The Japan Airlines Flight #006 departed Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Japan exactly on time and landed in New York at John F Kennedy airport exactly on time. Upon taking off, the Boeing 747-400 headed north east, crossed the International Date Line, and a huge arc toward the top of the world and then south through Canada, across the Great Lakes, and on the east coast of America. Once again, the JAL crew made the passengers feel that they truly enjoyed serving. Upon leaving the airplane each crew member bowed and smiled to express their appreciation for having been able to serve. That is what I like about traveling to and visiting in Asia — things just work the way they are supposed to, and the people are so polite and respectful.
It was a productive week with many discussions about trends and directions of the IT industry — l certainly learned a lot and am grateful for the new friendships I was able to make. It was good to see that the Japanese economy is picking up after such a long recession. As always in Japan, technology is at the leading edge of the recovery. Like Korea, significant broadband capability is changing how people think and how they act. When the average person in a country has ten or more megabits per second of Internet connectivity, their perspective and their propensities change. This is very good for e-business — if those e-businesses become "on demand".
Historical note: My first of many trips to Japan was a dozen years ago in early April 1992, just as we were launching the first ThinkPad. Since then, more than twenty million ThinkPads have been sold.