The killer app in Japan would surely be manga. Everyone reads it in Japan, in those massive telephone book sized weekly digests. Get Shonen Jump and the like on the iPad, and you have a winner.
How big is the smartphone market in relation to the overall mobile phone market in Japan? Without that piece of information, having a 72 percent market share really means nothing.
You should really hope (and pray) that the HRD of Apple in Japan, which you're applying for a job at, is not reading your comment there. Otherwise you might not get the job..
Although on the last paragraph there, you did show a great support for the company you want to get into. Short, but suffice enough to say the good thing about the iPad compared to other products..
Oh, and one more thing.. I crossed my fingers too for you on the job..
Haha. That's nice of you to wish me good luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ranReloaded
I saw some classifieds by Apple Japan in recruit sites, but didn't apply. Is it good?
The position I'm applying for isn't advertised on classifieds
Got mine this morning and couldn't be happier with it.
Two shops in the city near me are sold out on day one. Late this evening there were still quite a few customers in the iPad corners having a peek. The local news media gave lots of air time to the iPad, even with a breaking news story to compete with.
Apple's online store shows shipping in June.
SoftBank's system seems to have gotten overloaded first thing in the morning so some sales were slow. National news also carried a story of at least one customer who ordered from the Apple Store online received an empty box; seems that it was stolen in transit.
Since, from what i've always heard, technology is always about a couple years ahead of everyone else in Japan; I am a bit taken off-guard by this news. I'm surprised that the Japanese haven't come up with something similar to the iPad already...
By the latest news out there, it looks like Sony is trying to push their "e-Reader" to try and compete. Even though they were the first official consumer electronic book reader out there, thier marketing has been dismal about promoting it. Wasn't it like 5-6 years ago they debuted it at CES? I think that's just proof in the pudding that Sony has really dropped out of the personal electronics game. Too bad, i have nice memories of listening to my Walkman and 1st Gen Discman.
Its true that the Japanese are doing their own thing technology wise. Its not necessarily true that they are ahead of the western countries. How much practical technology is "invented" in Japan that is widely adopted by the western world?
Japanese companies also are not so proficient with software. Their are no major worldwide software companies in Japan. The software is what really makes the iPad special.
Quote:
Originally Posted by antkm1
Since, from what i've always heard, technology is always about a couple years ahead of everyone else in Japan; I am a bit taken off-guard by this news. I'm surprised that the Japanese haven't come up with something similar to the iPad already.
Since, from what i've always heard, technology is always about a couple years ahead of everyone else in Japan; I am a bit taken off-guard by this news. I'm surprised that the Japanese haven't come up with something similar to the iPad already...
Japan, as a society, is not all about advanced technologies. Many of their latest technologies actually started from Western technologies. I was told that in the late 50;s-60's or perhaps even 70's Japanese cars and other products were considered second rate. In the early 50's Japan economy was still coming out from their role in the war.
Now, if you go back to Japanese culture, their art, their literature, their architecture, and gardens -- it is all about the search and goal towards perfection, beauty and simplicity. Food is not just for eating but also to be admired for its visual presentation. The tea ceremony, Look at the simple Japanese Garden and its symbolism.
If you try to read about the creation of each Japanese samurai (the sword), you will find that is one one of the ultimate attempts to achieve perfection. This is true also with Japanese basketry. Read Japanese :"Haiku".
I could go on, but you have to immerse yourself into the culture, a foreigner looking into a society and culture that is much older.
If you ever go or try to read about Japan and its people, do not just limit yourself to what Westerners consider as true Japan -- the freezing of a country and a people to its past.
It is true that today, Japan is quite modern and Westernized, especially its younger generation. And like other younger people in any other part of the world, they dress and use all sorts of gadgets used by young people in Western societies. Right now, the vogue is American. After all, the US remains "center of the world" since the early 20fh Century. This may change this milenium.
Incidentally, it was a "Black Ship" from America that begun the re-introduction of isolationist Japan to Western culture and realize as a nation Western power.
From what I gathered interacting with many Japanese for years, mostly here in the US, however modern Japanese people are still steeped into their past and tradition. I remember a postdoctoral fellow from Japan. He had to bring all his tableware from Japan because the ones he found here were not good enough. Not all of them are perfectionists though.
The thing is, the aesthetics of Steve Jobs/Apple have a lot in common with the aesthetics of Japanese culture. Read some the comments of famous Japanese designer, and they will tell you that. If you are familiar with Scandinavian architecture and furniture, especially Finish, there are also similariies in their aesthetics. When I saw some places in Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany you will also find some aesthetic simplicity that they share with other people. Even in America (not just the US), look at some Native American art. and the integration of their life to the earth and the ecosystem.
I do not know really if Steve Jobs has been as contemplative during his younger days. But one thing he is, he strive for perfection -- what I call the search for "the good, noble, beautiful and true" which happened to be shared by a number of cultures of the world, including ancient Greece.
And Steve Jobs surrounds himself with those trying to achieve perfection -- be it in the design or the technology itself.
Yup. iPad is a perfect fit for Japan. It can do everything: phone calls, email, web and with their pay with your gadget stuff it can also be your credit card. Plus since the trains are so packed it is a lot easier to work with a tablet then with a full scale laptop.
Yup. iPad is a perfect fit for Japan. It can do everything: phone calls, email, web and with their pay with your gadget stuff it can also be your credit card. Plus since the trains are so packed it is a lot easier to work with a tablet then with a full scale laptop.
If you've been here during rush hour you'd know that there isn't even enough room to use your iphone. No joke. During non-rush hour it still isn't worth using it on the train. Inconvenient. iPhone is good. The shinkansen, Kuroshio or Urban Liner Next would be good trains for the iPad though.
Fortunately, there are many places in Japan that aren't as crowded as Tokyo or some of the other big cities. Only once have I been on a train that was so crowded i couldn't use my phone and that was when I was visiting Tokyo. Rush hour down here means it only takes me an extra 5 or 10 minutes to get to work.
Just visited the local reseller where they have 3 iPads on display. The small shop was packed with customers, with 20 or so crowded around the iPads. For this city, that is a major crowd (when I got my iPhone two years ago, there were seven people in line; 25 for the iPad pre-order). Both shops in town are sold out and both had about 50 reservations and about an equal number of regular stock (I saw the boxes piled by the wall), so I figure 200 sold here yesterday, not counting the orders made online. When I received one of the accessories I ordered from the online store, the delivery guy knew from the package that it wasn't the iPad and asked if mine was delayed; they had delivered quite a few, he said.
Forgot to say that during the local TV news broadcast last night the anchor had an iPad which he held up. He never actually had an iPhone back at its release, though they reported on it.
Android is poised to become the "Windows" of the mobile world. Does pretty much everything but does nothing well. With all the numerous types of Android devices coming out (phones, tablets, blow-up-dolls, etc..), fragmentation will be a big problem. But hey, it will be geek-nirvana while everyone else will be happy using their Apple toasters because they simply "work".
I had a chance to play with Wired magazine on iPad, and I was able to read it even without zooming functionality because the magazine layout was designed just to be read in iPad's screen size.
How could publishers deal with so many different types of display? (range from 5", 6", 7", 8", 9", 10" devices even to 50" android TV and the blow-up dolls) They would look funny and feel uncomfortable.
(sorry for the grammatical errors. I'm from Korea, one of the countries where the iPad isn't released yet )
Comments
Apple has 72 share of Japan's smartphone market.
How big is the smartphone market in relation to the overall mobile phone market in Japan? Without that piece of information, having a 72 percent market share really means nothing.
You should really hope (and pray) that the HRD of Apple in Japan, which you're applying for a job at, is not reading your comment there. Otherwise you might not get the job..
Although on the last paragraph there, you did show a great support for the company you want to get into. Short, but suffice enough to say the good thing about the iPad compared to other products..
Oh, and one more thing.. I crossed my fingers too for you on the job..
Haha. That's nice of you to wish me good luck!
I saw some classifieds by Apple Japan in recruit sites, but didn't apply. Is it good?
The position I'm applying for isn't advertised on classifieds
Two shops in the city near me are sold out on day one. Late this evening there were still quite a few customers in the iPad corners having a peek. The local news media gave lots of air time to the iPad, even with a breaking news story to compete with.
Apple's online store shows shipping in June.
SoftBank's system seems to have gotten overloaded first thing in the morning so some sales were slow. National news also carried a story of at least one customer who ordered from the Apple Store online received an empty box; seems that it was stolen in transit.
By the latest news out there, it looks like Sony is trying to push their "e-Reader" to try and compete. Even though they were the first official consumer electronic book reader out there, thier marketing has been dismal about promoting it. Wasn't it like 5-6 years ago they debuted it at CES? I think that's just proof in the pudding that Sony has really dropped out of the personal electronics game. Too bad, i have nice memories of listening to my Walkman and 1st Gen Discman.
Its reported that Symbian and others will be making moves to offer an Apple Like 'App Store' but no concrete word on when or how it would happen.
yes it's called "OVI" and has been out for a long time.
Japanese companies also are not so proficient with software. Their are no major worldwide software companies in Japan. The software is what really makes the iPad special.
Since, from what i've always heard, technology is always about a couple years ahead of everyone else in Japan; I am a bit taken off-guard by this news. I'm surprised that the Japanese haven't come up with something similar to the iPad already.
-or it didn't happen.
This is a such a joke. I wonder who is always behind these garbage headlines and what their motives are (oh wait...$ AAPL $).
Btw, I just applied for a nice job at Apple Japan yesterday
Negativity sama: you just didn't get a job with Apple Japan
Since, from what i've always heard, technology is always about a couple years ahead of everyone else in Japan; I am a bit taken off-guard by this news. I'm surprised that the Japanese haven't come up with something similar to the iPad already...
Japan, as a society, is not all about advanced technologies. Many of their latest technologies actually started from Western technologies. I was told that in the late 50;s-60's or perhaps even 70's Japanese cars and other products were considered second rate. In the early 50's Japan economy was still coming out from their role in the war.
Now, if you go back to Japanese culture, their art, their literature, their architecture, and gardens -- it is all about the search and goal towards perfection, beauty and simplicity. Food is not just for eating but also to be admired for its visual presentation. The tea ceremony, Look at the simple Japanese Garden and its symbolism.
If you try to read about the creation of each Japanese samurai (the sword), you will find that is one one of the ultimate attempts to achieve perfection. This is true also with Japanese basketry. Read Japanese :"Haiku".
I could go on, but you have to immerse yourself into the culture, a foreigner looking into a society and culture that is much older.
If you ever go or try to read about Japan and its people, do not just limit yourself to what Westerners consider as true Japan -- the freezing of a country and a people to its past.
It is true that today, Japan is quite modern and Westernized, especially its younger generation. And like other younger people in any other part of the world, they dress and use all sorts of gadgets used by young people in Western societies. Right now, the vogue is American. After all, the US remains "center of the world" since the early 20fh Century. This may change this milenium.
Incidentally, it was a "Black Ship" from America that begun the re-introduction of isolationist Japan to Western culture and realize as a nation Western power.
From what I gathered interacting with many Japanese for years, mostly here in the US, however modern Japanese people are still steeped into their past and tradition. I remember a postdoctoral fellow from Japan. He had to bring all his tableware from Japan because the ones he found here were not good enough. Not all of them are perfectionists though.
The thing is, the aesthetics of Steve Jobs/Apple have a lot in common with the aesthetics of Japanese culture. Read some the comments of famous Japanese designer, and they will tell you that. If you are familiar with Scandinavian architecture and furniture, especially Finish, there are also similariies in their aesthetics. When I saw some places in Switzerland, Netherlands and Germany you will also find some aesthetic simplicity that they share with other people. Even in America (not just the US), look at some Native American art. and the integration of their life to the earth and the ecosystem.
I do not know really if Steve Jobs has been as contemplative during his younger days. But one thing he is, he strive for perfection -- what I call the search for "the good, noble, beautiful and true" which happened to be shared by a number of cultures of the world, including ancient Greece.
And Steve Jobs surrounds himself with those trying to achieve perfection -- be it in the design or the technology itself.
CGC
Yup. iPad is a perfect fit for Japan. It can do everything: phone calls, email, web and with their pay with your gadget stuff it can also be your credit card. Plus since the trains are so packed it is a lot easier to work with a tablet then with a full scale laptop.
If you've been here during rush hour you'd know that there isn't even enough room to use your iphone. No joke. During non-rush hour it still isn't worth using it on the train. Inconvenient. iPhone is good. The shinkansen, Kuroshio or Urban Liner Next would be good trains for the iPad though.
Just visited the local reseller where they have 3 iPads on display. The small shop was packed with customers, with 20 or so crowded around the iPads. For this city, that is a major crowd (when I got my iPhone two years ago, there were seven people in line; 25 for the iPad pre-order). Both shops in town are sold out and both had about 50 reservations and about an equal number of regular stock (I saw the boxes piled by the wall), so I figure 200 sold here yesterday, not counting the orders made online. When I received one of the accessories I ordered from the online store, the delivery guy knew from the package that it wasn't the iPad and asked if mine was delayed; they had delivered quite a few, he said.
Forgot to say that during the local TV news broadcast last night the anchor had an iPad which he held up. He never actually had an iPhone back at its release, though they reported on it.
Android is poised to become the "Windows" of the mobile world. Does pretty much everything but does nothing well. With all the numerous types of Android devices coming out (phones, tablets, blow-up-dolls, etc..), fragmentation will be a big problem. But hey, it will be geek-nirvana while everyone else will be happy using their Apple toasters because they simply "work".
I had a chance to play with Wired magazine on iPad, and I was able to read it even without zooming functionality because the magazine layout was designed just to be read in iPad's screen size.
How could publishers deal with so many different types of display? (range from 5", 6", 7", 8", 9", 10" devices even to 50" android TV and the blow-up dolls) They would look funny and feel uncomfortable.
(sorry for the grammatical errors. I'm from Korea, one of the countries where the iPad isn't released yet