Nina Young wrote:
> Thank you all so much for your input. I contacted
> NTTDoCoMo America, in New York, where I am based, and
> asked them a couple of questions as well. They
> couldn't, or wouldn't answer the burning one, which
> was, how many users of i-mode do not use the computer
> for their online activities, and what is the overlap..
>
Considering the demographics (which DoCoMo won't release so we have to
generalize) most of the young I-Mode users are first time Internet users. In
fact a large part of the I-Mode marketing strategy is nevere using
Internet/computer terms. They use general terms like "message your friends"
instead of "sending an email" "check the latest info" instead of "TCP/IP
access to compact HTML pages via a digital packet-switched network".
The older/salaryman audience is generally thought to be more computer
literate.
However, most of the services on I-Mode are still I-Mode only -- not much
channel crossover, though I think that will change as the traditional Net
content vendors move into wireless and present a consistent access to
content across multiple channels.
>
> They did answer my front menu questions and I found it
> quite interesting that they don't list the category
> sites until the 3rd level down..According to my
> friend, an i-mode user, she has her bookmarks on the
> front menu, but NTTDoCoMo America didn't even mention
> them..hmmm. Is it possible to configure the phone menu
> so that it appears the way you want it to?
>
There are three features on an I-Mode phone: bookmarks, MyMenu, and screen
memo.
Bookmarks is a list of urls saved on the phone (just like bookmarks on a web
browser). Bookmarks are accessible anytime, without having to make a
connection to the gateway (until you actually try to open a page that is
bookmarked.)
MyMenu is the list of preferred I-Menu sites you chose to add to your MyMenu
(usually via some initial signup). MyMenu is stored on the gateway and only
accessible after connecting to the gateway.
ScreenMemo actually saves the html document of the page on the phone. This
is generally for security reasons so that you can, for example, embed
information in hidden fields in the html (like an ID number or something).
The source of a screen memo cannot, by design, be viewed, so the hidden
information is not viewable.
>
> Where is the idea of making it easy for the user to
> navigate and get to what they want?
>
Who cares? DoCoMo dictates what does and does not get on the I-Menu, and
they're making so much money no one's complaining.
Actually, DoCoMo has announced that they will be reorganizing the I-Menu
extensively, redoing the subcategories and making it easier to get at more
sites...we'll see what happens.
r e n
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** note new work email: renfield.kuroda@msdw.com **
Received on Tue Apr 25 06:41:52 2000