What's some amazing technology they have in Japan that's very normal to them but would blow our minds here in the US and western world?

egitalian@lemm.ee to Ask Lemmy@lemmy.world – 220 points –
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Automated underground bike storage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcZSU40RBrg

It'd be cool if they had those here but I swear we have enough idiots that would try to get in for shits and giggles and maim themselves

We can't have a lot of things because that 1% is fucking morons.

Everything from clean public bathrooms to high end vending machines.

US here... it has less to do with the 1% being fucking morons and more to do with the only infrastructure we actually pay any attention to is cars. Sure we're having a bit of a bicycle revolution but at least in my area the bikes aren't being used for transport but for fun, but then that's with a metro that's sprawling with a city that's only 100 sq miles smaller than NYC, with 8,000,000 less people in it. Add that the auto companies were allowed to buy out things like the streetcar that was local and able to tear up the tracks to get rid of competition, it really isn't a shocker.

But we're now stuck in a cyclical spiral, of no investment for things like this are happening because it's not seen as profitable enough. Which means a constant problem of using something like a bike for commuting is "But then I have nowhere I can put my bike where it won't get fucked with." so people don't commute with it, which leads to no investment to the infrastructure.

Dunno how to fix it. It just sucks.

Don't forget privacy in toilet stalls - I've seen the huge gaps in doors in the US.

You could put giant billboards warning for the risk and it would still become a recurring event. Even if it said "warning: this is capable of grinding a human being to pulp".

I'd imagine it's got weight and pressure sensors, so I don't think a person would get very far. I can definitely see the mechanism getting jammed by garbage or some shit, especially if someone's trying to jam it.