(keitai-l) Re: Foreign press at G8 rate i-mode a flop?

I heard from 2 journalists who were in Okinawa that they only had these
free phones for 3 days, also most foreign journalists cannot
read the predominantly Japanese user interface. The journalists
I talked to clearly had quite a good idea about imode.
Maybe they just had no time?

Gerhard
http://www.eurotechnology.com/
fasol@eurotechnology.com

susank@cmp.com wrote:
> 
> I think it's mostly ignorance--and ineptness. It takes a little time and
> concentration to learn to use a phone interface--here in the US, very few people
> regularly access data thru phones. Busy journalists trying to file copy probably
> never found a moment to figure out the service--let alone to access i-mode sites
> that didn't directly relate to the conference.
> 
> Susan Kuchinskas
> news editor, M-Business
> www.mbizcentral.com
> 
> Subject:  (keitai-l) Foreign press at G8 rate i-mode a flop?
> 
> <snip>
> Quote: "Virtually all the foreign press who did borrow the
> specially prepared i-mode phones used them only for free
> phone calls."
> 
> Is that bad preparation (the press didn't know enough about
> the phones in advance) or will i-mode be a Japan-only success?
> Or are the journalists simply ignorant?