I can't say as I've ever really gotten my underpants all up in a knot over any of the Canadian stereotyping on TV and movies, or some of the comedic jabs taken at us from south of the border. Hey remember, Canadians make plenty fun of Americans, too.
We're like siblings who bicker and compete even though we're closer to each other than anyone else in this symbolic family of nations. So, I take all the jokes and slander equally with the proverbial grain of salt. Actually my doctor says I can't have salt, so I guess to be factual I should say I take it all without any salt - but clich茅s really don't get on so well with reality.
What does give my undergarments an unkind twist or two, however, is the inequality that occurs every so often between our two brotherly nations when it comes to geek-worthy technology.
Case in point: This week, Skype introduced a version of its voice-over-Internet phone service (VOIP) for Apple's iPhone - but not for us poor redheaded Canuck geek stepchildren, it seems. Yes, I know we were just brothers, and now we're stepchildren, but it's got to do with the family of nation's family tree resembling more of a stump than something with branches - but I digress.
Anyways, apparently because of some unclear patent or copyright issue on a piece of programming, it's equally unclear when or if that iPhone application will be available to Canadians. Heck, the iPhone itself only arrived in Canada more than a year after it first went on sale in the U.S.
That was a kick in the teeth for many Canadian gadgeteers who live to own all the cutting-edge toys. Many bought U.S. iPhones and got them unlocked by a hack so they could work with Canadian networks. Subsequent updates turned those phones into bricks though.
But it's more than just Apple products and iPhone applications that take their sweet time crossing the border to the True North strong and free.
This week, YouTube announced Disney/ABC would be launching a channel on the video-sharing website, making episodes of television shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives available by May. Not for Canadian Internet users, though.
And the same thing goes for many web sites, such as Internet radio service Pandora and many video sites - all because of distribution rights or copyright issues. And although you can indeed find ways to "spoof" your Internet address and fool websites into thinking you are from the U.S. - few Canadians go out of their way, or even desire to do such things. Apparently unlike the U.S., we have fewer geeks shouting about the latest tech or gizmo, and most Canadians don't even keep up with what's new in the digital and electronics world. So nobody really makes a fuss when a big launch passes us by. We're more like, "Whatever!"
So in the end, we're actually victims of the very apathetic nature for which we're so often stereotyped. Consider my knickers officially in a bunch, eh?
