Date   : Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:57:53 +0100
From   : me@... (me@...)
Subject: RR09 Photos (Day 2)

On 27 Sep 2009, at 23:36, Rick Murray wrote:

> Take a peek here if you want to see what we oughta be aiming towards:
>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_mobile_phone_culture
>
> Unfortunately I can't just mail order one. They don't tend to use SIM
> cards, instead being hardwired to a specific provider. Oh, and they
> don't have GSM either. Some (few) phones can do it for global roaming.
> Many can't.

Consider yourself lucky. I've used a couple of Japanese handsets that  
match the description from that link exactly.

They're among the worst consumer electronic devices I've ever used.  
They are the archetypical "as many features as we can cram into it  
without thought to usability" device. They just don't get that the UI  
*is* the device. Trying to use one as an everyday device was an  
offence to my soul.

I would rather use literally any other western handset. There's a  
reason why the iPhone is now the fastest selling mobile phone in  
Japan. I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's *so* much better than  
what they've ever had before.

-- 
David Glover
http://www.davidglover.org/