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In Japan, iPhone is old news

kashimo

kashimo

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 13, 2004
54
0
Japan
I have said this in other threads.

If you are in the US, maybe your are very wowed by the iPhone. To me....it is old news.

In Japan, iPhone is old news Newsday.com

Oh yeah. Japanese cell phones also download music, surf the Net and make phone calls.

They've been a natural extension of daily life the past few years, spurred by the Japanese decision to be the first country to upgrade to third-generation mobile-phone networks, or 3G, which increased broadband capabilities and allowed for greater, faster transmission of voice and data. Apple's iPhone, by comparison, will operate on a 2G network.

It was 3G that sparked the boom in music downloads that makes it common for phones to be used as portable digital music players here.

And it is 3G that has led the Japanese into a world where they can watch live TV on their phones, use the phone as a charge card to ride trains or buy milk at the corner store or take a taxi, and conduct conference calls between as many as five people. Ticket Pia, Japan's major entertainment ticketing agency, has been selling e-mail tickets to cell phones since 2003.
Click to expand...

So is the iPhone all what Apple has it cracked up to be or is it just reinventing the phone for Americans?
 
bousozoku

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,698
1,872
Lard
I suppose those phones are easy to use? I doubt it. I have my doubts about any software for a phone or smart phone being easy to use.

Sure, there are plenty of multiple function phones, especially in Asia, but I'm betting they're a pain to use.
 
T

TJIrwin

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2006
41
0
London, UK
Ease of use is all relative at the end of the day. Most people in Europe and the Asian market have grown up in the past two decades with better and better phones, and have learnt and adapted their mobile habits accordingly. The UI of a current 3G phone over here may not be entirely intuitive, but it doesn't take a huge amount of work to get people to speed with them - Orange for example has a couple of phone gurus in each shop whose whole reason of being is to walk people through the features of their phones, introduce them to new 3G services, and enhance their user experience.

It's not a drag to view 3G video, nor to make video calls, etc. The only real advantage of the iPhone I could see is the vastly improved rendering of websites on the device. Much better than the standard mobile obtimised web pages you normally have to deal with. I think that is the killer app on the iPhone - not the ability to make phone calls!
 
Jiddick ExRex

Jiddick ExRex

macrumors 65816
May 14, 2006
1,469
0
Roskilde, DK
I think most people are missing the point of the iPhone. While its functions are similar to other smart-phones it has all these small nifty features that are implemented in a way to enhance joy of use and ease of use. And no, ease of use is not relative, at least not completely. Most smartphones I have seen, do not have ease of use, they do not have these functions combined and all the other features that Apple usually succesfully implements.

Think of the macintosh. Does it do something a windows pc can not? No. Not from a utility point of view. However, the functions of OSX are much more tightly integrated to a lot of people's liking, and that's the win for them.
 
MacNut

MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,973
CT
Don't forget that Japan is years ahead of the technology curve when it comes to cell phones. What seems like a new idea to us has been done before over there.
 
bousozoku

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,698
1,872
Lard
iW00t said:
Asians have smaller fingers so it is probably easier.

Anything is more of a pain to use when you need to use a special dialing wand, that I agree :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm half Japanese and it doesn't make a difference. Pathetic software is pathetic software. It doesn't get better when your fingers are smaller.
 
F

foidulus

macrumors 6502a
Jan 15, 2007
904
1
Can we say "fanboy"

I knew we could. Japan's so called "lead" in cell phones is almost purely in the imagination of fan boys. I have lived and worked as a software engineer in Germany, the US, and Japan(I even worked for KDDI) and the differences in the cell phone capabilities is minimal. Smartphones have been around the US for quite a while(though no interfaces like the iPhones), as well as in Europe. Fast data access? Ditto. Games? Ditto. Music downloads? Ditto

Maybe we shouldn't be taking technology news from a 30 year old English teacher in Japan who seems to consider himself vastly superior to us dumb people who aren't in Japan.
 
dpaanlka

dpaanlka

macrumors 601
Nov 16, 2004
4,868
30
Illinois
I think the iPhone is revolutionary for reasons other than the ability to download music and TV shows. It's all about how the user interfaces with the phone.

You people are really missing the point if that's what you believe. It seems like Newsday does. Really ignorant.

Newsday said:
From behind his busy counter, Kurita giggles when asked about the excitement in America over the arrival of Apple's iPhone cell phone that also could be used to download music and surf the Internet. "Sounds like business as usual," he says.
Click to expand...

Stupidest thing I've ever heard. People are not excited because of that.
 
skubish

skubish

macrumors 68030
Feb 2, 2005
2,663
0
Ann Arbor, Michigan
kashimo said:
I have said this in other threads.

If you are in the US, maybe your are very wowed by the iPhone. To me....it is old news.

In Japan, iPhone is old news Newsday.com



So is the iPhone all what Apple has it cracked up to be or is it just reinventing the phone for Americans?
Click to expand...

I travel to Japan all the time. Those phones in Japan are no iPhone. They are clunkly, hard-to-use phones just like everywhere else.
 
B

babyj

macrumors 6502a
Aug 29, 2006
586
8
The iPhone isn't that revolutionary. Sure its got some nice features and its packaged well but it isn't that far ahead of everything else, technology wise.

The big thing is that its Apple and its also an iPod, thats what makes it big news.

There has never been a mobile phone that has generated so much press months before its released. It even made the main BBC news in the UK.

So there must be something special about it.
 
MrSmith

MrSmith

macrumors 68040
Nov 27, 2003
3,046
14
zap2 said:
Wait, you guys have had a Phone that could play Music, TV Shows, Music Video, Movies ect .....from iTunes?
Click to expand...
Since when does entertainment come exclusively from iTunes? I've never bought anything from iTunes and never will. But anyway, I can make video calls on my phone (a slight time lag but pretty good video) and the camera is 5M. But it's irrelevant because to me the interface of the iPhone is the important factor. Why the hell should I want the Internet on my phone? For twiddling on the train when I can't be bothered to read? I want an easy way to make calls; and the iPhone offers that.
 
Cybergypsy

Cybergypsy

macrumors 68040
May 16, 2006
3,094
0
Central Florida!
Bought mine from Japan and love it.....as small as a business card

280544788_a8070c87a6_m.jpg
 
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