[javajosh]

>low digitalization

Given that everyone uses IBAN, and it works great, I strongly disagree.

>private healthcare if you want decent treatments

Your mileage may vary, but I was very impressed with the speed and ease of acquiring healthcare under a public plan. The lack of paperwork for seeing a new doctor is astonishing. The lack of copays, SOBs, and all that is like a breath of fresh air, and is worth copying in the US. Heck I once saw a doctor for something and simply gave my card, and saw the doctor in the next hour, and she decided I needed an ultrasound...and did the ultrasound in 5 minutes herself. In the US, this would have been a multi-week ordeal with multiple rounds of paperwork and visits to different offices.

My wife also had a C-section at a Berlin hospital and the care was competent and 100% covered by our public insurance. In the US couples requiring a C-section can expect $20k+ of debt.

[jamesmunns]

Low digitalization isn't just payment - it's also needing to fill in paper forms, or making in-person visits to government and business offices.

I've been living in Germany for about a decade, and it is still behind in many of these items from when I left the US, and having a friend that recently moved from Germany to NL, he was blown away at how convenient and just not-hostile so many day to day interactions with governments and businesses were.

Like - big picture, I'm very happy in Germany, but certain things are still very archaic and sometimes needlessly so.

[shellfishgene]

I agree, just look at the recent (well, decade-long?) attempt to digitalize the car registration process, which can only be called a total desaster.

[Bayart]

My impression coming from France, which I never thought of as particularly progressive on the technological front, is that Germany is full of odd, idiosyncratic archaisms.