Saturday, November 3, 2007

Are Japanese Cell Phones Better?

Interesting perspective on US vs Japanese cell phones on Kotaku.com.

For years people have been telling me that the cell phones over in Japan are years ahead of the US and Europe. They spoke as if there was some kind of breakthrough technology that existed nowhere but in Japan. If you'd ask for specifics, they couldn't say, they just knew that it was so, like magic being done in a land far, far away. Turns out, the kind of things they were talking about are the ability to watch live television, faster data networks, and the ability to pay for things with your cell phone. The faster data network is something to be envious about, but the rest are hardly enviable.

I've always been in love with the Japanese aesthetic, as most fans of technology are. The love for novelty combined with discovery of a foreign aesthetic tends to drive these kinds of attitudes.