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Novels Composed on Cellphones Topping Japanese Best Seller Lists

Posted by Zonk on from the tiny-text-long-tail dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times has up an article examining the rise of blogs/novels that make the transition to published books. Recent Japanese best-seller lists have been heavy with these texts, many of them actually written on cellphones for a cellphone reading audience. Commentators note the popularity of this form of literature coincides with cell providers moving to unlimited data packages. 'The affordability of cellphones coincided with the coming of age of a generation of Japanese for whom cellphones, more than personal computers, had been an integral part of their lives since junior high school. So they read the novels on their cellphones, even though the same Web sites were also accessible by computer. They punched out text messages with their thumbs with blinding speed, and used expressions and emoticons, like smilies and musical notes, whose nuances were lost on anyone over the age of 25.'"

7 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. cellphone novels by H0D_G · · Score: 5, Funny

    2 b or not 2 b tht is th ?

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    1. Re:cellphone novels by Dogtanian · · Score: 5, Funny

      My boss using "u" and "2" and such as words when she emails me. True, but it's not as bad as "Bon" and "Jovi" or "Nickel" and "Back".
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  2. That's the Japanese for You by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 4, Funny

    Name something technologically possible to do that nobody would really want to do for any good reason, and chances are the Japanese have done it just to see what would happen. Oh, and to see if it could be used to sneak tentacle pr0n to middle school kids on their train home. The internet is for porn, after all.

    Well, that and Slashdot.

    1. Re:That's the Japanese for You by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      The Internet is also for subtle racism as well, apparently.

  3. With Apologies to /. by Rie+Beam · · Score: 4, Funny

    Composing with a cellphone? What a novel idea!

  4. nuances by Threni · · Score: 3, Funny

    > They punched out text messages with their thumbs with blinding speed, and used expressions and emoticons, like smilies and musical notes, whose
    > nuances were lost on anyone over the age of 25.'"

    Or with an IQ over 25. Nuances? How is a smiley a nuance?

    I fell in love. I felt like this :) But then Juliet died. This made me feel like this :(

  5. Re:After Reading This... by Fred_A · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oook ?

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