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August 8, 2007 |

I just returned from two weeks of traveling in Europe (Germany, Netherlands and Spain). Good times.

I haven’t caught up with what has happened in the tech world since, but at first glance, nothing too dramatic seems to have happened.

Here are a few observations from my travels:

  • The iPod doesn’t have close to the marker share in Europe as in the US. I saw lots of people with players I had never seen before and a lot of people using the cell-phones.
  • Pretty much every phone store I saw was selling unlocked phones. Pre-paid phones seems to be more popular in Europe than the US as well.
  • Public transport in the cities is great. But medium and long distance train travel has gotten way too expensive.
  • Airline travel in Europe is just as much of a hassle as it is in the US, but thanks to Ryanair, EasyJet, and half a million other airlines even this airline geek had never heard of, it is dirt cheap.
  • While the quality of life seems to be higher (my friends in Spain only work till 2:30pm in the summer), I am not sure I could live in any of the Germanic states anymore. Too many rules, little flexibility. Now Spain, that could be an option.
  • Everything in Europe today seems to be guided by only one thing: environmental concerns, but it sure isn’t making life easier.

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