The adventure of buying a FOMA phone
====================================
(Disclaimer for the hungry journalists out there: Don't use
my post without my permission!)
Tom and I got up early because we thought that we have to
queue in front of our favorite DoCoMo shop in Shibuya...the
first thing we saw: nothing. No queue.
Me: See? No queue! FOMA will be a big success!
Tom: Huh? Why?
Me: Remember the launch of the Java Phones? There
was a small queue and it's a big success!
(http://nooper.co.jp/showcase/gallery.php?s=8&l=en)
Tom: So you think...?
Me: Sure! No queue means it will be even a bigger success!
Tom: Huh.
The next thing we saw was a handwritten poster on the
shop door, where they explained that they sell exact
1 (one, eins, uno...) Panasonic Video phone and 5 NEC
phones. We got a bit nervous because one person was in
front of us. Before we finally could decide about a way
to push this person somehow out of the non existing queue,
2 sales droids came out of the shop and ask if we want
to buy a FOMA phone. Yes. Fortunately the guy in front
of us decided for the NEC version, so we could get the
Panasonic Video version. One of the sales droids got a
big black pen and crossed the Panasonic from the poster.
Me: Tom, does it mean we have the only Panasonic in town?
Tom: Uh.
Me: Mhm, video conferencing makes not really much sense
if we are the only ones with this phone, or am I wrong?
Tom: Mhm. Uh.
(It was very early and Tom never talks much in
the morning)
Next we got a manual for using FOMA and he showed us
a map with the service area...basically this was hardly
the outline of Tokyo in Japans favorite color: pink.
They told us that we have to go to a seminar first if
we really want to buy the phone. Hm, I never had to go
to a seminar to buy a phone, but before I could
answer the shop opened the door and we got in. Since we
were guided into the 2. floor all eyes looked at us and
we heard some curious whispers "FOMA! FOMA!".
In the meantime 2 other Japanese customers joined us
and we sat down and got a very special service: They
gave us a plastic cup of cold coffee. Exactly what I
like early in the morning. Cold coffee. One more Japanese
customer appeared and a sales droid divided us in 2 groups:
The Videophone group and the "other" group. As a coincidence
Tom and I were the only participants in the Videophone
group.
Our personal sales droid was very nice and showed us with
a very big smile the map with the service area:
Sales droid: This is, uh, the service area. Everything you
see here in, uh, pink color is covered. Outside
the, uh, pink area the phone does not work.
We: Ok, yes, we understand, no problem. We want
it anyway.
Sales droid: Ok, uh, and the battery of the handset last not
very long.
We: Ok, yes, we understand, no problem. We want
it anyway.
Sales droid: Ok, uh, and because FOMA is very new, it is
possible that it will not work sometimes.
We: Ok, yes, we understand, no problem. We want
it anyway.
Sales droid: Ok, uh, and if you insert the FOMA card, be
very careful! It's a very weak construction!
We: Ok, yes, we understand, no problem. We want
it anyway.
Sales droid: Ok, uh, (insert 1,000 negative comments
more)...do you really want to buy this phone?
We: Yes. Yes. YESSSSS! By the way, do you have
also some FOMA T-Shirts for us? Or other
gifts? We ate already all your FOMA sweeties
and need a visit at the next dentist it seems.
Sales droid: Uh, T-Shirts? No, but I can offer you some more
FOMA sweeties and some leather mousepads with
the word FOMA on it. I also have some FOMA
pens, FOMA posters and FOMA ....
About 2 hours later we finally could leave the shop about
1,000US$ poorer, but with 2,000US$ in FOMA merchandising
articles richer. And yes, we have a Panasonic phone and a
Panasonic datacard now.
The first thing what happened after we told some people
about our new purchase was that everybody who has this
phone now seeks for some video friends to call. The word
Meru-Tomo (Email friend) gets a totally new dimension now!
While I charged the batterys (they gave us 2 for the price
of one, because they don't last very long) I played with the
FOMA data card and was able to make a very fast connection
(384kbit/s) and as I just started to download this new
80MB big game, I remembered the cost and forgot about this
plan.
Finally the battery was charged and I played with the
150gram heavy phone...it's great, it works and the interface
is easy to use. Unfortunately I discovered the disadvantages
fast:
* The camera is attached in an angle that everybody who
uses the camera automatically looks like he/she has a
double chin.
* If you put the phone in the pockets of your trouser,
you look like bragging.
But the absolute advantage is that it gets very warm after
some use...perfect for cold hands in these cold days.
Enjoy,
Juergen
--
Juergen Specht [Nooper.com - Mobile Services Inc. Tokyo, Japan]
FOMA consulting, development and testing: http://nooper.co.jp/
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Received on Mon Oct 1 13:58:51 2001