On Mon, 17 Jun 2002, Benjamin Kowarsch wrote:
> No matter what the Japanese would have come up with, it would already have
> been working on both the European and the American standard. WAP would
> have never happened - European networks with cross Atlantic partnerships
> and alliances would have said "We use the Japanese solution because it
> works also across the Atlantic".
I have a hard time swallowing this. Take a look at what AT&T has
implemented in terms of bringing i-Mode to the U.S., and then tell
me that America is willing to import the Japanese solution.
> How much larger/heavier are we talking here ? 10 grams ? 20 grams ?
> Sure, it is not that 10 or 20 grams isn't noticeable. But then again, it
> is not *that* noticeable.
Instead of saying "increase handset weight by 20 grammes," put it in
these terms: "increase handset weight by 33%." Does it sound "not *that*
noticable" now?
> > However, this argument has nothing to do with DoCoMo's creation of
> > a coherent, smoothly functioning and pretty-much open mobile data
> > services model.
>
> Which doesn't preclude that this or any similar functioning model
> could not have been built on top of CDMA, GSM, PHS or any mixed
> environment.
But the fact is, it wasn't. Or, more importantly, the fact is, it was
built on top of Japan's mess. Which I think goes to show that the whole
thing just isn't quite the awful disaster you make it out to be.
Basically, you seem to be saying that, by your theoretical model, the
Japanese keitai system is a disaster, and completely ignoring that Japan
has the best mobile phones in the world, bar none, for everything but a
very few features such as roaming and SIM cards.
As for the "toy" features you go on about, a few points:
1. You have never adequately explained what the "non-toy"
features are that are more important.
2. The presence of some of the "toy" features, such as a web
browser, allows me to do my business stuff, too. The same
technology that allows me to check my horiscope also lets me
trade my stocks.
3. Some of the features you currently consider "toy" features
are likely not to be in the near future. Colour screens used
to be a toy feature on PCs, too, but when was the last time
you saw someone buy a new business PC with a monochrome or
grey-scale screen?
As for the IBM and monopoly stuff you go on about, well, again
you're attacking a straw man. I'm not saying protectionism is always
good, but I am saying that there is physical proof in my pocket
right now that it's not always the disaster you claim it is. If
your open standards and what not are going to put a stone-age
European phone in my pocket again, I, and a lot of other people,
are going to say, "no way."
cjs
--
Curt Sampson <cjs_at_cynic.net> +81 90 7737 2974 http://www.netbsd.org
Don't you know, in this new Dark Age, we're all light. --XTC
Received on Tue Jun 18 08:38:02 2002