If India is 40 years behind China in technology, is India living in 1985?

 No. That's not what it means at all.

Technology is created, developed, owned, deployed, adapted and accessed

India has nearly the same level of access to the latest technologies as most countries

Indians have access to the latest tech in most areas - Enterprise solutions on AWS, the latest versions of consumer apps, the latest iphones, the latest laptops in the market, vehicles with the latest technologies

Due to affordability issues, all but the priciest technologies are ‘accessible’ to Indians

I am not talking about ‘Access'

I am talking about ‘Creation , Development, Ownership, Deployment and Adaptation' of Technology not just access

Indians have access to the latest smartphones but the technology that powers the smartphones are entirely owned by corporations in other nations

Indians have no role in any of this

Indians have access to the latest servers , hardware and cloud infrastructure services that AWS has to offer

Despite this India has no role in the technology that drives these servers and their underlying applications

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So saying India is 35–40 years behind China in technology simply means - China can create, develop, own, deploy and adapt technologies today that would take India 35–40 years

For instance - China can independently manufacture Stealth Aircraft with Engines on an Industrial assembly line today

India might take another 30–40 years to independently manufacture the same with engines on an Industrial assembly line

However India could import or get into a joint venture and have access to the same type of aircraft, and build a sizeable fleet within 5–6 years

China has the ability to make it's own semiconductor infrastructure and server infrastructure , which functions effectively although it might be quite a few years away from what the States currently controls and owns

India has absolutely nothing of comparison

India might take another 30–40 years to effectively bring out mass production of functional advanced node chips to the market, that China can do today

That is what the 35–40 year gap refers to

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Living in 1985 is a reference to ‘Access' to technology

Technology gap refers to the control, ownership and deployment of technology

They are very different things

Since the world became global after 2000, most countries have access to modern technology

There is no country that lives in 1985 today 😊

Not even countries like Syria

What are some cool things about China that only people who have gone to China know about?

 China is full of cool things. Here my favourites. I photographed them during my years in Shanghai and Beijing.

This train connects Shanghai and Beijing. It’s so fast that you can do a weekend trip and still see enough in the other city, even though it’s 1600 km. And it costs like 50 US Dollars:

Everybody lives in apartments. And these buildings are huge. You may very well have a view like this from your living room:

There is design stuff going on everywhere. China is the factory of the world, and they can build anything. And they do. You want to meet some designers, see a show car tonight? Somewhere, this will be going on:

The urban environment is very attractive and clean:

Restaurants are fantastic. Beautiful, great food, and patient waiters everywhere:

You can have new eyeglasses made for the price of a sandwich, while you wait and have tea:

Living conditions in the big apartment compounds are actually really nice and quiet. I was often sitting on my balcony in the evenings like this, in the middle of Shanghai:

The inner cities are incredibly full of light:

There are a myriad of different kinds of venues you can go and meet people, at all price levels:

The selection of products is absolutely crazy:

Every now and then, you bump into something that’s a thousand or so years old:

They put flowers everywhere:

You can eat great food at any time of day or night:

Interior designs are unbelievable, and fun:

You can have a cold beer or five any time, anywhere - and in the summer, you’ll want to:

The scale of the architecture is beyond anything you might have seen elsewhere. Everything is huge in China:

Taxis are everywhere. You want one, just hold out your hand, as if feeding a cow, and one should stop for you within seconds:

You can leave your umbrella at the entrance and lock it!

There are apples like this:

I am not sure what we are looking at, but it is remarkable:

Zero emission pickup trucks:

Bug screens that can carry the weight of an adolescent cat:

McD’s in Chinese:

Advanced, urban fashion:

Fast food chains you may not have heard of before:

People who keep the place squeaky clean:

Cool vehicles:

Extraterrestrial coffee:

Nifty movies:

Security guards everywhere - you are very safe:

A machine that predicts the future:

Trippy trip ships:

You can see huge buildings from above by climbing up an even huger building:

Not just huge, but actually interestingly built:

Cat cafés:

Hygiene is excellent:

Amazing parks:

Electric scooters everywhere:

Driving styles are mellow; you will never be afraid:

Crispy duck:

Dragons everywhere:

Scooters with roofs:

Space efficient living:

Vegetables you may never have seen before:

Yellow rice wine:

I think it’s cool, even if I am not sure what it does:

Well dressed dogs:

You may be living on the 27th floor, but you can hang up your washing in front of your window:

Bamboo stem bottle:

Cars from Mars: