Learn a word today!

Error message


Apparently, space works differently in trains in Japan

(Odd. I wrote this short bit back in April but forgot to actually click "publish". So here it is, very late.)

"Japanese trains are so crowded..." 

This article claims to quote a Japanese technology writer on the size merits of the new Apple Watch:


Huh? "Little space to use a smartphone"? No. Just... no. Who has ever claimed that there isn't room on a Japanese train to use a phone? The thing fits in the hand – which means if you have room for your hand on a train, you have room for a smartphone. And that, I suspect, is why almost every person in a crowded Japanese train car is using some sort of phone gadget.

Even sillier: Try mimicking "smart watch" operation right now (or play with your real one if you have one). Go ahead, try it. See how you now need two hands, instead of the one hand you use for a smartphone? That two-hand operation won't work while you're strap-hanging. And notice how, instead of just a single arm held in close to the body, keeping your smartphone-wielding hand held neatly in front of your face, you now need to jut your elbow out to view your watch? Yeah, that'll work well on a crowded train.

Whether the tech writer actually made the above comment about watches, or it's a fabrication or misquote, someone is trying way too hard to turn the Japanese train into a place that's so special, it even defies phones. No. It's just a train, people.


Add new comment


User login