![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
30 back issues of Mangajin which may be of interest to anyone interested in the intersection between the otaku culture of the 90s and the "Let's all learn Japanese because the economy!" culture of the 80s. Also, they have "What's Michael" and "Yawara!" which are great if you like cats or women who do judo. (Yes, and yes.)
At random, I picked out issue 28, which proudly reviewed 4 applications that would let you input Japanese on your computer. Three cost between $50 and $100; the fourth, JWP, was freeware, but Mangajin helpfully pointed out that the three-hour download on a 2400-baud modem would actually cost you quite a bit of money.
I think I had NJStar for a really long time and just didn't ever pay for it. Sorry, guys.
Now? I can set up Japanese support on Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu for free, in less than ten minutes. And I find it weird just how quickly and completely I've come to accept this as an "Oh, sure, of COURSE I can" kind of thing -- I didn't even remember all the time I spent trying to download new programs and tinker with them just to get them working.
(Mangajin also helpfully notes that JWP doesn't come with a help file, and sometimes you have to modify the jwp.ini file to even get it to run. Keep in mind my technical sophistication at the time was limited to figuring out how to change the directory in DOS so I could play a game off the CD-ROM.)
At random, I picked out issue 28, which proudly reviewed 4 applications that would let you input Japanese on your computer. Three cost between $50 and $100; the fourth, JWP, was freeware, but Mangajin helpfully pointed out that the three-hour download on a 2400-baud modem would actually cost you quite a bit of money.
I think I had NJStar for a really long time and just didn't ever pay for it. Sorry, guys.
Now? I can set up Japanese support on Windows, Mac, and Ubuntu for free, in less than ten minutes. And I find it weird just how quickly and completely I've come to accept this as an "Oh, sure, of COURSE I can" kind of thing -- I didn't even remember all the time I spent trying to download new programs and tinker with them just to get them working.
(Mangajin also helpfully notes that JWP doesn't come with a help file, and sometimes you have to modify the jwp.ini file to even get it to run. Keep in mind my technical sophistication at the time was limited to figuring out how to change the directory in DOS so I could play a game off the CD-ROM.)