Vacation in Italy (2)

Vacation in Italy (1)

The next night, I finally landed in Italy.

I visited Rome International Airport. I immediately went to the station of Roma Termini via underground.
The railway was a little similar to Tube in London.

I walked through the station to visit Naples. Actually, I intended to stay in Rome the first night. However, it was ruined by the delay of the airline.

It was midnight when I reached Naples.
Naples was not so dangerous than I had heard. Fortunately, I did not encounter any crimes.
But Naples city was dirty and fearful at night. Many garbages were on the road.

The next morning, I visited Spaccanapoli, a main street in the center of Naples.

Spaccanapoli was casual and had a warm atmosphere.
In a sunny day, many Naporitans dry their clothes on the windows.

I went into a church.

There was a sanctuary in the church.

The decorations were very sophisticated.

In contrast, a back street in Naples was dark.

I felt that Naples had multiple faces in it.

(To be continued.)

Vacation in Italy (1)

I went to Italy last week to enjoy summer vacation. An amazing and a little strange journey.

I visit Italy via Shanghai for cheaper airplane tickets. I stayed in Shanghai for a night.
The Shanghai international airport was gorgeously shining. The ceiling equipped a large amount of pillars.

I stayed at a hotel near the airport. The landscape in the window of the room was simple. I had not thought that Shanghai would be more than a place of instant stay.

The next morning, I went to a terminal at the Shanghai international airport. The windows of registration services were very crowded.

Then, I was surprised to be informed that I could not board the airplane due to over booking.
I knew that airlines often overbooked to maximize their income. However, it is for the first time for me to be rejected to board. Some other clients were also confused.

I had no choice to accept the compensation fee from the airline to abandon the boarding.
So, I had to stay for another night.

Nothing to do other than, I visited the Bund.

The Oriental Pearl Tower was very beautiful. This had been the tallest tower in Asia before Tokyo Sky tree was established.

I had as Xiaolongbao (eastern Chinese steamed bun) and some other Chinese cuisine. This is so called Dalongbao.　I pierced the skin with a straw to drink the soup. Quite delicious.

Some ships were floating with electric decorations.

I enjoyed the Shanghai night. But my journey to Italy had not begun...

(To be continued.)

Apple suffering from trade off between 5S and 5C

A new iPhone is coming.

TechRadar: Apple iPhone 5S officially launched as Cupertino's new flagship

Apple will release iPhone5S, a new flagship model of iPhone at Sep. 20, 2013. 5S has a faster CPU and more powerful battery than previous one. In addition, it equips fingerprint sensor to identify the owner quickly.

Furthermore, Apple introduces iPhone5C as an entry model. 5C includes five colored variations, as its name.

Unfortunately, this news resulted in a severe decline of reputation of Apple. Its stock price fell by 5% after the announcement of iPhone5C.

Los Angels Times: Apple's stock tumbles after company fails to deliver cheaper iPhone

Investors seem to be disappointed with Apple. There are 2 reasons for this.
First, a new iPhone did not make an innovation. Most of Apple lovers expects that Apple will offer some new dramatic change of our lives. Although iPhone5S is a good tool, it is not so different from previous ones, nor from Galaxy series by Samsung.
Second, iPhone5C was not so cheap enough to be spread in developing countries. It is possible that iPhone5C will damage the brand of iPhone without any compensation.

A few years ago, I read a book titled "Trade Off". It describes a dilemma between fidelity and convenience. A lot of episodes of companies which had failed to get both of them are written. According to the author, expensive goods and cheap commodities are ambivalent each other. The author recommends to aim at either gorgeous items or cheap tools.

Apple has been a company of fidelity. Mr. Steve Jobs and his colleagues offered unique products which other competitors could not follow. The image of products by Apple was expensive and extraordinary. In my memory, however, the price was gradually decreasing. Apple accomplished fidelity and convenience at the same time for a while. But it would not last long.

In contrast, NTT Docomo, the biggest provider of telecommunication will start to sell iPhone for the first time in Japan. The battle of providers will be ignited. It is an interesting situation.

PS4 and PS Vita TV, marketing by Sony

Sony Playstation 4 (PS4) is coming soon.

Tech Radar: PS4 release date, news and features

PS4 will be released in November 2013 at $399 in the US. The date of release may be determined to compete to Xbox one powered by Microsoft.

Play Station official magazine UK: PlayStation 4 release date confirmed – PS4 arrives November 15th in the US, 29th in the UK

The Inquirer: Xbox One will beat PS4 to market with 22 November UK release date

However, the launch of PS4 and Xbox one is delayed in Japan. The release date of PS4 is confirmed in Feb. 22, 2014.
Xbox made in the USA aside, it is shocking for Japanese to know that the release of PS4 by Sony is delayed even for 3 months. There seem to be some reasons.

First, Xbox one will not be launched in 2013 in Japan. So Sony need not hasten to release the competitive PS4.
Second, launch at the same time all over the world is quite tough.
Third, sales of PS4 will be successful in the USA, but not in Japan.
Fourth, softwares for PS4 are not enough prepared.

In addition, I am afraid that Sony will no more take care of Japan.
About Reader, an e-book reader, Sony had launched it in the US first in 2006. The Reader store service has begun since 2010 in Japan. However, I have not heard that the business is successful.
Perhaps Japan is not a fascinating market for Sony. Shrink of population in Japan must result in declining.

In the future, many companies will get out of Japan. The entertainment industry is one of the benchmarks. Good grief.

On the other hand, Sony published information about the PS Vita TV service.

KOTAKU: Introducing PS Vita...TV

This is a PS Vita compatible console, and also will be a competitor to Apple TV.
PS Vita TV will be launched in Japan in November 14. Sony is targeting to Japan for the sale of this new smart TV service.

I am quite interested in marketing strategy of Sony. However, I hesitate to buy one of these game consoles. There are lots of other games to play in my house. I will watch an eye in the battle between Sony and Microsoft for a while.

Anklet with GPS for forensic use

Today, I listened to a lecture about forensic mental health in the UK.

In the lecture, the professor referred to an item to administer the inpatients with mental disorders. It is an anklet with GPS. When a patient is released to outside of a secure hospital, the staffs attach this anklet to him. If he tries to escape from the observation of the hospital, the anklet sends an alert to a security company. So he is tracked to avoid accidents or crimes. This anklet also sends an alert when he gets rid of it.

This is an item of watching. One of the reasons for introducing this system was a case of recidivism of a patient who had escaped from the hospital.

These kinds of items cause a discussion regarding human rights. Is it ethical to keep watching on the patients who are potentially dangerous?

The professor emphasized that this device enabled to release the patients more frequently compared with the past. If there were no method to track the patients, we would hardly release them without an escort. Human resource is limited. It may result in prolonged term of hospitalization.

Ethical problem is quite important matter. However, we have to think about what is the most beneficial for the patients totally.

Todays lecture was very informative. I am thankful.

Cause does not mean responsibility

There are lots of accidents, conflicts, and tragedies in the world.
When an unpleasant event occurred, an investigation is performed to identify the cause of the result. The cause may be human error, structural problem, or just hard luck.
Identification of the cause will be very important to avoid recurrence of the same failure in the future.

However, it is a critical point about this.
The fact a certain person is the cause of the event does not mean that he/she is responsible for the event itself directly.
It is far different from the cause to the responsibility.

For example, imagine a case of child abuse by their parents.
Child abuse is an evil behavior. It cannot be acceptable regardless to the reason.

On the other hand, children with some developmental disabilities are likely to be abused. They cannot make a smile well. It is tough for them to make a claim with proper tone and expression. Therefore, most parents tend to feel some difficulties to nurture their children. Discommunication between the parents and their children makes their relationship worse. As a result, some parents show the force to their children to make them calm. It can be a beginning of physical punishment, or abuse.
In these cases, a developmental disability is one of the causes of child abuse, isn't it?

If so, is the child with developmental disability responsible for the abuse? Of course not!

It must be avoided to misunderstand the relation between cause and responsibility.
The parents should not abuse their children, no matter how they have difficulty.
On the other hand, to avoid the abuse, it is necessary to deal with the disability properly. It means that aid for the parents is essential.

A person who committed a crime is often blamed. He/she is responsible to face their crime. However, dealing with the true cause of the crime is indispensable for the prevention of recidivism.

In contrast, some people criticize the opinion that the victim has the cause of the crime to some extent. According to them, it is cruel to blame the victims after the accident.
Their opinion is ethical, but not rational.
When a woman was raped at midnight, the woman is completely innocent. She must not be blamed. Nonetheless, we should advise her, not to walk alone at midnight.

Which is the matter you mention, cause or responsibility? It is crucial.

Tokyo is the host of 2020 Olympic

The International Olympic Committee has decided that Tokyo would be the host of the 2020 Summer Olympic games. The voters chose Tokyo rather than two competitors, Madrid or Istanbul.

CNN: Tokyo to host 2020 Olympic Games

I am glad to see the result as a Japanese.
To be honest, I expected that this vote would be more close battle. Perhaps Tokyo was admired as a safe and convenient city.

The accident of Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant in 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami disaster might be a serious disadvantage for Tokyo to be chosen. Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan and Mr. Naoki Inose, Governor of Tokyo had attempted to cancel the negative image of this accident.

Some people in Japan criticize their statement about Fukushima.
First, Mr. Abe said that the radioactive water leaked from the power plant was so controlled that there was no anxiety of pollution of the Pacific Ocean. Actually, it is doubtful that the accident has been solved. We should make more and more effort to recover surroundings of Fukushima.
Second, Mr. Tsunekazu Takeda, the chairman of the Olympic Inviting Committee in Japan commented that Tokyo was far distant from Fukushima so Tokyo would be safe in Sep. 4. This statement was blamed. According to them, it is no matter how far from Fukushima to Tokyo, there is an accident. His comment was deemed as if he separated Fukushima from Japan.
The fact is that, Tokyo is safe. Though I live nearer to Fukushima than Tokyo, I dare not to evade. Nonetheless, I think his statement was a little reckless.

Anyway, Tokyo is chosen. It is our responsibility to make Japan more comfortable for foreigners.

(*sequel)