

I have an app ( feedMe I think) that also pulls the text from the web version along with the 1-sentence feed and ocasionally a header image. Very useful on an eink device, but not sure if it works with pcgamer, because it can’t pass some ad-walls/pay-walls.
However I feel RSS had a small part to play in the state of web today. If everyone were to use RSS how would writers get paid? Donations are too unreliable, subscriptions are frowned on, sponsorships are incompatible with the job and taxes really only work for state media like the BBC. People gotta eat, no?

Honestly the biggest reason might be the population density and structure in Japan. People live and travel between large metropolises, and those are relatively close, so this makes train travel more cost-effective.
Otherwise, this “only” makes the shinkansen great. Because regional and local trains are pretty much the same as any developed country ( albeit very very punctual ). Great train networks aren’t limited to Japan. European trains fare the same except some lack of punctuality, and the lack of central backbone, due to the amount of international borders. Chinese high speed rail is actually better quality-wise and more connected than in Japan, but local trains are meh and extremely crowded. Honestly it feels like the US is the outlier here, because they had decent rail and managed to fuck it up in favour of road traffic.