I am always fascinated by the idea of cellphones in Japan. And I am not talking about smartphones that you can download applications and enjoy! I am talking about the little guy with buttons that looks just like any other cellphones out there in America, Europe,...
But Japanese cellphone has a upperhand in the technology by providing the users with anything they wish for. Imagine on a tiny device of less than 10cm in length, besides calling, texting messages, you get a camera with even higher megapixel than some digital cameras out there, you get a little TV with the basic channels just like on TV, you can replace your credit cards, you suica with you cellphone because this guy will function well just like those cards, you can access your favourite sites like google, twitter with high-speed internet. Not to mention, all cellphones are 3G and can access global roaming. Basically nothing is impossible with Japanese cellphone. The cellphone market in Japan is like a battle among companies for the latest technology.
It would be hard to imagine, but try to take a look at the basic features of this Lumix guy by Softbank. Softbank is relatively new in the cellphone market compared to other cellphone veterans like Docomo or Au. But it is trying hard to catch up with other rivals in the harsh battle.
(source: http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/product/3G/001p/)
"Mr. Takeshi Natsuno, the developer of i-Mode, an Internet service said :“The most amazing thing about Japan is that even the average person out there will have a superadvanced phone." (Why Japan's Cellphones haven't gone global - Hiroko Tabuchi --- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/technology/20cell.html)
Cellphone in Japan is a culture that is worth taking notice of. If you step on the train in Tokyo, 100% you will see more than 5 people using their cellphones at the same time. It is not a rare scene to see a row of people sitting, all of them are holding onto their cellphones. People in Japan cannot LIVE without a cellphone. They can check their cellphones every 5 mins, can send like more than 100 mails per day, they give their cellphones the best treatments like decoration, protection. They can spend like more than $100 for a month of use. They LOVE cellphones.
(source: http://amanaimages.com/info/infoRF.aspx?SearchKey=28174008871&GroupCD=0&no=)
Japan is always regarded as a country of fast technology development, a land of new inventions. Just by looking at a small side of Japan's technology: the cellphone, we can learn a lot about the popular culture along with the country's consumerism. It is not much to say Japanese are driven by the consumerism culture and this desire to be equipped with the latest is always backed up by companies out there to tempt people to spend more and more.
Old things are constantly being replaced by new things, just like these cellphones. The idea about a portable phone to keep in contact is now obsolete. Cellphone in Japan is now a race of being up-to-date, a tool of being fashionable, a desire of making everything compact, all-in-one and convenient.
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