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Japan: Technology Implications

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Overview
Why Japan
Demanding consumers

Overview

The serious technological limitations which plague other countries like China and South Korea are less pronounced in Japan. Although there exists a digital divide in Japan, with rural areas not connected to high-speed internet as much as their counterparts living in urban cities, the u-Japan strategy is working towards eliminating this divide. Besides this and as mentioned frequently in this wiki, the ability to reach the Japanese internet user could be severely limited if mobile-content is not readily available. Since a significant number of Japanese internet users access sites through their mobiles, it is crucial that they are able to easily reach websites through their handheld devices.

Why Japan?

The technology penetration in Japan must make one wonder why such is technology such a hit in Japan and not in other mobile-savvy nations. 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. But it does have its disadvantages. Most us would feel miffed if we lost or damaged our mobiles. The Japanese would be paralysed without theirs; nearly half of the Japanese population confesses to being obsessed with their mobile phones. But why is mobile technology such a hit in Japan and not in other mobile-savvy nations such as Finland? According to the man who kickstarted the trend - the father of i-mode, NTT DoCoMo's Takeshi Natsuno - it is because of the Japanese genius for designing new technologies that can be adopted by anyone, especially techno-phobes. It's not about "bandwidth, nor standards, nor unique Japanese culture", he says. It is about "fun and convenience".

The technology penetration in Japan must make one wonder why such is technology such a hit in Japan and not in other mobile-savvy nations.

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.

But it does have its disadvantages. Most us would feel miffed if we lost or damaged our mobiles. The Japanese would be paralysed without theirs; nearly half of the Japanese population confesses to being obsessed with their mobile phones.

But why is mobile technology such a hit in Japan and not in other mobile-savvy nations such as Finland? According to the man who kickstarted the trend - the father of i-mode, NTT DoCoMo's Takeshi Natsuno - it is because of the Japanese genius for designing new technologies that can be adopted by anyone, especially techno-phobes. It's not about "bandwidth, nor standards, nor unique Japanese culture", he says. It is about "fun and convenience".

When i-mode was launched in the UK a few years ago, the hopes were Natsuno was right and mobile internet would take off as it had in Japan. It didn't. "Basically these things succeeded best where the Japanese model was most faithfully stuck to. Telecom France, for example, had success with i-mode," says Scuka. Britain apparently went its own way with i-mode and relied on phones that weren't up to the job. It flopped and recently was buried alongside that other great mobile pretender, WAP. However, Europeans do not have some of the advantages that DoCoMo and the other carriers enjoy in Japan. As Terrie Lloyd, a business analyst, points out: "Japanese mobile phone bandwidth is free to the carriers. They didn't have to pay for it. So rather than skin the consumers for every cent, they keep a good-value proposition."

Source: The Gaurdian

Demanding consumers

The Japanese are blessed with some of the best-looking technology in the world. It has to be intuitive, simple and high-quality, not because the Japanese are so tech-savvy, but because they are the most demanding consumers in the world. According to Scuka, more than 100 new phones hit the Japanese market last year as manufacturers tried out new ideas on the public. Some cultural factors, as with any other country, do play a part in Japan's willingness to take up some technologies such as TV on the mobile. As in Europe, this was at first a washout, but as watching TV in public becomes more socially acceptable in Japan, the number of subscribers is rising. Au, the second largest mobile network in Japan, recently signed up its five millionth subscriber to the service. Japanese commute on trains. The average person commutes at least an hour each way every day - that's a lot of eyeball time. Only teenagers in Europe can match this sort of availability," says Scuka. It is this urban lifestyle where convenience is the key, which has necessitated the rise of the all-in-one mobile plus those very funky handsets. By comparison Apple's iPhone is a mere 2.5G plaything. In Japan, which is already into 3G and heading towards 4G, they make mobiles look good and work hard. Source: The Gaurdian	Picture: Mobile monday

The Japanese are blessed with some of the best-looking technology in the world. It has to be intuitive, simple and high-quality, not because the Japanese are so tech-savvy, but because they are the most demanding consumers in the world. According to Scuka, more than 100 new phones hit the Japanese market last year as manufacturers tried out new ideas on the public. Some cultural factors, as with any other country, do play a part in Japan's willingness to take up some technologies such as TV on the mobile.

As in Europe, this was at first a washout, but as watching TV in public becomes more socially acceptable in Japan, the number of subscribers is rising. Au, the second largest mobile network in Japan, recently signed up its five millionth subscriber to the service. Japanese commute on trains. The average person commutes at least an hour each way every day - that's a lot of eyeball time. Only teenagers in Europe can match this sort of availability," says Scuka.

It is this urban lifestyle where convenience is the key, which has necessitated the rise of the all-in-one mobile plus those very funky handsets. By comparison Apple's iPhone is a mere 2.5G plaything. In Japan, which is already into 3G and heading towards 4G, they make mobiles look good and work hard.

Source: The Gaurdian

Picture: Mobile monday

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shivya	Latest page update: made by shivya , Nov 22 2008, 1:59 PM EST (about this update About This Update Edited by shivya 3 words added view changes - complete history)
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