> you are right that people like to complain but it is not just foreginers who
> are complaining about docomo's (and foreign service provider's) content
> selection process. the japanese and foreign presses are filled with these
> kinds of articles about how mobile service providers are controlling their
> service menus. for example, see the jan or feb issue of nikkei
> communications.
I know. Complains = Cheap Content :)
> at some level docomo and the foreign service providers have
> a right to control their service menus ...
Right. But imagine you got 400 submissions per day...how much of
them are just nothing else than the same service which already
exists on i-mode? How often you want to see a Ring Tone provider
to choose from on the official menu? How often you can include
another remote mail provider? Thinking in terms of the average
user, they are happy for a balanced pre-selection and this is
what DoCoMo does. If they do it good or bad, that's just taste.
Maybe you dislike these much ring tone providers, but the people
(= average users) love them. And DoCoMo just don't get so much
new and original ideas with *value for the enduser* (their clear
stated requirements) offered as you think. Too much copy cats out
there.
I also totally agree with Vincent that some companys make pretty
bad presentations.
> but at another level the internet is too important for one firm
> to call the shots.
Who is talking about the Internet here? I-mode is a concept where
you also can access the Internet with, that's it. DoCoMo never
claimed that i-mode *is the Internet in your pocket*. Even if
they switch of the Internet gateway right away, the service
itself has so much value for the users that they will not run
away (except DoCoMo switched off the email gateway).
I-mode is just something like AOL and AOL is still genki,
even if the big bad Internet with all the 'free' services is
out there (if there would be not the *bad market conditions*
which just changes 'free services' to 'free of service').
I only agree with you that I would like to see more different
services on i-mode and a tighter integration of the Internet
into it (like a combination of bookmarks and MyMenu), but how
do you want to explain thousands of different user interfaces
to the average user who just uses 4-5 different services, drops
one of them to use another one and overall uses just 0.01% of
the potential of i-mode alone?
In my opinion as an i-mode user I think DoCoMo makes it just right.
In my opinion as developer I need to be so good, so original
and so optimistic that all the reports don't scare me away
from working with DoCoMo who created a great opportunity to
transport my idea with their network and at least gives me the
chance to participate on the only real working micropayment
system in the world.
Juergen
--
Juergen Specht [ Nooper.com - Mobile Services Inc. ] http://nooper.com
New: i-mode/iAppli testing service NooperLabs: http://nooper.co.jp/labs/
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
Received on Tue May 8 12:28:16 2001