> Surprisingly, Japanese consumers seem not to be interested in such
> converged phones (communicators) like the hiptop from Danger. Although,
> the SH2101V from DoCoMo looks bulky. Maybe, if the Japanese carriers
> introduce the likes of the hiptop, the uptake would be more sizeable?
>
> Don't you think that the Japanese carriers miss this niche of "converged"
> phones?
> Or the Japanese users feel quite comfortable with the one-hand operation
> handsets?
All the Japanese users I know are perfectly comfortable with
single-handed operation, probably partly because the Japanese
syllabary is laid out in an orderly grid and quite suited to a
12-button keypad. I know a lot of people (especially younger folks)
who don't even own a laptop or desktop computer, but of course they
have a phone. For them, keypad is the easy default and QWERTY is the
unwieldy alternative.
Maybe it's different for early adopters and busy IT-conscious people,
but for regular folks (like most of my friends), the mobile phone does
everything they could want from a "communicator". (And they LIKE using
paper diaries for scheduling!)
-Matt
Received on Fri Dec 3 07:45:23 2004