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recent
Looking back at that comment, I looked like a major a*****e. Although I wrote it with a smile on my face, and the best of intentions, it looks angry to me now upon rereading. Add to that this post, and it probably looks like I have some grudge against the guy. I doubt he would ever see this, but just in case, nothing personal man. I just want the folks in the US to hear the voice of someone who doesn't "need" a mobile too.
Last week, were working on a little imode cgi application for a client's Japan Office. The application would run on the severs in America. Durring testing, I told the US tech guy that I had to wait until the "office imode" was charged. That in fact no one in the office uses imode, but we got one a while back mainly for testing. He was suprised and assumed I must use j-phone. he was even more supprised to find I don't have a mobile phone.
I ran accross an article about keitai (Japanese for mobile phone) in Japan. I know most of the people reading my site would probably never find this article. I wouldn't have found it if wasn't on slashdot, a site about technical news I read sometimes, but it is mentioned on an American web site, and I'm sure that newspapers and magazines in the US that you do read probably mention the Japanese mobile phone phenomenon. It just seems that they are always written by people who are more involved (tech writers / heavy tech users and the likes) in the whole phenomenon than what I would consider "regular" people (although in this case, people in Japan without a mobile are definatly irregular). It must make it hard to see the other perspective. When you actually use what you are writing about, It's easy make and believe statements like "The keitai has become a social necessity in Japan" without second guessing the word "necessity". I think it would be much more accuratly worded as "a social influence", though it would loose much of it's punch.
The rest of the article is not about how great mobiles phones are or anything even related to an opinion. Though nor is it about how cell-phones are a necessity, rather about how they are changing the way society interacts which is totally true. But before you people in America go jumping to conclusions about what life must be like in a tech-rich Japan based on articles you may see like this, I just want to make sure you also get to hear another perspective, and how people without phones live, and know that we do exist even in Japan. (but then again... I aint Japanese)
In the article the author gives an example...
Now I leave home with my tiny keitai (Japanese for mobile phone) tucked in my purse, calling out to my husband that I will call him later about where and when to meet for dinner.
I don't have a husband, or a wife, but we'll use Tomoe... If I am going to make plans to meet her for dinner, I contact her before I leave. If she doesn't answer her phone I leave a message with a time and station to meet at, or I contact her with email or instant messanger from my desk throughout the day.
As I run from street to train station, I notice fewer and fewer pay phones in the urban landscape, and I realize that I don't even carry a telephone card anymore.
As I run from street to train station, I never realize I forgot my phone, or forgot to charge it. Do I ever worry about if I have my phone card or not? Nope, it's thinner than a credit card and is always in my wallet. Also in my wallet is a couple thousand yen which can be used to buy a new phone card at any convenience store or from a vending machine nearby many pay phones. I have never not been able to find a pay phone when I need one, and with a little advanced planning and arranging, it is possible to only go through 3 phone cards per year.
On the train, I punch in a quick e-mail message to my colleague telling her I am running a bit late.
I try my derndest not to be late. If I think that I can't guarantee a meeting time at say, 7:00, I schedule for 7:30, or I we agree on between 7:15 and 7:30. I spend my time on the train sketching all the people with their noses buried in their keitai, or catching up on some reading.
A few moments later my phone vibrates and I see a message saying that she will be later still, and she will phone me when she arrives at our rendezvous spot. I send her an e-mail message when I arrive at the appointed place, and run errands in the station building until my phone rings, announcing her arrival.
She has either previously agreed with the meeting time, or previously said, "Let's make it 8:00". When I arrive at the meeting place, I look around with my eyes to see if she is there. If I don't see her, I pull out a book, magazine, or newspaper, thankful to finally have a chance to catch up on some of the reading or study I can never seem to find time for.
We stay online until we converge in the same part of the station. I wave to her to catch her eye, and cut the line. No apologies are in order for the delay, as neither of us has wasted time.
I read my book until she arrives at the meeting point. She taps me on the shoulder to get my attention. No apologies are in order because we both arrived within the scheduled time span. If one of us is late, we say "Sorry I'm late".
If either of us had left our phones at home, that would be a different story, one of frustration and recrimination and failed attempts at contact.
If we had both had a cell phone, it would have been a different story, one of worrying if the phone was charged, frantically trying to find a place with good reception so we could call the other, being interrupted from my reading to answer a phone call or read an email saying she would arrive only five minutes before the end of the agreed upon time period, instead of 10 minutes earlier, and one of larger phone bills at the end of the month.
I have nothing against keitai, except that the price to value ratio seems to be tipped toward the price side. I don't think keitai will destroy society or anything crazy like that. But to see the way people so easily fall prey to the idea that a cell phone is a necessity is a little discouraging. To be fair though, when I lived in Kyushyu a couple years ago, I had a cell phone, and I wondered how anyone could live without it. It seemed like a necessity, although thinking back, most of it was probably just the neat-o factor of having another gadget.
I haven't had a cell phone for 5 years or so, and nothing bad seems to have happened yet. If f I didn't care about an internet connection to my apartment, I would get a cell phone instead of a land line now. The reason I had one in Kyushyu was that it was cheaper than a land line. I still used pay phones to make outgoing calls when there was one available though, just because it seems like lunacy to pay more to call from a cell phone, when i was standing right next to an empty pay phone. actually the greatest thing about the cell phone was that it held all the contact numbers, and didn't get torn and tattered like my memo-pad.
The point is. In most cases, it's only a necessity if you have one.
Business is different of course. It can mean winning or loosing a contract. In this case, it is a business expense, and if the number of contracts won because of the phone is higher than the price of the phone, it makes sence. In my case though, me having the phone wouldn't be enough incentive to my friends that they would pay the bill for me... In my job, since I am primary careteker for our servers, it makes sence that I should have a beeper at least, but it doesn't even seem to be in the company budget to get me a pager, let alone a ketai... and I'm sure it's not in the budget to pay me enough to be on call 24/7.
Nice blog. I too do not have a cell. Never have...didn't really need it in the beginning when it was the "in" thing to buy. After a while, and much observation of my friends, found them too expensive and I don't want anyone to be able to contact me when ever and where ever I am...or ask me why I didn't have my phone on, etc. Like my life would revolve around them or it! BUT, I can see where it might be handy here. There is always missed connections for me and my buds, and they give me such a hard time "If you had a mobile I could have texted you!" I hear that at least once a week. So, I might give in to the pressure for the next two years...and be running through train stations wishing I had a better battery as well as cursing the newest drain on my pocket! Maybe I will just have my friends read this blog...hummm
It's good to know there are some other people out there. After I wrotet his, I checked around to some of the people i know that didn't have phones... all but one has a phone now.... when did I become a fogie?
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