I was searching through ebay tonight ( the best place in the world to shop! ) for a Toshiba Libretto, when it just suddenly hit me! I noticed the Libretto had a type L1, L2 and L3, then they skipped to L5!! I was just thinking that that’s seems like the same scenario with Sony’s TR series .... 1, 2, 3, then 5.

Could this just be a fluke? Coincidence? A display of mockery against Toshiba’s picturebook-look-alike from Sony? Or a growing Japanese trend?  :?:

-best,
Concura

28 July 2004

We addressed this already . (halfway down) It’s an eastern taboo.

lol, Drachen. Similar Subject, different topic.  8)

I was talking about the Libretto, not math. And definitely not about religion. But thanks for the link. The Libretto took on the Picturebook’s design very similarly, and seeing how the TR’s generation system took on the same number system as the Libretto, I was wondering if it was because of Toshiba or because of something else. While the above linked topic does prove quite a point, this is the first time I’ve seen a similarity between two laptops ( subportables ) have this similar generation system.

Of course, to complete the similarity, since the Libretto stopped at L5, if the TR was truly in every way mocking that, Sony would have to stop the TR series at TR5, too. Meaning, we can forecast that there will be no other future TRs made in the future.

Though unimportant, I thought it was just interesting to point out.  :wink:

-best,
Concura

28 July 2004

[quote author=“Concura”]lol, Drachen. Similar Subject, different topic.  8)

I was talking about the Libretto, not math. And definitely not about religion. But thanks for the link.

28 July 2004

Hmm… the point was that the number 4 in many eastern cultures is viewed as unlucky. Hence the reason why many skip this number. Libretto 1,2,3 and 5 or TR 1,2,3 and 5 are probably based on the same taboo. Like it or not, some people take this numerology stuff very seriously (like no 13th floor in many buildings

japan specifically, 4 is “shi”, whose chinese sounding equivalent (since kanji is chinese based and they sometimes use a chinese smiliar pronunciation for kanji in certain instances) is “shi”, which with the right intonation is “to die”. for this, many japanese now opt to use “yon” instead of “shi” for 4, although there are instances where “shi” must be used.

there is a similar situation with 7, shichi, which is also “nana”