Japanese mobile internet service hasn't impressed me so far.
I mean, the huge user base and plethora of services are there, but I find it's mostly about mobile email and information subscription.
What's especially making me scratch my head is location-based services.
Before I came to Japan, I'd heard so many stories about the
GPS-assisted, location-based mobile services flourishing in Japan.
Where are all those?
All I see are those "Navi" services that come in almost too many flavors - "Navi" for walkers, bicyclers, drivers,
and driver's assistances (!). Or those rather dull "find the nearest POI (point of interest)" type of services.
I don't need another variation of "Navi" or mobile map service - I need something simple yet creative, one where people can engage with other people based on location (such as Dodgeball or Loopt) or one where people can record their life's memories associated with where they have been, with their phones.
I don't need another variation of "Navi" or mobile map service - I need something simple yet creative, one where people can engage with other people based on location (such as Dodgeball or Loopt) or one where people can record their life's memories associated with where they have been, with their phones.
Maybe it has to do with the Japanese people's high concerns on privacy (i.e. most people feeling uncomfortable with disclosing their current position).
Also missing (at least to me) is the mobile internet service catalog. I spent hours at Shibuya Book First trying to find books or
magazines on the updated catalog of mobile internet content services. The number of good
resource I found: nada, zilch, zero.
This is after I raided the phone shops of the three carriers the
other day searching for mobile internet service catalog, only with very limited success.
This also contradicts the numerous stories I had heard before coming here.
This also contradicts the numerous stories I had heard before coming here.
So I'm sorry to say this, but who lied to me about Japanse mobile
internet service? I'm not seeing particularly more "aha!" mobile services in Japan than when I was elsewhere. I could be wrong here - in that case, somebody please shed some light here.
