strange mix of advanced and retardedly old tech.

You can get hot drinks from bending machines in the middle of nowhere and just have to input a phone number in the GPS to be guided to a ryokan deep in the mountains of Akita, but kerosene heaters are almost universal (central heating is not a thing outside of large/business hotels) and many businesses require fax or physical stamps.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com