A lot of basic things in Taiwan is a expensive luxury in Europe though. It’s going to touch 40 degrees here today, and most Italians do not have AC. It’s a luxury, and very expensive. Want a washing machine? Good luck buying a decent Japanese brand which are 3x the price in Taiwan. The European brands are shit. They can’t make technology here. I see technology being advertised that arrived to Taiwan and the rest of the world 10 years ago.
For example, Italy is still catching up on credit card technology. There’s a TV ad on for a credit card reader when the rest of the world is moving to other cashless technology.
Doing laundry was hell in Germany though… had to wash everything by hand because they charged more than 8 euros to wash it. I don’t know what the laundromat charge but it’s too expensive.
Funny thing is you probably waste more water hand washing clothes. Those horizontal washers supposedly use less water and electricity because both are very expensive in Europe.
Germany is still leading in technology and stuff that don’t break in many areas, maybe not the most efficient in production but definitely quality levels are pretty high.
Italy is still far behind in technology compared to Germany. Especially when not in the major cities, or Southern Italy.
As for credit card etc, well, even the beggars in South America have credit card wireless machines on the traffic light when they ask for money. No excuse not to give them a change anymore. In comparison, not long ago (and still in many establishments now) we have to carry money around in Taiwan if you want to buy even a mc Donald’s. Same is true for clothes, some expensive restaurants etc.
Italy is one of the more backwards European countries. In Scandinavia or the Netherlands you literally can’t do anything without a card or their contactless payment system on the phone. I hardly use cash in London either except in Chinatown.
Now their internet is a JOKE. GARBAGE. The shit 4G drives me crazy. Like what in the actual F. The connection plays dead in ALL crowded spaces. If you arrive at a festival or something late good luck finding your friends because your phone might as well be out of battery. The connection would also disappear at some super random spots, like Waterloo Bridge or a bus stop I use frequently. Suddenly no coverage for no reason.
I had better 4G connection in Alishan I’m not even kidding.
but seriously, northern italy is highly industrialized and resembles much more southern germany’s economy with many successful small/middle-sized companies than it does with the rest of italy
Just one thing to be fair with Italy: the northern part it is probably the richest area in Europe and one of the richest areas in the world.
If we take out the north as a group, and take only Lombardy, we are probably talking about the richest region in Europe per GDP.
The growth it had in the last 6-10 years has been remarkable.
It is true however that the rest of the country is extremely backwards and poorly managed.
