Let's put a few of these things to bed...
on
Vodafone Quitting Japan
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· Score: 4, Informative
I would take an entirely different view of Vodafone's demise. I feel that it's much less to do with it failing to match up to DoCoMo and much more to do with it failing to compete for the number 2 position against KDDI (owner of the AU network).
DoCoMo has a loyal and strong customer base. Despite being more expensive than the other two networks, it is popular amongst the middle-aged and business customers who rarely switch networks. Furthermore these customers are less likely to upgrade their handsets on a regular basis, bringing a long-term return on the heavily subsidised phone the customer bought way back when. DoCoMo don't need to work to hard to maintain their position.
KDDI (AU) on the other hand has gone from arguably being the third-best service offering to the biggest innovator in the space of just a few years. AU has introduced attractive service plans, and intelligently captured a large share of the student market by offering an across the board 50% discount to anyone in full time education. This has reaped dividends several years later as those students are now graduating and converting to full price customers. Additionally they have invested very heavily in their 3G network, with a significantly higher proportion of their customers transferring to 3G services than either of their competitors. My own AU phone is capable of data transfer of 2.4Mbps (faster than most peoples landline based broadband in a lot of countries!) The other two networks are way behind on this count. AU has also capitalized on the i-pod craze by making virtually all handsets mp3 capable and introducing their own mobile version of i-tunes, which has access to a lot of Japanese artists unavailable on other online stores.
I'd take issue with the guy moaning about smartphones. The AU OS is perfectly functional and offers a catalogue of hundreds if not thousands of downloadable JAVA applications. My phone can also handle Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files and has a full featured web browser. Perfectly smart enough for my needs, and no Windows in sight.
And what has Vodafone done in this time? Well to be honest, not very much. They were late to the table with their 3G offering, which works only in mainly urban reception areas. Most importantly, they haven't done anything to really differentiate themselves or their service which is where AU have really scored big points. I don't know the statistics, but I'd say that Vodafone have struggled, not so much because they have failed to win customers, but because both they and DoCoMo have lost market share to AU.
The one comment I'd seriously disagree with is the "brick phone" suggestion in the original story. This is just bullshit. Walk into any Vodafone store and you'll see upwards of 20 handsets, maybe 2 of which are brick phones, and the rest are clamshells. I hardly think this is the cause of their failure, especially when DoCoMo and AU both offer bricks of their own.
The fact that millions of Christians utter this word in a sincere tone, on a daily basis, without even knowing what it means, just exposes the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of organized religion.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. People may fear, loathe or just distrust Bill Gates and his lust for monopolistic dominance, but compared to Ellison, he's a pussycat. Ellison IS the antichrist. I've witnessed a few of his speeches firsthand, and been at a cocktail party where he was present. I've never seen anyone who seems so entirely driven by hatred. He has a strange aura of evil around him. I feel grateful that Microsoft is largely controlled by bumbling geeks like Gates and baboons like Ballmer. If Ellison was in their position we'd be paying his company to wipe our ass by now.
He doesn't like OSS for one simple reason. It's not his. He doesn't own it, control it, or make money from it (although arguably his products sometimes rely on it).
I'd let my children go to for a fun day at the park with Bill. I wouldn't let them in the same room as Larry.
Sorry -now I've got that off my chest, feel free to resume the conversation.
Depends on how you look at the figures. They make a big play of market-share, which of course is important, but underplay the actual sales - plus, music capable phones handsets are considerably more widespread than many other territories. Virtually all handsets from the 3 main networks now contain mp3/music playing features by default.
If you look a bit closer, the article states that 4.1 million ipods were sold during 2005, whereas in a roughly similiar period (since November 2004) almost 6 million people have mp3 capable phones on one network alone (and the network they focused on - "au" is only Japan's second largest, DoCoMo being the biggest). It would be interesting to see what happens to Apple's share of the market when you factor in devices such as mp3 phones and PSPs both of which people use as a music player. Sure Apple's performance is impressive, especially for a non-Japanese firm, but it's not quite as clear cut as people are making out.
> Why do so many people think they have a right to dictate the terms of other people's businesses?
And why do so many companies think they don't have to listen to what their customers want. The parent thread was a consumer voicing his opinion about a product he would like to buy. When, why, where and how was that wrong? He wasn't dictating anything. Don't get so precious. It might actually do Jobs & Co. some good to listen to people like him. If it weren't for ipod/itunes, Apple would still be going backwards. For all the fanfares about Jobs' genius, he's managed to actually increase sales of Apple's core product (personal computers) not a bloody lot.
Frankly the Xbox launch in Japan was lousy. I can't speak for Tokyo, but up here in Sapporo (which is Japan's fifth largest city with a population of nearly 2 million) we got a few crappy billboard ads on the walls at train and subway stations. I couldn't even tell you what date it launched on, until I noticed they were selling it one day when I walked into an electronics store. Apart from instore displays (which were not exactly mindblowing - a couple of demo consoles and some posters) I saw little else. There was no television or radio that I can recall.
Additionally the billboard ads were ridiculous. They just showed an Xbox logo and a list of upcoming releases. Except IIRC many of the releases were listed as late 2006 (bear in mind this was late 2005 at the time) so essentially the posters just screamed "buy this very expensive room heater, and wait at least a year before any decent games start appearing in your country". Which marketing idiot came up with that creative masterpiece? By the way - I assume someone else has reported it, but in case you haven't read, the head of Xbox Japan has just been fired.
But seriously, the launch flop has a lot more to it than just bad marketing. Microsoft has majorly underestimated the power of the Japanese collective consciousness. They're NEVER going to succeed in Japan. Period. Why...? Because the Japanese are very much aware of the threat to their position as the world's second largest economy and their quality of life as they are having to compete more and more on the world stage. The US is just one threat, but there are other emerging competitors like China right on our doorstep. Japan is still far and away the world leader in videogames hardware and still one of the most important creators of game software. They're not about to give that up and face the financial consequences (Sony/Nintendo taking a huge financial hit, knock on effect to the domestic economy, lost jobs etc.) that it would bring if they surrendered the number 1 position to Microsoft. Xbox is not just a rival console - it's one battleship in a larger fleet that threatens the future financial security of Japan. This is not about the best console, the most powerful console, the cheapest console... It's a mixture of national pride, and looking after one's own future.
> Oh ya, let's hope they ditch the two part windowsish looking start menu thing
With respect I'd much rather see them make things like that optional. For two reasons. Firstly someone who is trying something other than Windows for the first time might like it, or find it more comfortable, and that's no bad thing if it helps people migrate (I totally agree with your 'mother can use it' comment). Secondly, as long as it doesn't turn into bloatware, why not have choice rather than the enforced views of what other people think we should be looking at. Calling for stuff to be ditched really just pushes that agenda.
The point is, a lot of people are going to be very turned on by Vista/Aero Glass, simply because it looks nice. If moving to an OS like Linux means downgrading your aesthetics, it's just another thing that's going to stop it becoming more mainstream.
Unfortunately it worked, I'm now browsing ebay in another tab.
Dammit. I'm now pining for a clear cola drink. Clever stuff this subliminal advertising.
I can't think of any other reason why practially everything he writes these days seems to make frontpage. His column is consistently either ill-informed, or alternatively just rehashes the news, which has been reported everywhere else on the 'net about 1 month earlier.
With respect, I'm glad your comments were modded "interesting" and not "insightful".
Have you ever lived in Japan? I've read several times in this discussion, people stating that there is little stigma attached to suicide in Japan. Sorry, but this is utter bullshit.
I live in Japan and have first-hand experience of dealing with the aftermath of a suicide. In that particular case, the guy who sadly ended his life was a restaurant owner. The real estate company that owned the rental property where he had his restaurant threatened to sue the bereaved family, because it was considered likely that if word of the suicide got out, they would be unable to rent the space again for the duration of the life of the building. No one would go near it, even at a rock-bottom price. Such is the stigma of suicide here.
The main reason for the big increase in suicide in recent years has nothing to do with stigma or spiritual values. Purely and simply it's come about because Japan has been going through a fairly significant cultural shift from a closed, insular society, to an open, more westernised lifestyle. This has caused significant emotional upheaval, particularly amongst the older generations who are losing their sense of identity. Cultural standards, such as the traditional "job for life" are being withdrawn as Japanese companies are forced to shed their bloated workforces and streamline in order to compete globally.
This is not the whole picture, as the reasons for Japan's suicide rate are complex and difficult to list as simple points, but lack of stigma has nothing to do with it. Just because you saw a bunch of "Hollywood Samurai" feel no qualms about disembowelling themselves in a certain Tom Cruise movie, don't assume it's socially acceptable to kill yourself.
You fucking fanboys. I hope you feel warm and fuzzy modding down... (etc)
I read your post before I saw the parent, and I thought you were being an ass. But I have to say, I agree.
Well with his celebrity endorsement (I have no idea who Mario Batali is but I guess he's famous somewhere in the world) he's probably increased the customer-base and demand for your product tenfold and has guaranteed your business for several years down the track, so maybe you should be paying him!
This debate is a bit old now, but since I was checking back over past posts and didn't see a reply to your query (least of all from me), I'll answer briefly in case you have email notification turned on and happen to read it.
Actually, you're almost right.
Koko, soko and asoko can be thought of as roughly 'here', 'there' and 'over there' (ie. a bit further than in the immediate vicinity), referring to places.
Kono, sono and ano require a noun, for example:
"kono pasokon" would be "this computer"
"sono pasokon" would be "that computer"
"ano pasokon" is also "that computer" (but a bit further away)
Where you are slightly mistaken is with kore/sore/are. Essentially they are pronouns so they take the place of a noun. 'kore' is 'this', 'sore' is 'that' and 'are' is also 'that' (but again further away). So they usually do refer to something tangible.
So take for example this simple conversation:
"Kore wa nan desu ka?" - "What is this?"
"Kore wa pasokon desu." - "This is a computer."
"Sore wa surashudotto no homupeji desu ka?" - "Is that the Slashdot Homepage?"
"Iie. Sore wa maikurosofuto no homupeji desu!." - "No. That is the Microsoft Homepage!"
"Are wa pasokon desu ne." - "That's a computer (over there) isn't it."
"Baka da na! Are wa terebi desu!" - "Idiot! That's a television!"
There is also another form: kochira, sochira and achira which functions as both directions ('this way', 'that way', 'over there that way') and a polite form of 'this', 'tha't and 'that over there'. But I won't confuse you any further.
Cell phones are the wrong frequency. They are 800, 900, 1800, or 1900 MHz depending on the service. To make water heat up, you need to be at the frequency water resonates which is 2.4GHz.
Which is interesting because a lot of cordless phones use 2.4 Ghz, yet the article explicitly states that cordless phones won't work (weak signal perhaps?).
I think you've perhaps missed the point. This isn't about producing a deathray - it's about having the extra radiating power of two phones to make the trick more effective. Calling one phone from another just makes it easier and cheaper than calling two separate third-parties (or should that be a third and fourth party!?)
I don't speak Spanish, but assuming you do, you'll understand.
As a general rule, kore, sore, are refer to different degrees of distance, from closest to furthest away.
There's no perfect way to explain it, as it's something you pick up a feeling for, but you could consider one way of looking as it as:
kore - close to the speaker sore - closer to the person being spoken to, than to the speaker. Or not within reasonable reaching distance of either - but not far either (e.g. on the next desk to yours). are - not close to either person (e.g. something a few blocks up the street, or in the distance).
Generally I find in day to day conversation, "kore" and "sore" are quite common, but "are" doesn't actually get used that much. The Japanese sometimes say "sore", when your textbook would suggest "are" might be a more appropriate choice.
Finally just to complicate things (which often seems like a major goal of the language) there are other forms such as kono, sono, ano and koko, soko, asoko which are used in different circumstances.
I've never seen Firefly and I probably wouldn't be that interested in it, but I'd rather encourage people to fight for what they want, than sit back and spout pointless cynicism.
Forgive me. I've had a hunt around, but I must have missed it.
Could someone point out to me what reliable evidence there is to suggest that this is definately a Jack Thompson message. Not trying to be cynical - I just couldn't find any, and would appreciate a link or something. Many thanks.
Slashdot Mirror
DoCoMo has a loyal and strong customer base. Despite being more expensive than the other two networks, it is popular amongst the middle-aged and business customers who rarely switch networks. Furthermore these customers are less likely to upgrade their handsets on a regular basis, bringing a long-term return on the heavily subsidised phone the customer bought way back when. DoCoMo don't need to work to hard to maintain their position.
KDDI (AU) on the other hand has gone from arguably being the third-best service offering to the biggest innovator in the space of just a few years. AU has introduced attractive service plans, and intelligently captured a large share of the student market by offering an across the board 50% discount to anyone in full time education. This has reaped dividends several years later as those students are now graduating and converting to full price customers. Additionally they have invested very heavily in their 3G network, with a significantly higher proportion of their customers transferring to 3G services than either of their competitors. My own AU phone is capable of data transfer of 2.4Mbps (faster than most peoples landline based broadband in a lot of countries!) The other two networks are way behind on this count. AU has also capitalized on the i-pod craze by making virtually all handsets mp3 capable and introducing their own mobile version of i-tunes, which has access to a lot of Japanese artists unavailable on other online stores. I'd take issue with the guy moaning about smartphones. The AU OS is perfectly functional and offers a catalogue of hundreds if not thousands of downloadable JAVA applications. My phone can also handle Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF files and has a full featured web browser. Perfectly smart enough for my needs, and no Windows in sight.
And what has Vodafone done in this time? Well to be honest, not very much. They were late to the table with their 3G offering, which works only in mainly urban reception areas. Most importantly, they haven't done anything to really differentiate themselves or their service which is where AU have really scored big points. I don't know the statistics, but I'd say that Vodafone have struggled, not so much because they have failed to win customers, but because both they and DoCoMo have lost market share to AU.
The one comment I'd seriously disagree with is the "brick phone" suggestion in the original story. This is just bullshit. Walk into any Vodafone store and you'll see upwards of 20 handsets, maybe 2 of which are brick phones, and the rest are clamshells. I hardly think this is the cause of their failure, especially when DoCoMo and AU both offer bricks of their own.
The fact that millions of Christians utter this word in a sincere tone, on a daily basis, without even knowing what it means, just exposes the ridiculousness and hypocrisy of organized religion.
He doesn't like OSS for one simple reason. It's not his. He doesn't own it, control it, or make money from it (although arguably his products sometimes rely on it).
I'd let my children go to for a fun day at the park with Bill. I wouldn't let them in the same room as Larry.
Sorry -now I've got that off my chest, feel free to resume the conversation.
If you look a bit closer, the article states that 4.1 million ipods were sold during 2005, whereas in a roughly similiar period (since November 2004) almost 6 million people have mp3 capable phones on one network alone (and the network they focused on - "au" is only Japan's second largest, DoCoMo being the biggest). It would be interesting to see what happens to Apple's share of the market when you factor in devices such as mp3 phones and PSPs both of which people use as a music player. Sure Apple's performance is impressive, especially for a non-Japanese firm, but it's not quite as clear cut as people are making out.
>What will be the primary elements of an Office Suite for the Web be? (sic)
Wouldn't hurt for Slashdot editors to use one occasionally.
And why do so many companies think they don't have to listen to what their customers want. The parent thread was a consumer voicing his opinion about a product he would like to buy. When, why, where and how was that wrong? He wasn't dictating anything. Don't get so precious. It might actually do Jobs & Co. some good to listen to people like him. If it weren't for ipod/itunes, Apple would still be going backwards. For all the fanfares about Jobs' genius, he's managed to actually increase sales of Apple's core product (personal computers) not a bloody lot.
Additionally the billboard ads were ridiculous. They just showed an Xbox logo and a list of upcoming releases. Except IIRC many of the releases were listed as late 2006 (bear in mind this was late 2005 at the time) so essentially the posters just screamed "buy this very expensive room heater, and wait at least a year before any decent games start appearing in your country". Which marketing idiot came up with that creative masterpiece? By the way - I assume someone else has reported it, but in case you haven't read, the head of Xbox Japan has just been fired.
But seriously, the launch flop has a lot more to it than just bad marketing. Microsoft has majorly underestimated the power of the Japanese collective consciousness. They're NEVER going to succeed in Japan. Period. Why...? Because the Japanese are very much aware of the threat to their position as the world's second largest economy and their quality of life as they are having to compete more and more on the world stage. The US is just one threat, but there are other emerging competitors like China right on our doorstep. Japan is still far and away the world leader in videogames hardware and still one of the most important creators of game software. They're not about to give that up and face the financial consequences (Sony/Nintendo taking a huge financial hit, knock on effect to the domestic economy, lost jobs etc.) that it would bring if they surrendered the number 1 position to Microsoft. Xbox is not just a rival console - it's one battleship in a larger fleet that threatens the future financial security of Japan. This is not about the best console, the most powerful console, the cheapest console... It's a mixture of national pride, and looking after one's own future.
Please insert the words "American residents" between 'those' and 'who'.
Microsoft aren't giving the rest of the world diddley-squat.
Crikey... I really should refrain from posting after consuming alcoholic beverages...
My god... I think I've just come.........
Oh... wait... It was just a slashdot editorial...?
You're kidding me!
What... You mean they're pushing Apple press releases as if they're god's gift..?
Surely not!
With respect I'd much rather see them make things like that optional. For two reasons. Firstly someone who is trying something other than Windows for the first time might like it, or find it more comfortable, and that's no bad thing if it helps people migrate (I totally agree with your 'mother can use it' comment). Secondly, as long as it doesn't turn into bloatware, why not have choice rather than the enforced views of what other people think we should be looking at. Calling for stuff to be ditched really just pushes that agenda.
The point is, a lot of people are going to be very turned on by Vista/Aero Glass, simply because it looks nice. If moving to an OS like Linux means downgrading your aesthetics, it's just another thing that's going to stop it becoming more mainstream.
Unfortunately it worked, I'm now browsing ebay in another tab. Dammit. I'm now pining for a clear cola drink. Clever stuff this subliminal advertising.
I can't think of any other reason why practially everything he writes these days seems to make frontpage. His column is consistently either ill-informed, or alternatively just rehashes the news, which has been reported everywhere else on the 'net about 1 month earlier.
Have you ever lived in Japan? I've read several times in this discussion, people stating that there is little stigma attached to suicide in Japan. Sorry, but this is utter bullshit.
I live in Japan and have first-hand experience of dealing with the aftermath of a suicide. In that particular case, the guy who sadly ended his life was a restaurant owner. The real estate company that owned the rental property where he had his restaurant threatened to sue the bereaved family, because it was considered likely that if word of the suicide got out, they would be unable to rent the space again for the duration of the life of the building. No one would go near it, even at a rock-bottom price. Such is the stigma of suicide here.
The main reason for the big increase in suicide in recent years has nothing to do with stigma or spiritual values. Purely and simply it's come about because Japan has been going through a fairly significant cultural shift from a closed, insular society, to an open, more westernised lifestyle. This has caused significant emotional upheaval, particularly amongst the older generations who are losing their sense of identity. Cultural standards, such as the traditional "job for life" are being withdrawn as Japanese companies are forced to shed their bloated workforces and streamline in order to compete globally.
This is not the whole picture, as the reasons for Japan's suicide rate are complex and difficult to list as simple points, but lack of stigma has nothing to do with it. Just because you saw a bunch of "Hollywood Samurai" feel no qualms about disembowelling themselves in a certain Tom Cruise movie, don't assume it's socially acceptable to kill yourself.
You fucking fanboys. I hope you feel warm and fuzzy modding down... (etc) I read your post before I saw the parent, and I thought you were being an ass. But I have to say, I agree.
If I were equally uncharitable, I'd drop the word "scientific" from the above.
Well with his celebrity endorsement (I have no idea who Mario Batali is but I guess he's famous somewhere in the world) he's probably increased the customer-base and demand for your product tenfold and has guaranteed your business for several years down the track, so maybe you should be paying him!
Actually, you're almost right.
Koko, soko and asoko can be thought of as roughly 'here', 'there' and 'over there' (ie. a bit further than in the immediate vicinity), referring to places.
Kono, sono and ano require a noun, for example:
"kono pasokon" would be "this computer"
"sono pasokon" would be "that computer"
"ano pasokon" is also "that computer" (but a bit further away)
Where you are slightly mistaken is with kore/sore/are. Essentially they are pronouns so they take the place of a noun. 'kore' is 'this', 'sore' is 'that' and 'are' is also 'that' (but again further away). So they usually do refer to something tangible.
So take for example this simple conversation:
"Kore wa nan desu ka?" - "What is this?"
"Kore wa pasokon desu." - "This is a computer."
"Sore wa surashudotto no homupeji desu ka?" - "Is that the Slashdot Homepage?"
"Iie. Sore wa maikurosofuto no homupeji desu!." - "No. That is the Microsoft Homepage!"
"Are wa pasokon desu ne." - "That's a computer (over there) isn't it."
"Baka da na! Are wa terebi desu!" - "Idiot! That's a television!"
There is also another form: kochira, sochira and achira which functions as both directions ('this way', 'that way', 'over there that way') and a polite form of 'this', 'tha't and 'that over there'. But I won't confuse you any further.
Which is interesting because a lot of cordless phones use 2.4 Ghz, yet the article explicitly states that cordless phones won't work (weak signal perhaps?).
I think you've perhaps missed the point. This isn't about producing a deathray - it's about having the extra radiating power of two phones to make the trick more effective. Calling one phone from another just makes it easier and cheaper than calling two separate third-parties (or should that be a third and fourth party!?)
I take it you're quoting the official response from BMW Germany's IT spokesperson.
There's no perfect way to explain it, as it's something you pick up a feeling for, but you could consider one way of looking as it as:
kore - close to the speaker
sore - closer to the person being spoken to, than to the speaker. Or not within reasonable reaching distance of either - but not far either (e.g. on the next desk to yours).
are - not close to either person (e.g. something a few blocks up the street, or in the distance).
Generally I find in day to day conversation, "kore" and "sore" are quite common, but "are" doesn't actually get used that much. The Japanese sometimes say "sore", when your textbook would suggest "are" might be a more appropriate choice.
Finally just to complicate things (which often seems like a major goal of the language) there are other forms such as kono, sono, ano and koko, soko, asoko which are used in different circumstances.
In that case I live in hope that Fox Japan will show it at some point in the future.
I've never seen Firefly and I probably wouldn't be that interested in it, but I'd rather encourage people to fight for what they want, than sit back and spout pointless cynicism.
Could someone point out to me what reliable evidence there is to suggest that this is definately a Jack Thompson message. Not trying to be cynical - I just couldn't find any, and would appreciate a link or something. Many thanks.