Things That Make Lithuania Seem Futuristic

[@tnickknight]

One thing very modern, ( also in Estonia) is the national id and passport system. It's automated with a machine that takes all the biometrics. No need to bring in photos. This has been in place a long time, but still is rare in most places.

[@ugnikalnis]

I was at Bank and Smart ID they just do with my ID Card Chip as proof n etc. We ain't gonna argue Estonia is 99 percent digital..., but we 🇱🇹 catching up don't worry

[@arbatine]

I'm Lithuanian, living in Japan - believe me, it's not futuristic AT ALL, Lithuania is much, much modern in many ways. Yeah, Tokyo has a few more modern parts of the city, like Shinjuku or Shibuya with all those big, flashy screens. But in daily life this country is very retro-styled, most of the services are non existing online, one still needs to fill and mail paper documents, etc.

[@KiprasGavenas]

The internet made me believe that "Japan is living in 2050 because blah blah blah", but from what you say im kinda interested about the topic, tokyo is flashy and all but what about the other cities like sapporo or kobe, how are those? flashy or more rural like Kaunas or Šiauliai? And also the suburbs how do those look? endless compact low rise or something else, i would love to hear about it.

[@agneejaa]

One thing about the trains; yes they're very punctual but it's easy to be on time when there's like 5 trains a day per route. Germany definitely has big issues with delayed and cancelled trains, but at least there's alternative options in those cares. In Lithuania you usually just give up and take a bus (Lithuanian living in Germany)

[@Laurynas_LTU]

Thank you for pointing out the things we who live with these technologies take for granted.

[@ApasTalaz]

to be precise the trolleybuses were not taken out during the nato summit, they were operational during the days of nato summit. More of a communication mistake where it was considered but not taken out ultimately. Also I think you should've mentioned every government service that can be accessed online which other countries are very much praised for (such as Estonia).

[@sazarkanas5921]

i was watching Estonian commercial about government services online and was like wait we can do almost everything here too, but no one is bragging about it.....

[@HasxVoiks]

They were taken out, they're desperate to be modern. It's ok, every nation does it :)

[@ASilverMess]

My mom would always love to tell me how proud she was of how much more digitalized Lithuania was over Germany every time we came back. I even remember that they introduced the self-checkouts, the digital screens in mcdonalds as well as E-Scooters before I saw them in my city in Germany. Even know self checkout is honeslty not as popular and I have just seen a few while people tend even to rather avoid these. (Again at least in my city.) Also yes our trains are very late here in Germany. Even the company itself jokes about how late it is without doing anything. The running joke is pretty much that "Deutsche Bahn is to leave the house at 12 and you will still get the train from 11:30." So yeah being on time with trains is done better in lithuania definitely. Also I somehow enjoy the old trolleybusses! I don't know why but I find it nice to ride in them and with much other things being new and digitalized I feel like having something old running through town kinda makes it special but that's my view of course. Another amazing video once again!

[@jarek6934]

These unmanned vehicles are created by an Estonian company and built in Estonia, and Estonia was also the first country where these same vehicles served people. Keep it up! Cool videos

[@V-Dawg]

As a Lithuanian who has been living abroad for the last 15 years this is so refreshing to see! Already planning on coming back even just for a week in January. Miss the snow too lol

[@Mendogology]

Anyone who complains about cashiers being replaced by machines, has never worked as a cashier in a supermarket. Nice video, as always!

[@UtamagUta]

That SNL skit about self checkout stores will always be relevant 😂

[@pervaizalamgirkhan3199]

I have been to Klaipeda in Lithuania. It surely seems futuristic. And yes, the trains run on time.

[@UhOhUmm]

New trolleybuses were ordered for Vilnius, they are coming in 2024-2025.

[@domantaslasiauskas979]

Still vilnius has the worst public transport in europe for a city of its size

[@karkevicius]

@@domantaslasiauskas979facts

[@cactuslietuva]

​@@domantaslasiauskas979that is what systemic corruption does, zero interest in improving what you can't profit directly

[@jygeb]

@@domantaslasiauskas979 Tirana has it worse to be honest. But Vilnius is obviously not good as well.

[@domantaslasiauskas979]

@@jygeb yes, Tirana, Pristina and Skopje also only rely on buses and their public transport is on similar level to Vilnius but they are not part of the EU and do not have access to the EU funds that would finance a big part of investments to make the city less car-centric

[@ltguy1953]

The thing about trolleybuses during nato summit: old units were still working on both of those days. I was working as well and on the first trip in the morning i saw old one going right in the city center. And then many more during the day. Hell, i even saw one newer model broken down and it was replaced with spare old one. The delays those two days were hell as well. I was late more than 40 min and some of my colleagues had delays of over an hour. But there was one think that was nonsense from organizing perspective: old trolleybuses (that look decent from the outside at least) were tried to be hidden but old buses (the grey volvo) that look horrible from outside and often puff a big black smoke from the exhaust every time they accelerated were left runing. Heck, even the oldest trolleybus that still runs in the streets (its 39 years old and is a spare) looks better than those buses

[@n2e913]

Those volvo 7700 buses look fine imo

[@ugnikalnis]

Finland 🇫🇮!!! You r showing to the world!!! Those who understand they will get it!!! Elagu Baltimaad Elagu Siprus!!!

[@sazarkanas5921]

while not the fastest any more but i would also add internet to the list because in Lithuania we haver coverage of 99% of all territory with relatively fast internet.

[@ponasdarogas]

and i always somehow end up in the 1% area too it seems

[@ApasTalaz]

@@ponasdarogas it's a marketing trick where it isn't the 99% of the countries' territory that's covered but rather 99% of the population can access that service.

[@akalion213]

@@ponasdarogas I know a guy who doesn't have service in his apartment and he lives only like 6km from the city center...

[@jygeb]

The Škoda 14Tr trolleybuses are Czech or Czechoslovak, not Soviet.

[@fokus5097]

Yea, but from soviet times, that's why we refer to it as soviet trolley

[@jygeb]

@@fokus5097 they have been purchased brand new until 1999. Most of the surviving ones have been made in 1990s.

[@fokus5097]

@@jygeb So pretty much soviet. That how we call em, deal with it

[@jygeb]

@@fokus5097 Lithuania resumed independence in 1990, not 2000.

[@fokus5097]

@@jygeb Idk man, I guess I missed this little fact while living here for whole life. How you don't get it, I make it clear so you can understand. Its not about when it was made or where, its a statement that its old and bad. And soviet is old and bad, perfect word for this trolley.

[@barroerabonatarda7045]

trolleybuses are awesome. they make the city less car-dependent, and they are environment-friendly as well!

[@domantaslasiauskas979]

Unfortunately, Vilnius is very car dependent on European standards and one of the reasons are these overcrowded uncomfortuable trolleys - many people get their driving licences as soon as they afford a car and have ptsd in using public transport as in their minds all of it is as uncomfortable as these trolleys

[@cactuslietuva]

​@@domantaslasiauskas979that's is one of the reasons why i left Vilnius for a smaller city. Being a capital it just doesn't have any redemming quality. There is close to no city planning. If your neighbourhood doesn't support any new construction projects you will be walking on the broken soviet sidewalls for decades to come.

[@akalion213]

@@domantaslasiauskas979 Young people drive cars because it's the cool thing to do, not because the buses are overcrowded.

[@akalion213]

@@cactuslietuva And yet the old soviet neighborhoods are actually the best ones lol.

[@cactuslietuva]

@@akalion213 try getting in the bus at 7 am when children doesn't have holidays from school. Good luck, cause you will need it

[@1990lietuva]

To be fair we always have a good laugh at the trolleys when going from Kaunas to Vilnius.

[@cabral_del_elpaso]

Self-service parcels are suitable for people living in an apartment complex because I know how difficult it is to get your mail or deliver it to any apartment complex.

[@sek0ne01]

Škoda 14Tr - troleibusų modelis, 1980-2004 m. gamintas Čekijos bendrovės „Škoda Ostrov“. so, they not ancient, or soviet. but sure old. dont see any in Kaunas :) we have modern Solaris

[@lonehard]

Got to say, living in Kaunas, I just love all the automation. As for the lack of human interaction with these services, I would ask if there was any before that to begin with. If you think about it, most of it is just pleasantries on auto-pilot. Wouldn't call that a genuine & worthwhile interaction.

[@UtamagUta]

I feel that it's rare when most of burocracy can be done via internet, no need to bring piles of papers to 10 different institutions. New bank cards or even Sim cards and phones are sent with mail, no need to go physically

[@justasjagminas1362]

Registering our recently purchased vehicle online was a breeze.

[@kevinsview93]

We also have the automated parcel lockers. I use them for Amazon orders to prevent theft, since people love to steal packages in my area. The automated stores similar to Amazon Go, they're not very widespread here yet. But I believe they're also a good idea and convenient. But i believe with our rampant crime wave of theft and shoplifting happening across the U.S. with little to no consequences to the criminals now, would cause them to close, and may be a reason why they're not more popular. These automated services have a place in the market. But i think something's are also better when communicating with a human. I believe in 10 years time, we will look at this technology as ancient, as nearly everything will be automated. Which is kind of disturbing.

[@JustKazkoksDud]

While trains almost always depart on time, they almost always (in my experience) arrive late (like 5-15 mins so not that bad), but even that is quite stable, so if u travel a lot on same route u kinda start predicting how late you will arrive.

[@Catapillah]

Very cool! The local trains that are not Shinkansen in Japan are a disaster. I count myself lucky if I get 1 day per week commuting to work where nothing is late

[@eglunasklimavicius9771]

❤Aciu

[@eggplanter342]

There are hydrogen bus in Vilnius .It being tested now.

[@markpowell8712]

I just saw the driverless car this past week...pretty neat....but I stayed out of its way.

[@DS.J]

Sorry for a little detour here but I couldn't resist. "Countries like Japan seem highly futuristic...". Japan is not futuristic. Hasn't been for a long time. While in Tokyo, it was the first time in probably TWO DECADES when I saw a dot matrix printer and extensive use of rubber stamps in daily jobs and tasks. Something we have long forgotten in Europe and probably North America by now. I was astonished how backward many things looked there compared to any country in Europe or some other Asian countries like China, Singapore, South Korea or even Thailand, where digitalization by now is probably at least a decade ahead of Japan. For some odd reason many people still think Japan is "futuristic" and "modern". It's not. It seems as if it's been dragging since the golden age of Japan, which was the 80s, when it was actually futuristic and seemed like it was about to take over the world. Ok, perhaps calling it modern is ok since it has modern features like high-speed trains and modern transport system but overall it looks like a trip 40 years into the past with 80s technology and vibe all over the place. If you actually want to see what future looks like in Asia, look no further than China which is actually futuristic and where technology use in daily life is far ahead of most other countries. Or Singapore if you want to stay in a comfortable Western-style and English-speaking environment. As for Lithuania being modern, I think it's overall doing ok. Not great, but ok. Things like government online services, online payments, shopping etc are fairly well developed even if not as well as in a handful of other European countries. What Lithuania lacks is modern transport system. Public transport in particular is really rubbish. Good public transport would allow for most people to bypass car traffic and be able to plan their time accurately which is currently impossible and has vibes of poor Latin American of South Asian countries where stuck in traffic for half a day is the norm. So we have some work to do.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Thanks for your comment! It’s why I made sure to say “seem” futuristic rather than “are futuristic.” I remember seeing a recent news piece about how the government is working hard to phase out floppy disks and minidiscs from daily operations- since some ministries still rely on them. And I’ve heard about the rubber stamp thing too. I guess I could have used a different country but oh well!

[@LimaArno]

I disagree with this comment. Public transport is great in Lithuania. Of course, there's room for improvement, but it's reliable and relatively cheap, unlike in the UK, where it's so disgraceful.

[@DS.J]

@@LimaArno This is just not true. Public transport in Lithuania is among the worst in Europe. It is also not the best in the UK (except London and South East where it is actually very good), but it's still miles ahead of public transport in Lithuania. This is not an opinion, but a measurable objective reality.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

@@DS.J Do you have any sources for your statement that public transport in Lithuania is among the worst? I'm trying to do a video about this. Thanks!

[@DS.J]

@LithuaniaExplained Hi. Glad you decided to make a video on the Subject. I will collect some sources and resources and share them with you,.just give me a day Sadly there are no easy "top 10" style rankings because nobody ranks worst public transport systems, but there are resoueces that are good and useful to make the conclusion I made about Vilnius and Lithuania as a whole.

[@erik7999]

I think the key thing with such technological advancements is balance maintained through the law. It's fantastic that there are self-driving delivery vehicles delivering goods to people and that should definitely be expanded and perfected. But it shouldn't replace human drivers, it should instead compliment them and their work. For example if there's a shortage of said drivers, the self-driving vehicles could fill in the missing ones. It could also be used to give people more time off, say instead of 4 paid holiday weeks annually, give them 6 and while the humans are off, the self-driving vehicles could replace them. Everyone wins - customers get their stuff, workers get their time off, company still makes their money. Doesn't sound dystopian at all to me. 😄

[@TheKakaYeah]

Its a lovely thought, but knowing companies, if they realise they can replace some drivers, sooner or later they will replace all of them

[@imin2905]

A give away food shop to be opened in Vilnius the first in Europe may be world

[@nekogusa]

Sadly, the shopping one is in Vilnius only

[@REGameFly]

As long as the Lithuanian birth rate is falling, work automation is good imo

[@MagpieMcGraw]

Those trolleys are not old. The old ones have a rounded shape and folding doors. Although I haven't seen them around for a while.

[@n2e913]

Last year of operation of the Škoda 9Tr was 2005. There is one museum trolleybus though.

[@mindemindaugenas7422]

Why don't you upload information about Dancer buses that are electric and charge inductively?

[@janispaeglis4797]

proud to neighbor

[@mattp7437]

I honestly hate self checkouts, its slower this way.

[@ernisj.8087]

Ive seen food delivery robots somewhere in USA, beeing kicked and robed by hoodguys.😢

[@cabral_del_elpaso]

I love the idea of self-checking and all this new technology, but the sad reality is that we are cutting and destroying jobs at the end of the road.

[@ugnikalnis]

Towards 🚎 Vilnius will update at 2026.

[@TheValerijus61]

👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

[@tiesiogignas2426]

I have met with the mayor of Vilnius in person. The city is planning to take the old trolleybuses off the streets by the end of his term.

[@afrent9296]

right, after spending a shit ton of money for a new trolleybus fleet

[@UtamagUta]

removing the really ecological vehicles off the streets. Seems logic!

[@simplyaugis9864]

You mean the old ones?

[@afrent9296]

@@simplyaugis9864 yeah I have heard that they plan to remove all the old trolleys

[@tiesiogignas2426]

@@simplyaugis9864 I do mean the old ones

[@gintasindreika933]

The Stalin-era Vilnius airport is definitely not futuristic, but an ugly relic of Soviet architecture. Time for Lithuania to enter the 21st century and build an efficient airport between Vilnius and Kaunas.

[@HasxVoiks]

The autonomous robot car thing is a terrible idea. Firstly, you're loosing hundreds of jobs, paying for overpriced robots. Secondly, the robots are a liability for both members of the public and the company as they're more prone to theft, accident and damaging outs property. Like what kind of terrible destructive industry is that.

[@juobuz6771]

Vilnius maby semi high tech, but most of Lithuania is a one big village

[@manometras]

a reiškia tą patį, ką ir one, todėl nereikia rašyti a one, o reikėtų rašyti tik a arba tik one.😅

[@vytautassulcas6494]

@@manometras arba net jei labai norisi sudubliuot, tai gramatiškai turėtų būt "an one". Betgi kaimas

[@juobuz6771]

@@infiniteworld5855 that be true, but this brings the question: what IS Lithuania? (similar to Thor ragnarok). Is Lithuania the land, the territory defined by map? Or is Lithuania where our people live? In the first case : how many bigger cities we got? and then how many villages ?, in the second case , I agree most Lithuanians do live in cities, but how many of those cities have higher tech stuff ? (I dont know this one, but it be cool to find out)

[@KONSOLIUS]

Na, Kaunas ir Klaipėda, net Šiauliai niekaip ne kaimai, kaip bežiūrėtum. Po Europą nemažai keliavęs, tiesiog gal savivertės trūkumas mums kartais koja kiša.

[@antasosam8486]

Jou, kaip gi be šikn...s mūsų kaime...

[@TheShlips]

Autonomous delivery vehicles are stolen from Estonia. So its not lithuanian idea.

[@Kunigunda897]

Yeah, I've seen one in Tartu, which will take you to the national museum

[@henrikmanitski1061]

They are not stolen, but developed and made in Estonia by Cleveron. They also run in Tallinn, but not on as large scale.