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This is a myth. The iPhone is much better than any of the weird phones available in Japan.

• windsurfer 17y ago
  Uh, TV tuners? RFID emitters? Biometric readers? 2D bar code scanners are standard. They had 3G networks everywhere 3 years ago, while 3G in north america is still only in major urban centers (Not at my house, for instance). Also, the form-factors available in Japan are GREAT. Don't know if you're trolling, but the iPhone doesn't even support background tasks or multimedia messaging. My Moto RAZR (from 5 years ago) has those features, and supports google maps, video recording, text messaging, full web browsing (via opera mini), and music/video playback.
  • menloparkbum 17y ago
    Features like the biometric reader and the TV tuner exist because the "inmates are running the asylum." The general phone buying public doesn't care about any of those things. Japanese phones were 10 years ahead of the game 10 years ago. Like you even state, your crappy RAZR does most of the things people actually care about, and it is 5 years old. None of the recent "innovations" have sparked much interest amongst consumers. As everywhere, the thing people care about most is text messaging. Handset sales were a 20% decline last year in Japan. Takeshi Natsuno, the inventor of Japan’s i-mode mobile web service and former Senior Vice President NTT DoCoMo, said in an interview, “I believe the iPhone is closer to the mobile phone of the future, compared with the latest Japanese mobile phones.” Natsuno also said uses the iPhone 3G himself. Signed, a guy who used to work at a japanese telco research lab outside of Tokyo.