Japanese Mobile Phones

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Mobile Suica
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I first discovered Japan's mobile phones when I was studying there as an exchange student back in 2001. At the time, North America was content with it's clumsy Nokia and Motorola phones. After coming from that environment I was shocked to see that Japan was about to launch the world's first 3G network, a technology that North America just recently adapted.

Japan's mobile phones are basically mini computers that are the size and have a functionality of a wallet. Users can use them as a credit or debit card, watch tv, listen to music, look up train schedules, instant message, purchase items through the web browser, use them as a train pass, find dates, and of course use them as a conventional phone.

Although some of these features are now available in North America, the part that I find amazing is that they were already available in Japan back in 2001. The Japanese have fully integrated their mobile phones into their everyday lives. I believe this is due in part to the aesthetic-usability effect in which most of these phones and the applications that run on them are aesthetically well designed.

Most of the phones that I saw in Japan were some kind of flip phones. This could be due to the Ockham's Razor principle in which the flip phone may give the user the impression of a simpler design as opposed to a non-flip phone with all the keys exposed.

Another observation I have made is the lack of accessible phones for the blind or physically disabled - specifically people who cannot use their fingers. Most of the phones I have seen have small key pads and small screen sizes so I imagine it would be difficult for the elderly or disabled to use.

Due to the population density and high cost of real-estate, the Japanese endure long crowded commutes. During these times, the mobile phone turns into a haven where you can play video games, watch movies or tv, chat with friends or listen to music. Talking on the phone while on the train or bus is considered extremely rude in Japan, hence text messaging is the main way of communicating with some one more so than calling them.

The very first time I sent a text in Japan, I experienced a "performance versus preference" situation where I would always type each letter out by pressing the same key multiple times until my friend showed me the predictive text features which increased my typing speed.

Despite my amazement at Japan's adoption of this technology at the same time I do feel a little bit disturbed at the amount of isolation mobile phones have created in Japanese society. Although mobile phones enable people to communicate more, they distract from social interaction and they seem to be the primary portal in one's life, even more so than interacting with people.