Same Same

24/05/11 For those who haven’t been there Bic camera is a electronics superstore. 8 floors of consumer electronics plus many other things like sports equipment and children's toys. Glenn is the perfect consumer. He’s a guy who’s got to have the latest and greatest when it comes to electronics. 50 inch plasma TV, PSP, Xbox, Iphone, Ipad, Ipod.......hes got the lot. I thought he would make a big splash out on something but after carefully considering prices here with the same at home, he pronounced that the difference is so minimal as to be not worth it. I guess that’s globalization for you. When I bought my first ipod in 2002 it was half the price in Japan when compared to home. Now it seems everything is the same price everywhere. Bigger markets get better prices due to bulk purchasing power but not by much so when you factor in the cost of shipping its very marginal. Same stuff, same price everywhere you go. The world is not as interesting as it was when you’re talking about buying stuff. But then there are some glaring exceptions. Why is it so hard to get roll on deodorant in Japan? Why can’t you get salt and vinegar chips either? This afternoon I was reunited with the Kei truck. Unfortunately in my absence, my sweet Toyota Nav system that I had butchered the dashboard to fit has been swapped for a totally useless, impractical, user unfriendly "English" system. Why can't they make a logical, useable nav system in English? Surely it can't be that hard. Luckily I don't need it as I can pretty much figure out my way around the Osaka Highway system by now. Big Dave was a little apprehensive about travelling at 100km/h in such a small vehicle with little to no frontal impact protection. By the time we reached Kameoka he pronounced me a madman for my sporting driving style. With only 660cc on tap theres only one way to drive these things...flat out!