My 80 years old mother in Japan says, “I am not good at the system these days”. Therefore, I help her with this and that every day. But rather, “Isn’t IT system not working well in Japan?” I think.
People fighting against the mysterious original machine
Here and there in Japan, I have seen scenes of “people fighting with weird, original machines.”
When I parked at a roadside restaurant, I found the system of taking a parking ticket and paying for it bizarre. First, you need to memorize your parking number, enter it into the “unique and mysterious machine” before entering the restaurant, and print out a ticket. After eating, you show this ticket to the cashier, and they give you another “ticket.” Before leaving, you “scan” that ticket into the “machine”, but the problem is ….this “scan” does not work!
It caused a long queue in front of the parking ticket machine. Two businessmen before me struggled to scan, but finally, they gave up halfway through and were at a loss. I was lucky and was able to get out after about three attempts.
I have seen this “take a piece of paper and scan it yourself” system in hospital payments, but it is quite a mystery.
Why can’t they apply the parking ticket system that works well in the existing one?
When I tried to dispose of my mother’s old computer, I found many companies that would buy them and even come to pick it up, which I thought was great, but the procedure was complicated.
First, she had to “register” as a member, but the “password” requirement was so strict. They don’t accept Google’s auto-generated password.
She had to create a new password which they demanded, even though I might never use it again, but after that, it took more than 30 minutes to “verify identity.” No longer could she make a copy of the driver’s license; s he had to take a picture of the face from here and there, but the image was immediately taken in error, and the error message “Please open your eyes” came up (of course her eyes were open though)?
After struggling, she was told, “Time has run out. Please start over from the beginning. I laughed because it was so hard. After repeating this several times, my mother said, “That’s enough”. It took more than an hour to get to the end. There were a lot of detailed notes on the last page, but I was already tired and skipped over them.
Why is Japanese Digital going in a mysterious direction?
Pattern 1 Worrying or protecting something too much and getting into trouble.
There is something strange about Japanese IT. As I wrote, I wonder if it is convenient or inconvenient. Perhaps, people might think “, we need to do Digital Transformation”! Perhaps, it results from people “trying hard to digitalize.”
When company employees think things through the “Japanese way,” it can be far from convenient.
It reminded me of Sony’s first “Network Walkman” in the 2000s. The “check-in” and “check-out” mechanisms for copyright management were so cumbersome that I found myself saying to myself while looking at the manual, “I cannot do this! “.
I remember being pissed off with the writer and saying, “What the hell is this? Compared to that, Apple’s iPod was so easy that I thought, This is no match for them.”
At the time, I remember Sony President Mr. Ando said, “While Sony is obeying the legal speed limit to protect its copyrights, Apple is blasting away at the speed limit.
I think the Japanese company was trying to protect “copyright” and was too careful to do so. …… (So, I wrote a pretty bad review and published it as is, and Sony did not get mad at me. I thought I was being open-minded).
However, this “too much protection of some right and therefore too much trouble” structure is still in place.
Pattern 2: Too much marketing?
When my mother went to a new dry-cleaning shop in our neighborhood, she was asked to fill out a form with her date of birth. She thought it was nonsense and stopped halfway through the process and went to an old-fashioned store. He laughed, “One of these days, I might even need your birth date to buy a single croquette. ……
When I went to get contact lenses, I was asked to install an app on my smartphone; then, they gave me a “membership number” that appeared on the app, and I registered for the service. After that, there were some contact lens sales, and at the end, I was told, “There is a two-hour wait at the ophthalmologist; what would you like to do?” I was gutted.
I thought about quitting and going home, but I had come this far …… and gave up and waited, but there were about 20 people in the waiting room and no place to stand. Then I returned, and it was sales again (this time something to use with the cleaning solution). I just wanted to buy contact lenses; why is this so complicated?
When I went to a tax accountant for a consultation, the first thing they did was give me an endless 30-minute presentation on why I needed to choose our tax office, which took about two hours in total.
The sales pitch was terrific because of the abundance of similar products.
Every time I was told, “This is a better deal,” “This is better because it will last longer afterward,” or “There are so many great things about being a member,” I would say, “No, I do not need that,” or “the cheapest one is fine,” and then I would hear “are you sure you do not want this?” They say things like, “You are missing out on such a great deal,” I inwardly think, “No, that product is almost the same, isn’t it?”
It makes a distance between me and the clerk.
The people who work there seem to have a hard time too!
My mother says, “I am too old to understand many things,” but I think it is not because of her but because there is too much competition and marketing is too “evolved.” and complicated.
I feel that Japanese digitalization’s “bad” design is creating people who are needlessly destructive digitally.
I have seen many apps in Malaysia with no manual (e.g., Grab). Effortless marketing like “Ada member kad? (Do you have a member card?).” I miss the (unwilling) exchanges of “tiada (no)” and “…… (mute)”.
No, Japan was like this in the past. Will Malaysia be like this when the marketing competition intensifies? Of course, Malaysia is not free of excessive marketing, but it is less extreme than Japan. Where and why did this happen in my home country? I wondered.
If young people want to experience “why and how digital is useful,” they should learn English, leave Japan once, and try Grab or Waze in Southeast Asia.
There is a world people in that country cannot see unless you do that.
The camera shop my mother contacted was excellent, and there was no complexity in Japanese digital systems. Just a phone call, and done! No Excessive “Digitization.” Like old those days…I love it. Oh my gosh….I am talking just like my mom!
Cheers!
