We’re back from a summer in Japan, with fond memories of new friends, shopping bags full of cheap plastic Gundam action figures and several bottles of fine sake. But I would throw it all under the country’s speedy Shinkansen bullet train for just one more day with my beloved Japanese mobile phone.
For a month, I toted around Vodafone’s 905SH, manufactured by Japan’s Sharp. It sported a stainless steel frame and a striking black 2.6-inch LCD screen, which swiveled 90 degrees to display nine channels of digital television in crisp, widescreen format. It also surfed the Web, served as a debit card, downloaded and played music and took two-megapixel photos. It won my heart. Here in America’s pokey mobile-phone market, we have nothing like it.
Thanks to early investments in high-speed mobile networks, Japan’s cellular telephone industry is about a year and a half ahead of America’s. Everywhere you look, it shows. Subway riders tap messages to friends, listen to music and play games on their handsets. More than half of Japan’s cell-phone users own speedy 3G broadband phones (versus a puny 5 percent in the United States).
The Japanese have enjoyed analog TV on their mobile phones since 2003, but the quality was erratic and users would lose the signal on moving trains. Earlier this year, the carriers unveiled a new digital TV standard, devised solely for mobile devices. The quality is excellent. My phone not only played seamless television but let me record, TiVo-style, up to five hours of TV on a one-gigabyte memory card.
Short term profit versus long term progess.
The majority of yanks don’t know any better and the roviders are simply cashing in on the ignorance of the masses.
The reason for little cell phone selection in the USA is cell providers hate inovation. They put all their time and money into crushing it.
When a company like Motorola goes to Verizon with a new phone with 10 great features, Verizon says to disable 8 of them or it will never get on their network.
Why? Because Americans are generally satisfied with the status quo and are willing to pay twice as much for older technology. The same thing can be said for new cars. The cars in Europe, sold by the same companies like Ford, etc provide better quality, innovative styling, and cost less to own.
Until consumers choose their products using their brains instead of the “oooh factor”, the corporations will continue to shove s*** down our throats till we choke or go broke.
As an executive in the telecom software space: The simple answer is that the handset business is centered in Europe, not the US. They get the first look at the best new stuff. But, if you want to get an early look…
>>Just give me a cell phone that always works, and that works
>>in most places.
Bingo. I get a little tired of reading about how we can live our entire lives through our cell phones, when most (all?) of the country doesn’t even have access to cell phones that always work, and that work in most places. Somehow, nobody seems to get too upset about this. In spite of the ridiculous “Can you hear me now?” advertisements implying otherwise, the answer all to often, for all too many people, is “NO!”.
I have lived in 2 major metropolitan areas, and have tried 3 different carriers and 7 different phones (expensive, cheap, medium-priced) over the past 10 years, and I’d have to rate the overall quality of service as “sucks balls”. I guess if I can watch those Seinfeld reruns until I get somewhere with better reception, that would take some of the sting out of it. But why should I assume that the TV reception would be any better than the shitty cell phone reception?
You guys are missing the point: Fault isn’t on the companies or the industry as a whole, but on the consumers. Not enough of a percentage of American consumers want these products as to force the companies to introduce them.
No company is required to take a flyer, and risk a loss, on any technology. VZW’s trend of disabling features is acceptable because the vast majority doesn’t know any better.
24 The simple answer is that the handset business is centered in Europe, not the US.
I thought that was related to #14, and this article:
http://goeurope.about.com/cs/stayingconnected/a/cell_phone_buy.htm
Europe has adapted GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) as their mobile communications standard–unlike the US, which left companies to each create their own standards, resulting in largly incompatible networks. Settling on the GSM standard makes it easy to buy a cell phone that works in every European and Asian country,…
Sounds like they get a much bigger ROI for developing for GSM, than any of our smaller markets for other ["better"?] technologies.
[Question for the editor: is the link above too long, or is anything that doesn't line-wrap okay?]
You are ALL correct.
consumers dont want the options, because US concerns/corps, want you to pay MORE for those options…Those options cost NOTHING in the other nations.
corps in the US, decided they wanted a propritary system, one that didnt match up to the competition, they wanted THEIR phone ONLY to work on 1 network, Their OWN. THEY got it. THEY LOST. Why should WE pay for Their stupidity??
The Satilite industry Hurt itself, and PAID for it, and STILL is. By over pricing, and not competeing with cable. they paid for it, and have done some major changes.
The same cant be said for the Cellphone industry. they Dont/WONT put in the money to do something, UNTIL you have paid for it 10 times over. Which is a BAD business plan.
At this point there is a Big battle over the telco’s wanting to charge MORE money because of the internet. If the Cellphone corps had started 10 years ago, THEY could of set up a Full wireless backbone, insted of useing the telco lines AS their own hub.
NOw they are scrambling to set Their OWn backbone up. but it will take them Time and money, WHICH they dont want to spend.
Peeeeeople…
It’s a telephone. It’s a friggin’ phone. If you were paying attention, the original intent was to be able to make phone calls in an unusual situation. The intent was not to IM your pal on what movie to go see. The intent was not to play Pac-Bud in class. The intent was not to take pics on vacation or upskirts at the mall. The intent certainly wasn’t so you could watch American friggin’ who-gives-a-shit Idol at the bus stop. The intent was not to forget everything because your phone knew it all. Cell phones had a simple purpose. GREED and IGNORANCE bastardized cell phones into annoying “must-haves”…
… and they certainly shouldn’t cost a minimum price-fixed standard of $30 a month — and then, only if you sign up for the 2 year contract.
You STOOOOPID SHEEP in America have made things this way. Uneducated, ignorant, sheep. I want it now!!! I NEED it NOW!!! I want it now!!! I NEED it NOW!!! I want it now!!! I NEED it NOW!!! I want it now!!! …. modern America, so disappointing. Instant gratification. You idiots!
The reason these things aren’t in America is the size of the country, and what you’re willing to pay. That’s capitalism. Welcome to Econ 101. A couple of high-IQ geeks that post here, with nothing better to do than masterbate their cell phones, want a spiffier vibrator. Guess what? Many of us don’t want, or care about any of that crap. We want to make phone calls.
BAAAAAHHH!!
29,
AGREED…
Give me 1 DECENT Cellphone that will pick up a siganl, ANYPLACE in the USA… Just Voice. At $20 amonth, No roaming, no time limits…I would be Sooo happy.
someone posted in Yahoo answers, What would be nice in a cellphone… I suggested that it be a modular setup…ADD the features you wanted, and a Nice SD/MF card to it.
PDA option,
Cam option
Camera 3gig pixel
and so forth…
We did a Vote on WHAT options everyone wanted on a site.
After all the rag tag talking, I asked.
How about a decent signal ANYWHERE?
We all agreed, Just give us a signal.
The US is also one of the ONLY countries that the makers HAVE TO ADD, security features that arent used in other countries.
To me it would seem the obvious reason is that Americans drive everywhere.
In Europe, Korea, Japan people use public transport, so they have time to fidle with thier phones, watch TV, etc… Can’t to that on the freeway while piloting an SUV.
that in turn creates the demand, with makes for phones with cooler features.
The reason is that the good phone companys are european. ie Sony Ericsson . The same reason that the US are ahead of the world in……well i tried to think of something
In the US, the cell phone carriers can follow the same technology as in Japan. However the market potential is too small. With the annual income of most Americans less than $30,000 only 5% of the poplulation can afford the new device and the MRC pricing structure. Many are also credit challenged – no SSN etc. Further, read some of the comments above – all they want is cheap, unlimited talking and no perks. Wonder why?
I think Ghola is the most accurate…I have lived in Japan for 14 years now, and these people are constantly on the go, with the trains as their main source of transportation. Since they are almost never at home, the phone is viewed as a source of all in one entertainment. “I missed the Yumiori Giants vs. Yokohama Bay Stars game tonight….but wait, I can watch it on the train on my phone while I am going home,” and so forth. There has to be a ‘necessity’ on the part of the consumer to want this stuff. I don’t think we as Americans overall really care if we have so many features….but damn, it is nice to use sometimes!
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