aah cool, if I install the proprietary sony app once I can change the language in this bluetooth headphone to Japanese. the one true language for machines to talk to me as far as I'm concerned
dunno it's just better.
maybe it's that I'm biased by memories because machines have talked to you in Japan since forever, way before "AI voices" and whatnot, and unlike in Europe where machines are either silent or blunt, in Japan they're consistently polite and pleasant.
like, Japanese elevator: Ue ni mairimasu♪ doa ga shimarimasu. O-ko-sama no te ni wa go-chūi kudasai.
English elevator: Up.
German elevator: . (the elevator doesn't know you so it won't talk to you.)
I even had vending machines that talked to me in dialect. while travelling Tōhoku to study dialects
there was once a thread about reverse culture shock when returning from Japan, and this person said that back to their country they ordered a coffee from an airport vending machine and when the coffee was ready they just stood there. it took them a while to realise they were waiting for the machine to go like "your order is ready to go! thank you for your continued service! hope to see you again" because it felt wrong to just go and take the coffee before the machine even said thank you
