So I live in Scandinavia and I have lived here many years but I think it is time to tell the world why it is a good place to live as a geek AND why it is a bad place. The fact is that every country has good and bad points but how does Scandinavia look like from a geeks point of view?

Reasons why Scandinavia is a great place to live for a tech geek

• Technology advancement! Scandinavia is the top of the technology iceberg right now. Broadband is widely spread and means really BROAD band. 24mbit ADSL2 is nothing special, really and 2-8mbit ADSL is pretty standard.
• Mobile Phone data traffic runs at 3G speeds, this means its on par with dual ISDN and low grade ADSL. For casual browsing PERFECT Best of all the prices are NOT horrendously expensive.
• Mobile phones are a necessity. A lot of companies get rid of traditional desk-phones since mobiles allow the user to be reached anywhere. They usually give you 2 numbers though so you can turn one off after 5 pm.
• ISPs do not impose you download limits (generally speaking). Personally I know of none. I have been sharing Linux ISO torrents for weeks and no complaints. My average monthly traffic is in the neighborhood of 100GB.
• Most ISPs ALLOW you to run servers! Yes my friends, you can with your basic ADSL run your own server and normally no one will say anything. As a matter of fact, if you buy a fixed IP (around 10.12 euros/month) the ISPs most likely ?gets it? that you want to run a server.
• Work in technology and you will most likely use the newest. Scandinavia drives on Innovation right now, which makes it a perfect place to be at.
• People are very relaxed and work ethics are a bit different then in other countries. Geek work involves ungodly hours but in Scandinavia you definitely get to relax and take time off. Plus 4 ?5 weeks paid vacation per year is just great!
• Social welfare. You need to go to the hospital? No problem as long as you have social security you will get treatment and most likely it will be very good treatment. Did I mention cheap? My wife paid less then 100 euros to get her wisdom teeth removed.
• Yes, it?s dark a long time here. Yes winter is cold and its dark for some time BUT that allows you to spend more time behind the screen. Your computers keep you warm and it appears to be night most of the time. Perfect Computer geek environment.
• If you are very interested in computing and you drive yourself , you can make a name very fast because Scandinavia is so small, successes stand out.
• We got the Piratebay, Linux and DVD John! and we don?t have the DMCA, look what happened to DVD John. We are still a bit free(er) then most other countries

Reasons why Scandinavia is a BAD place to live for a tech geek

• It?s dark and when it?s dark, people get less friendly and social. For a geek this might not be a problem as IRC and IM helps but seeing some long faces outside (yes! OUTSIDE!!.. there is a world there..) isn?t always nice.
• Cost of living is higher then in other countries. Yes it is a little bit and car tax is pretty high too overall. I think Denmark has the highest VAT and car tax but they also make the most, so it evens out somehow.
• Taxation of your salary is higher then, in the US. It is also lower then some other 1^st world countries. Germany has huge taxation when you are single and have no dependencies. Scandinavia is between those 2 but doesn?t care if you have dependencies.
• Public health-care is overstretched. This doesn?t mean you will get bad service just that it might take a while, unless your arm is falling off.
• Broadband is fast. Getting a true 8mbit to Japan , for example, is a bad thing. Why? Because you get addicted to it!
• Laws are forming around the copy protection ?industry? but they aren?t there yet and will still take some time. Pirating is always illegal, and well should be, but the US is overdoing it. The bad part, Scandinavia looks like it?s following eventually the US example.
• Food and consumer goods are more expensive and less diverse. Yes the dollar/euro conversion is a bitch. Most PC manufacturer like Dell and Apple sell the same product in Europe for more euros then they cost in dollars. This is just unfair as it should be less.

These are my views and that is why I like to live here? yours might be different but I think it?s a great place to live and work. The thought of having 7.5 hour work days and your weekends to yourself at your summer cottage (with a connection over 3G to the ‘net) is just amazing. The same goes for working remotely, which is an accepted thing. sit in your backyard with a cool drink in the summer, over WLAN through ADSL with VPN to your corporate network and conduct business… You have your mobile with you anyway…

//Flosse

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