Why Japan Leads the Mobile World

Phurge writes "It is no wonder that companies touting m-commerce as the next big web thing tell us Japan is the future blueprint. The Guardian takes a look at the cutting edge and everyday life of cell phone users in Japan. 'By offering the Japanese a multiplicity of services — and, very importantly, some very cool handsets to use them on — the operators have created what every western mobile service provider is dreaming of: a mobile lifestyle culture that keeps millions reaching for the mobile rather than the fixed internet ... What they are less keen on is video calling: in Japan, as in the UK, 90% say "no thanks, never". And as for using the mobile as a modem - to link to the internet - that's very expensive in Japan.'"

Comments

awesome

[User 956]

It is no wonder that companies touting m-commerce as the next big web thing tell us Japan is the future blueprint.

You mean we'll be able to buy used panties and tentacle hentai direct from our mobile phones soon, too?

Why do they lead? Simple answer: Godzilla.

[jollyreaper]

Every few years he stamps everything flat so they're always rebuilding from scratch. No legacy systems to work in, it's all new equipment from central office to cell tower.

For relaxing times...

[Anonymous Coward]

...make it Suntory time!

The UK only says "no never"

[Anonymous Coward]

because of the prices that the cellphone companies charge
make it ridiculously cheap and we will use it

its just market forces at work, voting with our wallets

Re:The UK only says "no never"

[wile_e_wonka]

Video calling? It's totally available here in the US for free as long as you have high speed internet and are willing to use AIM or MSNMessenger, etc. But still people say "no, never." I think there are other reasons people don't want to do it. For one thing, due to the desires of consumers, phones have become more and more mobile--we don't have to stand at the phone and speak into the mouthpiece mounted on the wall anymore. Instead the earpiece and mouthpiece are both mounted on the same portable units so we can walk around our house, our yard, and even hop in our car and drive somewhere. A video phone service would immobilize us again.

As far as I can tell, I don't think the videophone thing will take any hold anywhere except for every now-and-again usage by the normal population, and rampant usage among pornographers.

Re:The UK only says "no never"

[binaryfinery]

Its coming -its like the early days of dialup when you paid £15 month for 56K and were happy. Then came ISDN, ADSL and fibre and now £15 month can get you 8MB+ (if close to the right exchange). 3G in mertro areas, EDGE is being deployed, followed by HSDPA - as the rates increase the telco's will look for the differentiator and the prices will fall.

Re:The UK only says "no never"

[Duhavid]

"So rather than skin the consumers for every cent, they keep a good-value proposition."

That is it in a nutshell.

America could have the same, except no one will sign up,
because they know from their basic cell phone experience
that they will be taken for a ride. People are not fooled
for long.

Re:The UK only says "no never"

[Ant P.]

Depends where you live. I'm still paying £30/mo for 2Mb DSL, the best service the monopoly in my area offers (the exchange is 30 seconds walking distance away).

Re:The UK only says "no never"

[teh kurisu]

Video calling is already being pushed by mobile phone operators (as opposed to landline operators) in the UK, primarily because mobiles tend to come with cameras built in, and they can take advantage of 3G services. With this in mind, there are a few problems with the concept of video calling that I can think of off the top of my head.

The first is that you have to hold the unit out in front of you, and point it vaguely in the direction of your face. This means that the speaker has to be much louder, and the microphone has to be much more sensitive. It's not appropriate in public places, because people will hear both sides of your call and not just one, and not appropriate in loud places, because the microphone will pick up much more background noise.

There's also the problem of echo - being able to hear your own voice through the speaker. It can be compensated for by echo cancellation software, but I personally never find this very effective, and can cause problems if both people try to speak at the same time.

Culturally we're quite used to audio-only phones, and we're used to being able to answer them without worrying about how we look. It's quite acceptable to participate in a telephone call naked... not so much in a video call.

But ultimately the biggest thing preventing me from making any calls on my video-capable phone is my mobile operator, T-Mobile. I'm on their Flext contract, and I don't get any free video-calling minutes. Also, I'm not in a 3G area. That's a pretty big disincentive...

Japanese youth does not have their own room

[fluor2]

It's important here that the youth of Japan grow up in very small houses, where even some have beds they have to pull out from the walls. It's all about small rooms and small things.

Do you want to sit at home surfing using the computer in the living room? No, of course not. That's why they buy small telephones and use them for surfing.

It's not comparable to anywhere else in the world, except maybe China.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[n3tcat]

Seoul, Korea or India spring to mind instantly.

There are several heavily populated places in the country where people must live in this fashion.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[Perl-Pusher]

Its also a cultural thing. In Japan smaller is almost always considered better. Cars spring to mind. In the US most people want bigger cars and will only settle for smaller ones to save money. Maybe its the fact they are on an Island and space is limited. Personally, I dread using a cellphone for anything except calling. I have to go through several menus on a small screen and typing is even more painful. Every time I get a new phone I have to read the manual and learn how to do the simplest things over again. Also whoever decided buttons on the side that can be accessed in a pocket when you don't want them pressed should be shot. My last phone would go into 'manner mode' in my pocket. This would have me pulling the battery to fix it. Since 'manner mode' wasn't in the manual that came with my phone!

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[Anonymous Coward]

We do have laptops now days.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[QuickFox]

It's important here that the youth of Japan grow up in very small houses, They are so used to small things that they'd get lost in the vast expanse of a desktop computer screen, assuming they could get one through the door. A mobile screen feels just like home.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[TheRaven64]

typing is even more painful Actually, this is the big difference. Japanese is entered using kana which are part of an intrinsically two dimensional alphabet. Each character is a consonant and a vowel sound. The key you press gives you the consonant, and the number of presses gives you the vowel. Even though there are more letters than with the Latin alphabet, they are much easier to type fast on a small keypad.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[soundhack]

This runs counter to the proliferation of large plasma and lcd hdtv's, which came out sooner than in the US.

Still, the main point is probably true. TV's may be large in Japan, but computers and game consoles must be small

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[fbjon]

Incidentally, the last japanese phone I had many years ago (a Sony Ericsson), had a scroll wheel (actually a bar) instead of up-down buttons, which made text input with the text prediction/completion system a total breeze. Unfortunately it's still the only phone I've ever seen that had a wheel. (it also had a very nice 640x480 screen, and was fairly cheap, further aggravating my irritation with the phone manufacturers)

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[tkh]

That is so misleading. Most Japanese kids do have their own room although the size of a typical room is smaller than in the U.S.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[rbarreira]

Aren't you forgetting about the load of Chinese characters that they use?

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[TheRaven64]

No, because you don't enter kanji directly. You enter the kana, which are phonograms, and then (optionally) select the corresponding kanji (ideogram) for a short sequence of kana from a short list. It might be possible to devise an input method for entering kanji directly along the lines of cangjie, where the button presses corresponded to the start or end point of a brush stroke in a 3x3 grid. I don't know how difficult this would be, but it might be an interesting project.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[Anonymous Coward]

With the size of today's laptops, I don't think that's the issue any more. This may have been the original impetus for the phenomenon, but at this point, the cause comes more from self-perpetuation rather than an external force.

Consider that the emphasis on mobile phones caused the vast majority of Japanese content to be made available primarily by phone. The relative lack of Japanese content available to traditional web browsers means there's little interest in shelling out considerably more money for a laptop when all the content they care about can be had via their phone. In short, the people go where the content goes and the content goes where the people go.

This is the same reason why it will be hard for the US to make the transition. Whereas Japanese content started out being primarily available by phone, all of our content is available by the web and has to be made phone-friendly. Most content producers don't go to the effort since 99% of their customers access the content via a web browser anyway. This is why America will have to wait until phones can run full-featured browsers (ala iPhone) before we see Americans accessing content the same way that the Japanese do.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[Anonymous Coward]

It might be possible to devise an input method for entering kanji directly along the lines of cangjie, where the button presses corresponded to the start or end point of a brush stroke in a 3x3 grid. I don't know how difficult this would be, but it might be an interesting project. Why bother? Kana and/or romaji entry works very well as is. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[TheRaven64]

Because there are about a billion Chinese who don't use Kana or romanji, and could potentially be sold mobile phones at some point?

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[gordo3000]

still, no one enters kanji directly. in japanese, you have about 2200 that get use and in chinese I've heard over 7000 for daily use. even chinese use a mapping from the roman alphabet to their script, I'ev never seen a direct input method.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[gordo3000]

not true, computer offerings in japan( I live in tokyo) are on par with the US for size. houses are smaller but most other things are more efficient with space(including their desks, household appliances, beds, etc). game consoles are the exact same as here.

In japan though, it's common to have a 1 to 2 hour commute which is almost always done on public transportation. what does that mean? you have 2 to 4 hours a day where you can play games, check email, send messages, with NOTHING better to do! Trains are crowded so the only thing you can do is sit around and play these games or read books. Cars are far less common as a method of transportation than in the US.

In general, convenience is easy to get in Japan if you have the money. cell phone usage is generally 1 cent a text message and 20 cents a minute for talking(yeah, highway robbery). I can get GPS, a charge system to pay for goods at the convenience store, and electronic passes that cover all the public transportation systems. in new cabs, I could use my cell phone to pay rather than toting around cash.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[TheRaven64]

On a full-sized keyboard, the fastest way of entering Chinese characters is, as I originally stated, Cangjie. This is a very popular input method, helped in part by the fact that the original designer put the sample implementation into the public domain.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[nemoyspruce]

It's important here that the youth of Japan grow up in very small houses, where even some have beds they have to pull out from the walls. It's all about small rooms and small things. or it could be that japanese youth have active lifestyles. They only go on the internet to get information they need, like train scheds, maps, or where to go for bargains, auctions. most highschool kids here dont like staying at home, otherwise people will call you 'otaku'. There could be a connection between average room sizes and maybe penis size, but i doubt if its the cause.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[gullevek]

Actually this input method is only used on PCs. On mobile phones you use the direct kana input method. so each key has a group of kana (a,i,u,e,o; ka,ki,ku,ke,ko; etc). Most important thing is the "remember" function, so if you write certain words often you can choose them from a list below, so it speeds up input a lot.

The total hardcore mobile users input that with two fingers. Really amazing to see that in action ...

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[gordo3000]

asking the chinese people in my office, 100% of people know how to use pinyin and cangjie is limited to those who want to go much faster(but with a much more complex method). Looks like even the professional 20 somethings don't know how to use it(the people in my office) but say there is a subset that uses it

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[Jarik_Tentsu]

Also, most modern Japanese typing programs automatically convert kana (Hirigana and Katakana) into Kanji (The Chinese calligraphy-based alphabet). If you use Japanese in Windows, you'll see how it works.

~Jarik

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[leenks]

You forget the Nokia 7110, which was massively popular in the UK after "The Matrix" (because everyone thought it was 'that phone' when it wasn't).

Based on my own ownership, I think this was the most popular phone ever (I had 6 of them in a year!). Either that or thin sliding covers with sprung trigger actions really aren't the best idea in the world ;-)

One of the most usable phones I've owned though.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[Jarik_Tentsu]

I have a small room you insensitive clod!

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[Anonymous Coward]

That's great, but the subject of this article/thread is Japan and Japanese cell phones. Not very many Japanese people are interested in Mandarin. Besides, all the Chinese people I know use roman characters for entry and are more than happy with this method.

Re:Japanese youth does not have their own room

[fbjon]

Ah yes, unfortunately it is a horribly old model by now..

Obvoiusly

[cabazorro]

NTT Docomo stole the mobile ninjutsu moves from the Konoha Village. Superior infrastructure leads to superior economy. Dattebayo!

they make fun of us too

[the dark hero]

http://www.boohooforyou.com/

Re:they make fun of us too

[TheDarkener]

So with all of these all-encompassing features, the question of security/privacy has to be asked....how do the Japanese cope with the fact that since their whole lives are essentially on these phones, and the fact that they *are* wireless devices...can't people hack into them and essentially steal everything they hold so dear?

Re:they make fun of us too

[fbjon]

That video is clearly inspired by Get Perpendicular. At least in absurdness.

Re:they make fun of us too

[UfoZ]

You are aware that that video is a failed viral marketing campaign by Western cell phone OS vendor Symbian inc., right?

And it's pretty much a load of bullshit. Japanese phones are nothing like that.

Re:they make fun of us too

[siliC]

Why do you think Japanese phones are nothing like that? I can't watch the video (at work) - but looking at th 20 item list, the only thing my phone isn't: scented.

And i could mod that...

(actually, i don't use most of the ID services, so my phone may be lacking in some of those areas too - but it's also cheap and old)

If there's something particular you want to confirm, i could probably verify for ya.

Give the people what they want...

[Opportunist]

...and they will come to you and love your product and weave it into their lifestyle. Simple as that.

Give the people barely any service for their money, and they will use it only as much as they entirely have to and look for alternatives.

Re:Give the people what they want...

[FauxPasIII]

> Give the people barely any service for their money, and they will use
> it only as much as they entirely have to and look for alternatives.

Thus the American corporate approach: do your damnedest to make sure there are no alternatives.

Re:Give the people what they want...

[Opportunist]

And that's why it fails. You know the story about sun and wind competing who gets some guy to take off his jacket?

If you give people what they want, they will buy it because they want to have it. They will love it and they will start finding ways to use it in various ways, improving it and giving you ideas for the next version, because you've seen what people want to do with it, and many cannot do it themselves, so they will buy your next version that can do that. That's how it has been for years before the 90s, and it worked like a dream. People also simply and blindly went into the store and bought your gear, knowing that it will do what they want it to do.

Today it's very different, just like you describe. There is no alternative, so people have to buy what's offered. They don't really want that thing, but they have no choice, so they will buy it. Some will simply refuse to buy it, because it simply isn't what they want. They will not love it. They will use it like they use a tool, for the purpose intended and nothing else. They couldn't anyway, either it's so locked down that they simply cannot use it for anything else, or it is strictly forbidden by some kind of law to use it for anything but what the manufacturer wants you to.

In other words, today's products are inferior to what we had in the past. It's actually a shame.

Biometric interfaces

[gr8dude]

I've seen such a "square tattoo on paper". My guess is that they use the phone's built-in camera to photograph it, and some software to process the image and interpret it (like scanners do with bar-codes).

Some phones also come with swipe fingerprint sensors; can anyone provide technical details of these sensors? Do they comply with BioAPI or HA-API? Is there a way to interact with them via a computer?

Re:Biometric interfaces

[ReKleSS]

QR Codes. You're correct about the camera; the most common use I've seen is encoding URLs.

Re:Biometric interfaces

[Augmento]

yeah, it is bar code and the camera has software to interpret and it is actually pretty cool. other than that, cell phones here (2 hours south of tokyo) have horrible coverage. the infrastructure is simply not there.

Re:Biometric interfaces

[jamar0303]

QR codes- I love 'em because I can encode lots of things on them, such as pre-addressed text messages/MMSes to send later if I don't feel like sending it now (internationally roaming, for example), vCards, even small ringtones and pictures sometimes.

Why no videophones?

[langelgjm]

What they are less keen on is video calling: in Japan, as in the UK, 90% say "no thanks, never".

Why? I for one think it would be pretty neat to have a mobile videophone, and it sure seems like it's within reach of today's technology. Just put another cheap lens on the same side of the phone that has the display. The only major thing I can see that will halt widespread adoption is the outrageous prices the cellular companies will want to charge for it.

Re:Why no videophones?

[TheRaven64]

Pretty much any phone sold in the UK has this functionality. I've never used it, but apparently it's more popular with teenagers. Providers like Three give fairly cheap rates for video calling, but mine doesn't (actually, I have no idea what it costs, but I vaguely remember it being more expensive than a voice call). Every phone I've seen in the last few years (except the iPhone) supports it, but it's not a feature I've used.

Re:Why no videophones?

[Anonymous Coward]

It already exists in Japanese cell phones, but very few people ever use this functionality.

Re:Why no videophones?

[wikinerd]

Typical of most nerds, when I want to communicate with someone it doesn't mean I also want to see them. I perceive Japanese and Asians as more closed to themselves than Westerners, so I'm not surprised they don't like videocalling.

Re:Why no videophones?

[Anonymous Coward]

We have this in New Zealand, my whole family and I all have phones that can do it. On the local GSM/UMTS network there is no extra cost for a video call. Nevertheless apart from the obligatory call to try out the feature when the phone was new, it does not get used. I'm not sure why, but I think for most calls it does not add anything of value. If there is any noise around then it is certainly better to have the phone up to your ear rather than holding it down where the camera can see you.

Re:Why no videophones?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just put another cheap lens on the same side of the phone that has the display.

That's exactly what they have on just about every mobile phone sold in Japan. The point is that the technology is there, but no one uses it. It has been around in the main stream for about 5 years now, and I've only seen it in use ONCE, by a grandmother talking to her grandchildren that live in another prefecture. Grandma can understand clicking on the "video" key and entering the phone number. Grandma either can't or doesn't care to have a computer.

The only major thing I can see that will halt widespread adoption is the outrageous prices the cellular companies will want to charge for it.

When originally introduced in Japan, yes the prices were outrageously expensive. NTT DoCoMo figured that the slow apoption and use of the technology was due to the prices. They dropped prices significantly, but still no one used it.

Think about it. I have an iSight for use with iChat, and so do some of my friends and family. We rarely EVER use it... I guess it's just more human nature to want to "talk" to someone than actually "see" them.

Re:Why no videophones?

[jamar0303]

Maybe Japanese, but not Asians in general. Here in China, people really like to use videochat on MSN and such, and those who are too clueless to use a computer buy fixed-line videophones. Probably with the introduction of 3G into China (yes, we'll have WCDMA too) mobile videocalling will be popular too (unless the mobile company raises prices too high, but that's nigh-impossible; I can direct-dial to the US for less than $.10/min on my cellphone.

Techno Fashion

[p0tat03]

As an Asian (who lives in Canada), I know why Asia tends to be superior in terms of mobile technology (or really, ANY consumer technology). It's because they have a techno-centric fashion culture.

Here, the iPhone *just* hit us as the first *true* "fashion phone". You could argue the RAZR was in before that, but even that was fairly recent. In Asia they've had these things for years. Phones that rival jewelery in glitziness and price. Not to mention a society that values fashion and appearance above all else - and thus the willingness to pay a lot, and pay often, for new fashionable phones.

If Americans had the same attitude towards their phones as we do for our wardrobes, we'd be pretty durned advanced too. :P

Re:Techno Fashion

[TubeSteak]

I know why Asia tends to be superior in terms of mobile technology (or really, ANY consumer technology). It's because they have a techno-centric fashion culture. Or is it because Japan/China/S. Korea have all the production facilities & use their countries as a test market?

Re:Techno Fashion

[AgentGibbled]

There is certainly an element of that, but I expect it has to do in much larger part with the price. Mobile data simply isn't affordable here in Canada (for sure) and the US (I think). If I want to do something simple like read a normal text-only email (not SMS -- actual email) I have to buy a several-hundred-dollar "smartphone" handset (there's no good reason the cheap normal handsets couln't do email -- the Japanese ones do it, I've seen it myself) and pay for an oppressively expensive "data" plan that costs twice as much per month as my home broadband connection, and even that is just 25MB of data. Probably fine for text-only email, but that'll get used up pretty quick if you try to do something crazy like surf the web and happen to hit any non-"mobile friendly" pages. It's just not a good value proposition to me (although it apparently is to some people). I'd happily use email rather than voice in most cases, but not if it's many times the price.

These sorts of services won't show up here in any real way until they can be reasonably used by the average person with the $50 handset and the $20/month plan. I'm sure it will happen eventually, but not until providers change priorities from "Downloadable Games and Ringtones!" to making services that are actually useful affordable. Sadly, the average North American consumer doesn't appear to be ready to demand that just yet.

Re:Techno Fashion

[moosesocks]

Now there, I think you're giving the Americans a little too much credit. We're not a particularly well-dressed culture, unless you count the extremes.

We're also really, really, really fat.

So, no. Americans don't tend to give a damn about what other people think of them.

Re:Techno Fashion

[kaizokuace]

First we gotta get paid enuff on average to afford all that shit without being in debt. As inflation rises the consumer continues to get screwed as pay does not equally rise to accommodate. Everyday you are worth less than the day before.

Re:Techno Fashion

[macshit]

Now there, I think you're giving the Americans a little too much credit. We're not a particularly well-dressed culture, unless you count the extremes.

Wayyyy too much credit -- as always, there are many exceptions, but for the most part America is one of the worst-dressed first-world countries I've experienced. I guess it's a combination of conservatism, obsession with low price over all else, a generally kind of laid-back individualistic culture, and a sort of "anti-urbanism" (the well dressed people you do find in the U.S., are almost always in NYC or other urban areas).

Re:Techno Fashion

[moosesocks]

I'm not even sure you'd want to count the fashionistas and hipsters in NYC, because they're almost just as bad.

Now if we could also do something about the hideous American accent...

Re:Techno Fashion

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, I have to wonder what kind of loser it takes to so openly hate his people (save the protest, it's obvious and irrefutable) but still lives with them.

I suspect if you moved the fuck out of the country, you'd have to deal with fewer fatties and you'd get to deal with all the wonderful, worldly accents like, mancunian for instance.

I would like to propose you do just that.

We need content

[jtroutman]

I am a mobile user, I have a Motorola Q and an unlimited access plan. I can access quite a few sites and some of them, Google for instance, even seem to be set up to recognize that I am accessing them from a mobile device. Most, however, are not. While I can still browse eBay, Wikipedia or Slashdot even, the formatting leaves a lot to be desired. eBay is full of gigantic graphics and Wikipedia and Slashdot both format the text like this:

Why
Japan
Leads
the
Mobile
World
Posted
by
Zonk
on
Thursday
September
27,
@01:06PM
from the always-on-the-move dept.

So while I can use my mobile device to get some news and for navigation using special mobile ready apps like Google Mobile Maps, until I can access the sites that I find most relevant I'm still tied to a PC.

Re:We need content

[Anonymous Coward]

Hit menu, view, one column.

Re:We need content

[Daimanta]

Amazing! I didn't know James T. Kirk posted on slashdot!

Re:We need content

[jtroutman]

Wow, that makes a big difference, thanks. But still, I believe that more people will use Linux as more applications and hardware support is added, more people will use their mobile devices as more content is targeted to that platform.

Re:We need content

[judo_badger]

I have a Q too. Try the Opera Mini 4 beta browser; it's so much better than the version of IE that comes with the Q, that it's not even close. I installed it a couple of months ago and haven't looked back. It's a Java midlet, so you'll have to install the IBM MIDP Java emulator ( info about this can be found by searching the forums at qusers.com ), but once you get it working, you'll never look back. I don't understand why all mobile browsers don't work like this.

Re:We need content

[GameboyRMH]

On my Treo 650, Wikipedia comes out like

t
h
i
s

Not kidding. It displays normally if I stop the loading before the page loads completely. Slashdot gives a "page is too large to display" error (with or without pictures) but it displays everything except the bottom half of the left sidebar (it's not a cache limit). Most pages load without a problem however. The only other annoyance is that some forums come out with 2 pages worth of horizontal scrolling.

But I guess none of that will matter for long because my provider - the last one that had an unlimited data plan, and who I switched to because of this - is going to switch to a 1c/KB rate at the end of this month. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Re:We need content

[fortunada]

I haven't owned a Treo, so this might not work, but I'm guessing it will. Instead of going to wikipedia.com, try wapedia.mobi/en(for the English version, obviously). It's formated for mobile browsers.

Re:We need content

[kalmite]

This is the big difference between US mobile phone internet and Japan's. In Japan all the phones have a PC browser so the web sites look just like they would on a normal computer.

Re:We need content

[GameboyRMH]

Thanks, it breaks the articles into subsections on separate pages, but it works :) I'll probaly stick to loading and stopping on the Treo but that would be a lifesaver for someone with no options.

I thought it might be a Javascript-related problem (since on the Treo, JS only runs when the page is completely finished loading) but I disabled JS and got the same problem. Probably something related to the page formatting (cruddy CSS?)

Re:We need content

[josath]

Try this:
http://www.skweezer.net/s.aspx/-/slashdot~org/index~pl?simpledesign=1&lowbandwidth=1

It's what I use for reading slashdot from my cellphone.

Population density is the big thing in their favor

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a lot easier to roll out services in Japan than in the US. The population density is much higher. It costs much less per person to roll out the services there.

Never Say Never Again

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

> What they are less keen on is video calling: in Japan, as in the UK, 90% say "no thanks, never". ...never in public, anyway. "Oh, come on! I'll show you mine if you show me yours!"

population density

[lobiusmoop]

I'd say that it was the the extremely high population density of Japan has made it easy for the mobile market there to be successful early on. The ratio of phone users to masts is going to be high in most of the country, so the providers could be sure of good early returns on investment, leading to the tech developing much faster than elsewhere.

Re:population density

[jellie]

It's also the small area that make it easy for companies to offer cell phone service. In addition to having a high population density, it's relatively easier to have enough cell towers to provide coverage over all of Japan, versus a larger country like the U.S. Though I really wish there were more options here; all the major cell phone companies in the U.S. suck.

Video calling

[c0d3h4x0r]

What they are less keen on is video calling: in Japan, as in the UK, 90% say "no thanks, never". That will change when someone finally invents software to change not only your voice, but your on-screen appearance, to any popular persona of your choice.

If you think ringtones of popular songs sell well, or custom voices to make your GPS sound like Mr. T, imagine how well the "Jessic Alba" and "Brad Pitt" video chat disguises would sell.

Re:Video calling

[jamar0303]

Well, the video part of that already exists- on NTT DoCoMo it's called "Chara-den" (Character phone). Good for making a videocall when you've just stepped out of the shower (unless you're...the kind of person who likes to show it all).

Re:Techno Fashion == who needs it?

[RealAlaskan]

It's because they have a techno-centric fashion culture.

I agree that's a far bigger force there than here.

I looked at the site another poster linked to, and found a list of 20 features of Japanese phones. A few of them seem pretty neat. For example,

#16 privacy screens and

#20 waterproof

seem like worthwhile additions to a phone. Then there are a few more which might be nice, though probably not on a phone:

#17 Scan barcodes

#18 Mobile GPS navigation (because who needs GPS for stationary navigation, after all?)

Most of them, such as:

#12 mobile fashion consultant

#13 mobile live TV and

#19 electric wave posters (uses RFID)

sound like things I wouldn't have on a bet.

Obviously my life isn't driven by a need to conspicuously consume techno-fashion.

We can't get phones with features like ``#2 Manga on mobile'' because too many of us would pay extra to avoid them.

video calling is fun

[Anonymous Coward]

video calling is fun.
I do it almost every day.
I call home to my kid and she loves this too. My wife calls me or I call her when one of us need advice and video makes it easier. Why waste time and try to describe something when i can just make a quick video call and thats it.

Cost

[nicklott]

The reason the mobile internet has not taken off in the UK is very simple: bandwidth cost.

We have the same flashy gadget laden phones that the japanese do, and, I believe, with not too much of a lag anymore. However after the mobile companies paid £4-5bn each for 3G frequencies they needed to get their money back and they decided to get it through bandwidth charges. Until very recently a typical charge per Mb was between £5-£10 (US$10-$20).

Very recently (like in the last 8 weeks) they have begun to fall, but I can't imagine why it didn't take off before, can you?

Re:Cost

[Anonymous Coward]

Really? I just this morning picked up a Nokia N95 from T-Mobile, who are charging me £7.50 a month ($15) for unlimited web access (fair use policy falls at about 2GB), and I know they were offering this 8 months ago when my ex-girlfriend got her new phone. Maybe if you have a PAYG phone, or an operator who like to charge through the nose for data (Orange are probably the worst), then you could have been looking at that much, but if you are looking for data plans in the UK, they are easy to come by at good prices.

Re:Cost

[nicklott]

and I know they were offering this 8 months ago Show me.

T mobile are the only uk mobile operator charging a flat fee even now and they certainly weren't doing it 12 months ago when I got my phone.

Re:Cost

[Anonymous Coward]

The earliest reference I can find (T-Mobile don't press release their price package changes for some reason) is from 14th November 2006, where the MDA Compact III is launched, at a price of "£59.99 when purchased on the Flext 35 tariff plus web'n'walk (£42.50 per month)**."

Press Release here: http://www.t-mobilepressoffice.co.uk/press/uk-releases/release.php?release=uk/2006/14-11-06-mdacompact3.htm

Re:Cost

[Andybites]

Well they had the WebNWalk offering open for a while when this launched.. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/09/t-mobile_hsdpa_datacard/

I've had WebnWalk with Tmoble since ~ June 2006 - "unlimited" net on your phone. Limit is about 1 gig a month. More than enough for most i would suggest!

They lead because

[twbecker]

they put up with the bugs of new tech. I heard somewhere that the reason cutting edge tech is always available in Japan first is that the Japanese are far more willing to put up with what we in the west would consider not ready for prime time. I guess they value whiz-bang features more than something that just works. Also, it doesn't hurt that the country is so small that it's relatively easy to roll out whatever infrastructure is required for such things.

Re:They lead because

[Mushdot]

Either you are trolling or you really don't know what you are talking about. The Japanese have always been way ahead in terms of gadgets and most electronic technologies and it's nothing to do with putting up with crap before everyone else.

I have a friend who has lived in Japan for 10 years and he was able to picture message and make video calls way before we had it over here (UK) and even now the quality of his phone in terms of photo and video messaging is still ahead of anything we get over here.

Re:They lead because

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah you're absolutely right. I had a phone when I lived there and the hardware was fantastic, but the software was complete crap.

Every page had a different "back" key, many menus had different navigation keys, navigation itself was completely arbitrary (think goto-hell). Give me my old Nokia anyday. (Don't get me started on the Razr or BlackBerry, they're nearly as bad)

One word - kaizen

[SL Baur]

I don't think you can consider the domestic Japanese market as a "test market". The rules are very different.

Everyone in Japan has a cellphone, including children. That means the market is saturated except that it isn't. The Japanese are masters at kaizen engineering - making a series of small steady improvements on something until it is far superior to anything else. As for cellphones, there is constant pressure to upgrade your phone every ten months or so. This is encouraged by practically giving the phones away in return for a fixed contract (mine was ten months).

Cellphone usage is futher promoted by idiotic NTT policy - ~US$1000 to purchase the right to purchase a landline when I was there. There were rumors that they were going to change that, but there are always rumors in Japan.

The domestic Japanese market is a perfect breeding ground for developing killer cellphone technology and indeed, the "3g" phones that are finally available in the US approach the functionality I had in my cellphone in Japan in 2002. (I don't know why T9 dictionary support is so terrible when it is much harder to support inputing Japanese text and the Japanese phones I had all had decent input methods).

No to mobile video calling

[paj1234]

Because mobile phones are primarily used for lying. For example, telling your wife you're late at the office, while in bed with your mistress.

Re:No to mobile video calling

[Anonymous Coward]

this is slashdot so it'd be more - 'For example, telling your parents you're working late at the office, while playing tabletop role playing games.'

Companies are not interested...

[KiwiCanuck]

in giving consumers what the consumer wants. The compaines only want to gouge you for the limited services that they offer. That's the North American way.

Re:Companies are not interested...

[Anonymous Coward]

I totally agree. I for one would like a phone you can make calls with. And maybe send sms. It would have to be small and light and have long battery life and resistance to a few bumps now and then. That's it.

No bells. No whistles.

Re:Companies are not interested...

[jamar0303]

I believe you're looking for the MOTOFONE. In Japan, you'd be looking for something like this.

Small country

[trickonion]

Because their country is as big as most of our states. When you can replace your entire cellular infrastructure with that few towers you better damn well be in the lead.

Re:Small country

[Anonymous Coward]

It is not a simple as that, since a high population density calls for a high cell density as well. Plus Japans mountainous terrain makes coverage planning difficult too.

Face it, the USA has dropped the ball on the whole cellular thing. Australia has more advanced cellular networks than the USA, despite an even lower population density.

Look at what was available in May or March 2004

[davidsyes]

http://www.techonline.com/product/underthehood/193100895

I bought one for one YEN (one PENNY) in Dec 04, the price being so low because the Yodabashi salesman said "It's already obsolete". Early adopters only 5 or 8 months earlier might have paid US$250 to $350.

Now, if only Samsung would remodel the A900M to be similar to the now-retired V402SH made by Sharp....

But, I think South Korea's mobile and data electronics prowess should be examined and compared to Japan, as well as Europe. Better cells are definitely OUTSIDE of the USA.

simple

[Kristoph]

The vast majority of Japanese spend a great deal of time on public transport, often (during rush hour) standing. Japan has a culture where it is considered bad manners to speak on your phone on public transport. Hence, to stay in touch with your friends, and to pass the time, you need a one handed device you can use to email, surf the web and whatnot.

Incidentally, the Japanese also have better wired internet access. The vast majority can get fiber to the home at a reasonable price.

]{

Re:simple

[FirstTimeCaller]

Incidentally, the Japanese also have better wired internet access. The vast majority can get fiber to the home at a reasonable price. You're not kidding. I was able to purchase a day's worth of internet access for 500 yen. That's less than US$5.00! This was both at the hotel and at Narita airport. Here in Washington state I can purchase online access on the state ferry for about $3.00 for 15 minutes. Somethings not right...

Re:simple

[Anonymous Coward]

Japan has a culture where it is considered bad manners to speak on your phone on public transport.

Only partially true...

When cell phones first started popping up in large numbers, people were using them everywhere. Yes, in Japan. Trains, restaurants, what not. It was irritating, and quickly new "rules" (proliferated via posters etc. and in-train annoucements) made it clear that this was not kosher. I guess the difference is that Japanese people are more likely to follow rules than Americans and Italians... not necessarily meaning they're better mannered to start with. They aren't. (I'm Japanese, I'm qualified to say this.)

the wedding photographer

[Anonymous Coward]

Every time I do a wedding in Japan the cell phones come out. I see a flood of lighted screens as the people turn to take stills and video of the bride. When I ask for directions or the train schedule, out comes the cell phone with internet access and I'm shown a map or schedule online. It's quiet on the train because so many people are doing text messages or games on the cell phone. The book store, the magazine rack and the shopping aisle are important sources of information captured and stored by the cell phone camera. It's the Japanese alternative universe.

Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[Captain Splendid]

After we stomped/bankrupted 'em flat in WWII, they had to rebuild from scratch. No legacy systems to work in, it's all new equipment from central office to cell tower.

Fixed that for you.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[Dogtanian]

Fixed that for you. Might or might not have been a troll, but it's certainly true that Japan's rapid post-War development, modernisation and resultant prosperity was the result of it being almost destroyed and rebuilt from scratch (with help from the Americans).

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[I(rispee_I(reme]

The Japanese were also forbidden by the terms of surrender to have a military sufficient for anything more than self-defense. Wonder what research could be funded with the money the U.S.A. spends on developing new ways to make dead soldiers.

Admittedly, defense research discovers nifty things like cloaks of invisibility and microwave pain beams... but I wonder if its the most fruitful line of inquiry.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[McFadden]

it's certainly true that Japan's rapid post-War development, modernisation and resultant prosperity was the result of it being almost destroyed and rebuilt from scratch

I'm not sure what your basis for this is, but I think this is at least in part a fallacy. Japan was already the dominant power in the region before WWII, and had already demonstrated the capability to thrive without American dollars. They had the most advanced infrastructure of any country in Asia, a formidable military, and the modernisation of the country during the Meiji era had already set the path for future progress.

The majority of Japan's construction (homes, office buildings, schools, hospitals etc.) is knocked flat and rebuilt every 20-30 years for a couple of reasons. Firstly, land values are still incredibly high in Japan due to supply and demand, and so most buildings are created using relatively cheap materials to keep the overall cost to a bearable level. Secondly, being one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world, safety dictates that buildings have a lifespan of several big shakes before it's time for them to come down. It's better to renew them regularly rather than waiting for them to reach a high-risk level of structural soundness. Thus the entire country (bar a few temples, and places of historic interest) is rebuilt every generation or two, even without the assistance of American bombs. Had WWII not occurred, the country would probably be culturally different in many ways (I doubt baseball would have become the national sport) but as for completely rebuilding - that happens anyway.

Finally, population density, and a relatively compact geography (almost the entire population lives in about 20% of the land, due to the fact that the other 80% is highly mountainous) means that mobile phone infrastructure (for example, 3G coverage), fibre-based internet etc. can be deployed much more quickly and effectively than in a country like the U.S.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[McFadden]

The Japanese were also forbidden by the terms of surrender to have a military sufficient for anything more than self-defense. Wonder what research could be funded with the money the U.S.A. spends on developing new ways to make dead soldiers.

Japan is actually the fourth biggest spender in the world when it comes to defence. While they may be a long way behind the U.S. (frankly everyone is), there are a lot of developed countries that spend a fraction of what Japan does. Japan's military might be constitutionally forbidden from waging war, but it doesn't stop them having some very shiny battleships.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[SvnLyrBrto]

You might want to crack open your copy of Jane's Fighting Ships, and check the date of publication. Yours appears to be about sixty years obsolete, because it's been about that long since Japan has operated any battleships. Even the US Navy hasn't operated a battleship since the mid-90s, and it's been trying for years to pawn off those four they have in mothballs as museum pieces.

cya,
john

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[Torvaun]

Well, as much fun as microwave pain beams are, there's a bunch of other stuff that's from defense research that's a little more useful. The Internet, for example. And nuclear reactors. Et cetera.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[Simon Brooke]

Thus the entire country (bar a few temples, and places of historic interest) is rebuilt every generation or two.

Actually, even most of Japan's ancient heritage buildings are systematically torn down and reconstructed every twenty years or so. The reconstructions are faithful copies of what was there before, but the materials are usually mostly new. This process of tearing down and renewing is part of the Shinto religion.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[Jesus_666]

That was also what fueled the German "Wirtschaftswunder" ("economic wonder"): After the war the allies looted the entire industrial infrastructure. When Germany became acceptable again we borrowed some money and replaced the missing stuff with high-tech equipment, giving us enormous advantages over other countries who still used their legacy systems.

Completely looting a country dry can lead to that country becoming economically stronger afterwards. Counterintuitive at first, but true.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[Captain Splendid]

and had already demonstrated the capability to thrive without American dollars

They hadn't yet figured out how to thrive without Oil, though.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[BlackSnake112]

The battleships that are floating museums would be taken by almost any country that has a coastline. They may not be 'modern' but as proven in the gulf war I, those guns still work very well and are very effective. It was said in a documentary (history channel?) that the Iowa(?)class of battleship was ahead of its time in WWII. That class of ship is still effective today.

And think about this for a minute: Sell the ship get millions (if not more) or make it a museum which costs money to run everyday. The US may be stupid in a lot of ways, but if they wanted to get rid of these ships selling them would have been done. The battleships have not been sold because they can be called back into service if need be. Other ships are being sold/taken apart for salvage yes, but not the battleships.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[IgnoramusMaximus]

Finally, population density, and a relatively compact geography (almost the entire population lives in about 20% of the land, due to the fact that the other 80% is highly mountainous) means that mobile phone infrastructure (for example, 3G coverage), fibre-based internet etc. can be deployed much more quickly and effectively than in a country like the U.S.

Please do not propagate this bold-faced lie of the North American telecom oligopolies.

If this were true, the major cities of the US and Canada, which have (in some areas) large numbers of relatively affluent individuals congregated in densities to rival Japan, would enjoy similiar levels of service in those areas, while the poor service would be restricted to the outlying areas. This of course is not the case because the true reason for the abysmal state of affairs in North America is the lack of any sort of meaningful competition between entrenched pigopolies, who instead of being prosecuted by local governmental officials on anti-trust crusades, are backed by government, complete with handouts for "Fiber to every home!" initiatives (in 1990's) to the tune of many billions of dollars, for which no one seems to be able to account today. This, naturally, being due to the larger problem of wholesale corruption of government by large business in our corner of the world.

What really gets my goat is that these con-artists have so little respect for their "customers" ("marks" is more like it) and the general public that they would even try such an audacious lie, which requires the victim to have near zero of even most rudamentary analytical skills or even most basic knowledge of geography.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[McFadden]

Population density is a factor in supply and demand. It's simple economics. Furthermore your argument is overly simplistic and fails to take into account that even a well organized telecoms company would have to spread its resources over both densely populated urban areas and rural settlements. However, you're right in that the U.S. is a total disaster. Don't assume though that just because your useless corporate pigs use it as an excuse, it automatically makes it a lie.

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[McFadden]

My apologies. To clarify, I used the term 'shiny battleships' as a throwaway term to describe military hardware such as their as their Aegis destroyers which are about as shiny as they come given that the first Atago class was only commissioned this year. It wasn't meant to be a technically accurate description (perhaps warship would have been a better choice).

Re:Why do they lead? Simple answer: WWII.

[IgnoramusMaximus]

Population density is a factor in supply and demand. It's simple economics.

Sure. That is why I pointed out that there are significant areas where the population density, wealth of the populace and the demand are very comparable to Japan, and yet the supply is nearly non existant and prices exorbitant. Similar (if not stronger, due to market being ill served) demand forming conditions, very different market results. So factors other then "populatiobn density" are at work in an overriding role. I (and just about anyone who spent 5 minutes looking into this) know exactly what these other factors are: lack of competition.

Furthermore your argument is overly simplistic and fails to take into account that even a well organized telecoms company would have to spread its resources over both densely populated urban areas and rural settlements.

Huh?! In anything resembling a "free" market existed -- free of kleptocratic oligopolies that is -- there would be dozens of small, specialist communication vendors catering to dense population areas but not the rural ones, and vice versa, cooperating with each other via sane public standards set and enforced with an iron fist by regulatory bodies, thus ensuring that a downtown customer of a vendor in a large city has no trouble communicating with a farm-dweller in a rural area served by a completely different, local company. Different markets require different vendors to serve them. A "well organized giant ass telecom" is not a solution to any of these problems. In fact its size and the incestous intermingling of its portfolio of greed, arrogance, archaic, proprietary, incompatible technologies with protective, corrupted governmental bureaucracies, which the "telecoms" usualy represent, is the very core of the problem.

Don't assume though that just because your useless corporate pigs use it as an excuse, it automatically makes it a lie.

See above. You got it backwards. It is because that is an (apparently effecive) boldfaced lie, the useless corporate pigs automatically use it.

Because their own faces are embarrassing!

[KNicolson]

According to a survey on PC video chat at least, the top reason for not getting into it was not liking seeing their own faces on screen! Another survey on mobile phone video calls found a similar percentage of people not keen on faces.

In my experience...

[interactive_civilian]

In my experience, it does not even cross the minds of a HUGE majority of Japanese people to rip someone off. They are a very trusting people in a safe, peaceful, low crime country.

In Japan you can see unattended store displays full of expensive products (even including flat screen TVs) out on the street, but it doesn't occur to anyone to take something. You can walk down the street in the middle of the night with the equivalent of thousands of dollars in your pocket in cash and not be worried about someone mugging you. (From personal experience) You can lose your passport in one of the busiest shopping areas of Tokyo (Shibuya), walk into the police station the next day or the day after, and get it back because someone would rather turn it in than steal your identity. Hell, you can lose your wallet with money in it, and the chances are you will get it back with all of the money (though you are expected to reward the finder something like 10%). You can accidentally leave your really nice, expensive camera on the train, and easily get it back later from one of the stations on that line.

So, people don't worry about someone wirelessly stealing their ID data and stuff from their phones because generally people aren't interested in taking advantage of each other. They are interested in living a fun, good life, not in ruining the lives of others.

Yes, there are exceptions. A big one in recent years was the "Ore Ore" scam where young men would call random old people saying "It's me! It's me" and their target would say, "What? Is that you Takeshi?". The scammer, now armed with a name, would reply, "Yeah, it's me, Takeshi. I'm in trouble, grandma. I need you to send me money." And then they would get money. This scam worked because people are naïve and (sadly) old people sometimes not well taken care of by their families.

But, generally speaking, this kind of crime is not a big concern in Japan. I hope it never becomes one, because the low crime rate is one of the things I truly loved while living there.

Re:In my experience...

[Anonymous Coward]

There are a few (but growing) no. of Chinese students who dabble in scamming and a few (but growing number) of Nigerians involved in scams and prostitution and a few Eastern Europeans in the same things. So maybe the native Japanese don't have a scamming trait (at the moment anyhow) but there are others who do.....

Re:In my experience...

[nemoyspruce]

i totally agree. id give you mod points if i had it. Its sad that some people dont understand and try to take advantage of it.

Re:In my experience...

[siliC]

I think this is close, but not quite right.
[bg info, i have only been living in japan for about 2 years, but i have some training in epistemology and cognitive science]

it seems incorrect to say that "it does not even cross the minds" of most people here to take advantage of others. i think it is important to make the distinction that it seems to cross peoples' minds just as often as where i used to live (US, in NJ and OH) - it's just that people know it's wrong, and choose to do the right thing. of course, this is related to your idea of free will and choice.

morality, we would say in English. it may not be the correct meme here though, as organized religion means something altogether much different here - "religion" is something that is generally avoided.

Re:Techno Fashion == who needs it?

[Cecil]

Even a GPS map nevermind navigation on a cell phone would be invaluable to me. Whether using Public Transit, or walking somewhere, or simply if I ever get marginally lost, it would be fantastic. Gimme gimme gimme.

Poor quality reporting from the Gruaniad

[KNicolson]

That photo is not of One Seg TV watchers, as the phones are about two year old models and they do not have TV aerials. Next "Yasuko San" - that should be "Yasuko san" most likely; San is not her surname!

Anyway, I'm just bitter that they seem to have nicked all their stats from my website without any credit!

Re:Poor quality reporting from the Gruaniad

[Anonymous Coward]

That's nice, but you, yourself take, nay, appropriate, other people's stats and put them online, so what is your complaint based on? Oh, self-promotion.. Got it!

Second

[Nursie]

My last two phones have had this capability, two cameras, one on each side.

I just don't like the idea of using it. I don't like speaking on the phone much, video is a step too far.

Both of these cultures are massively into text messages, what does that tell you? That they prefer offline, impersonal communication unless they are actually face to face.

Another difference

[rbarreira]

Japanese usually have reading skills, unlike the parent poster ;)

Re:Another difference

[tkh]

Huh? See the original poster's title.

Re:Another difference

[rbarreira]

Oops, hadn't read the title. I guess the joke's on me now ;)

Commuting + Small Houses = Greater Mobile Usage

[jon_cooper]

The title says it all, really. The Japanese face long commutes by public transport and so there is a huge market for entertaining and providing services for a mobile market. If you spent two hours or so a day on a train/bus, you'd want to browse the net, etc. It used to be reading manga, books and newspapers, but mobiles are providing an alternative to that. Is it a coincidence that Japan has the highest newspaper reading audience in the world? The other factor is that Japanese have small houses/apartments and so go out to restaurants and bars, etc far more often than people who have a nice big comfortable home to relax in after work and at weekends. Also, no garden and little house maintenance = more free time to go out. You just have to look around the entertainment districts of Tokyo at the incredible variety of eateries, bars, etc to realise what sort of lifestyle Japanese people enjoy. Add to that a generally non-technophobe populus who are very fashion-conscious about their clothes and accessories (inc tech), then you have a mobile phone dreamland. The greater mobile phone usage together with favourable conditions for a high-speed mobile network has put Japan at the forefront of mobile technology.

Re:Commuting + Small Houses = Greater Mobile Usage

[jamar0303]

Yep. It's everything I wished the US was.

not only mobile

[Anonymous Coward]

In fact, it's not only mobile world but also every products.

Do you believe that every 6 months you will see CMs for new washer, new refridge, new TV, etc. While it's clear that they already have the best products for anything, they are still doing this.

They are freak and obsessed to keep introducing new products. This makes them to do nothing but "kaizen".

And more importantly, since you don't have any other place to spend your money in Japan, you will end up buying new products every some months.

An opinion as a Japanese living in the U.S. for 5 years.

Re:Techno Fashion == who needs it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sprint here has Manga on Mobile now. Mostly TokyoPop.

Another theory...

[ChrisA90278]

I've been to japan a number of times. My wife was born and grew up there. My theory is simple. People in Tokyo do not own cars. OK a few do but most don't. If you are a kid (anyone who has not yet graduated from collage.) here in California nearly every last dime you make goes to paying for a car or gas, maintainance or insurance for same. What if there was no car? What elese to spend money on? Cloths and gadgets. Here when kids want to impress each other they buy stuff and bolt it onto their car like $1,000 wheel covers and big stereo speakers but if you don't have a car you gotta buy stuff you can carry around. Even if you are not out to impress - and many aren't there is still this large disposable income that comes with not having to pay for a car and it care and feeding.

One more Factor: While it sounds obvious, almost _everyone_ in Japan is Japanese. almost everyone is middle class and more than half have collage degrees. How does one make themselves stand out from the crowd?

Also if you go there or live there you will spend a lot of your time outside walking or on a train or just "out". Anything wired would never have much of a chance to be used

Mobile modems are NOT expensive in Japan

[InakaBoyJoe]

> And as for using the mobile as a modem - to link to the internet - that's very expensive in Japan

Actually that's not true at all. You can get flat rate mobile data (with no device restrictions) on a 3.5G cellular network for around US $45 a month. And we're not talking some kind of crappy EDGE service, this is for >1.5MBps in the real world (3.6MBps down theoretical) with latency low enough to use VOIP apps. It's just that the Big Three mobile carriers aren't that interested in supporting heavy bandwidth laptop users since they can make a lot more from lots of low-bandwidth handset users. The smaller upstart carriers, Willcom and E-Mobile, however, are specializing in data services including laptops.

E-Mobile is a particularly interesting case because here's a carrier that actually doesn't seem to mind being just a no-nonsense "pipe" -- at least for the time being. They launched earlier this year with flat-rate $45 data plans across the board and it will be interesting to see where they go.

All in all, this is a rather poorly researched and very gushy article. Maybe it would have been interesting in 2003. Still, though, it's good to bring attention to the ways decent wireless could improve our lives. A revolt for decent wireless telecom regulation, anyone?

Re:Mobile modems are NOT expensive in Japan

[jamar0303]

Willcom's an upstart? I thought that they were around for a long time (called something else before... DDI Pocket?) but don't have the same market presence because their phones don't have as good of a feature set.

Re:Mobile modems are NOT expensive in Japan

[InakaBoyJoe]

True, Willcom has been around for some time, but they are an "upstart" (as opposed to "start-up") in the sense that they are finally starting to grow their market share as a niche player versus DoCoMo and the like...

Why of course!

[KNicolson]

In my defense, let me say:

1. Information wants to be free
2. Facts, such as survey results, cannot be copyrighted
3. I credit all my sources
4. The information I translate is all from public press release-like sources
5. Much of the information is not available anywhere else in English for free
6. I've only had one complaint from any of the companies involved, but that was to do with the style of one translation, not the appropriation

Myths, myths, and more myths...

[InakaBoyJoe]

Every now and then the same myths about the Japanese mobile market come up. Here's what we've seen on Slashdot today:

1. "Japanese live in small houses, have small fingers, and they just love small things." "The Japanese" are not some kind of lilliputian race. In fact, these days their phones are BIGGER than most current GSM models. There is indeed space for a PC in most homes, although it's true that the level of PC ownership is not as high as in the US.
   
   
2. "Japanese are all crowded together in the cities, so it's easier to build wireless networks." Urban population percentage: Japan - 65%, USA - 80%, Canada - 80%. In reality, the proportion of people living in the densest cities is more like Canada (the biggest wireless backwater in the world). Moreover, once you start getting REALLY dense, it becomes even harder to build mobile networks because you end up having to put base stations in weird places instead of just erecting a tower.
   
   
3. "Mobile phones are bling in Asia." Commonly uttered by those who don't understand that Japan is not Hong Kong. High-end "fashion phones" do not drive features in Japan. DoCoMo's flagship 900 series phones have all retailed around the $200 mark since forever. The bling that you sometimes see on the street is all aftermarket dress-up and doesn't have much to do with new features. In fact, these days, the hottest market is the creation of high usability, large-type phones for the senior market.
   
   
4. "Using the phone as a modem is expensive in Japan." As of 2007, also not true anymore. I posted a thread before realizing there were more myths to bust. Flat rate data for laptops is also coming from the Big Three carriers within the next month or so.

I could go on, but when it comes to Japan, be careful whose information you trust. Lots of people who claim to know about Japan don't speak even speak the language, which continues to contribute to a lot of misinformation.

Myths aside, I think the real reasons Japan is so far ahead have a little bit to do with culture and language, a little more to do with urban density causing carriers to push low-bandwith services (i.e., text messaging) coupled with public transport and portability factors, and a lot more to do with insanely poor telecom regulation in other areas of the world (here's looking at you, Canada).

There are no really good reasons why we can't have the same quality of mobile services as Japan -- if only we demanded it (in large masses) from our governments, telecom carriers, and handset manufacturers. Thankfully, in the wake of iPhone and the unlocking debate it started, we might see some positive change. When we're on par with Japan, I'm going to laugh at all the pundits who claimed there was something unique about Japanese people, society, or culture that makes them so mobile-centric.

Simple.

[Anonymous Coward]

Because tech writers are always behind the curve and don't realize that the iPhone is now the phone to beat.

Japan 'leads' because it's a tiny nation.

[Anonymous Coward]

That's it, that's all. There's nothing more to it. It's a tiny First World nation with population concentrated in a handful of areas.

Establishing network technology for the nation of Japan is equivalent to establishing net-tech for a single US *city*.

The clueless creeps that continually compare apples to oranges by invoking Korea and Japan as models of technological development apparently have no concept of problems of scale.

Re:Japan 'leads' because it's a tiny nation.

[Anonymous Coward]

Establishing network technology for the nation of Japan is equivalent to establishing net-tech for a single US *city*.

Wow, there is a US *city* with 127,433,494 inhabitants? [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html#People]

Now, that's something....

Are you sure it is density?

[gr8dude]

Japan is not the most densely populated country of the world, see this map of population density; or this list of countries by population density. There has to be something else that causes this.

There was another American

[Per Abrahamsen]

who has never looked at a map.

All About QR Codes (Two-Dimensional Barcodes)

[patio11]

The "square tattoo on paper" are called "QR codes", sometimes referred to in my previous employer's English literature as "two-dimension barcodes". You are correct, you use the built-in camera to photograph it, and then the code gets OCRed. This is fairly easy because they are square, black and white, and have positional markers at three corners, which makes them easy to read under a variety of lighting and orientations. They're even pretty robust against being lightly bent, such as what often happens when you print a QR code on a manga (it won't be on a plane when it is scanned, but rather on a gently sloping surface).

The amount of data they can hold isn't all that impressive -- about 1kb for the most common variety. However, 1kb packs in a URL pretty nicely. That is their primary use and one of the reasons they're so explosively popular. Making the system open and mostly based on the open (and mostly solved) problems of web delivery means everyone inhabits the same information ecosystem, and that means you can invest in it and not be at the mercy of the fickle Japanese phone-buying public. Manufacturers already have the big investment (the camera) on the phone, its all but impossible to sell in Japan without one -- adding OCR to support the QR code is child's play (it would be a decent, and not too challenging, project for any graphical processing class at the undergrad level). Content publishers are already capable of writing websites. Send Marketing your QR code for the URL to the website, on the website impliment a CGI page circa 1996 to collect email addresses, boom, you now have a cellphone enabled mailing list that you can be sure works with 99% of the country's installed base.

(I'm abstracting away some practical issues -- character encoding, screen sizes, etc. QR codes solve one problem domain very well, they don't completely eliminate all of the content problems with cellphones.)

it doesnt have an iphone Japan sucks

[talledega500]

right?

The advice of Dudley Moore

[Crudely_Indecent]

From the movie crazy people, "Japanese people are shorter, so they can get closer to the tiny electronics. They can better see what they're doing. That's why they're better"

Re:Techno Fashion == who needs it?

[Amazing Proton Boy]

Dude, try mobile Gmaps. Works on almost every phone out there. Simply awesome.

Nononononono

[cthulhu11]

It's because Caucasians are just too damned tall! (for the culturally-impaired, it's a reference to Crazy People)

no... the actual reason is...

[jshader15]

As someone that lived in a culture that has highly developed mobile networks (South Korea) I can tell you the real reason why mobile communication technologies are so important. The reason is because of practical public transportation. In the USA (where I currently live) public transportation constitutes a small percentage of how people get around, however in the rest of the world such as Japan and South Korea (and other numerous other countries that don't consider the personal car their primary means of transportation) public transportation such as subways and bus systems give users many hours a day the time to play with moblie devices. Therefore their mobile devices have a much higher importance and value on their daily lives and thus have a much greater importance. In the USA the majority of people drive to work, so nobody really values kick ass mobile devices and innovations. The value of innovative mobile devices is proportionate to the number of hours people spend using mobile devices (duhhhhh.....). In the rest of the world where people need to use social transportation services, mobile devices have a much higher value than in the USA. It basically comes down this: the number of hours you use public transport is proportionate to the importance and value of mobile communication devices. Therefore the USA does not value leet mobile devices that much. So... you might as well segregate the mobile markets and not even bother with the US market. Got it?