(keitai-l) Re: How is it to see it the very first time?

Hi Juergen,

Because of the hype I went to Japan in September last year and talked
to many people, also from the list (thank you guys!) I was
involved with WAP for almost a year at that moment.

I wasn't that much impressed by I-Mode, EZWeb or J-Sky, I think
mainly because I it is all quite similar to what I had experienced
and because there is a lot of hype in the European media on it.
And I had the feeling that it was more because people wanted
to do things like e-mail, something which I had done for years,
than it was for using a mobile device for this. When I think in surrogates
I realize that I have access to a computer 95% of the time, I
only need the mobile Internet for the other 5% of the time. That is, 
overlooking the specific characteristics that come with the handset 
(personal, always on, wherever I am, etc). 

Indeed, it was more the handsets that made an impression on me.
Having an IT background I am kind of used to distinguish between
the device that executes the software and the software itself.
I knew that the handset really was a fashion statement, but not
that this was such a very important aspect of the marketing mix.
It really puzzled me that Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens do not have
the same kind of advanced handsets as the manufacturers in Japan
produce. Color, Lithium-Polymer batteries, lightweight, that's
something I would really want to have too. These handsets
with a good WAP microbrowser (no, not the pre-WAP Phone.com AU-
version) and billing possibilities for third parties at the network 
operators would certainly give an extra boost to the already fast 
growing number of WAP users here in Europe.

Then again, the Japanese culture impressed me most of all.
I have seen a lot of things but never found anything that was so,
well, 'different' from my own.

Paul




Hi Keitai-l,

since I live in Tokyo and saw the I-mode user group growing
from some million to now 17 (!) million, it's nothing really
special for us here. But how is it for somebody, who don't
live in Japan, heard all the hype, can not read japanese
and saw today an I-mode phone the very first time in his
live?

I can imagine that somebody is impressed by the new handsets,
but is somebody impressed if he/she sees the english official
I-mode menu the very first time in his live? I assume not.

Is somebody here in this situation and like to tell us?

Just curious:

Juergen
--
Juergen Specht - <js@nooper.com> - Nooper.com - Mobile Services



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