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#16 | |
PHD in Horribleness
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L
Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.
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#17 |
Grand Master of Flowers
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Naptown
Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)
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I think Japan has - at least to some extent - lost the cutting edge tech lead it used to have. The top 3 cell phones in Japan now are the iPhone (16G), the iPhone (32G), and an HTC Android phone. The iPod pretty much dominated the portable music player market for years - it has lost some marketshare now, but that seems to be due to people buying iPhones instead.
Japan still has leading edge companies like Panasonic and Toshiba...but they are getting squeezed from Korea, Taiwan, and even China. DVD players have become a $30 commodity, and even Blu-Ray players are moving in that direction, without having been very successful at the high end. |
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#18 |
non-techy
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Karma: 50586
Join Date: May 2011
Location: wherever I can afford to get laid and eat vegetarian
Device: Sony pocket edition and Kobo touch both died - looking at Kindles
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my purpose...
I am compelled to write and ask questions. I just enjoy being active in this forum. But now that you mention it, maybe I should gather such information and write an article. I used to be an investigative journalist and publisher. Can't get it out of my blood.
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#19 |
Wizard
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Karma: 10684861
Join Date: May 2006
Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20
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Well, the first-ever e-ink reader was issued in Japanese market. So, for a short period of time Japanese did lead the market.
It was Sony Librié. Look it up. It as a spectacular failure. Sony didn't let people to load their own content. The only books you were allowed to load up were those you had purchased in their on-line store. And those expired after 90 days. Such aggressive DRM was too much even for Japanese market. When Sony saw abysmal sales, they released utility that let you publish your own content for Sony Librié, but it was too late ... The firmware, and labels on buttons were only in Japanese, so it was unusable outside Japan. Much later there was complicated way to "root" the device and load English menu, but for rooting you had to navigate Japanese interface. To be honest, the prices of books [so I was told] reflected the fact that you were in fact just renting them for limited time and not "buying" them. Not that you are buying ebooks even today, for other readers, in other stores but that is a different story ... Last edited by kacir; 07-09-2011 at 05:33 PM. |
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#20 |
MR Drone
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DRONEZONE
Device: PB360+, Huawei MP5, Libra H20
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Here in Sapporo many people are readers, but as stated above many read on their mobile phones. Some of my Japanese friends have Sony 350s and 650s but they mostly read them at home and not on the street. I do not see many ereaders on my daily travels but I bike everywhere so do not see the subway crowd. I have seen a lot of people reading on Nintendo DS players. My take as far as ereaders go...... IF Sony would market an ebook reader emphasizing Manga content....Sales would be huge.
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#21 |
LB's lolz Mutt Minion
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Hong Kong now but NYC forever
Device: Kindle3, GalaxyTab, BB Bold9700, BB 8300, Sony Clie, Palm Vx, Palm III
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^ Hmmm, interesting indeed. A manga/comic-centric ereader...niche indeed, but yes, I too tend to think it could be enormous in Japan [and much of Asia]...
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#22 |
MR Drone
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: DRONEZONE
Device: PB360+, Huawei MP5, Libra H20
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Seems like the Elephant in the room..Surprised Sony has not marketed a 7 inch or the 950 reader from Manga...considering it's A huge market here in Japan. Most people i know read manga....
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#23 |
Wizard
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Karma: 10684861
Join Date: May 2006
Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20
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#24 |
Opsimath
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand
Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy
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I've lived and traveled in Japan for the past 20+ years, and never ONCE seen anyone else using a dedicated e-reader. When I tried to purchase a Sony 505 two years ago from Amazon, that company could not ship Sony's to Japan because of licensing between Sony-Japan and Sony-USA. Fortunately, B&H Video deals with Sony-Canada, and they ARE permitted to ship to Japan, so I was able to get my reader.
I have never had a Japanese ask me about my e-reader as we sit side-by-side in coffee shops reading and chatting. There is seemingly no interest in them what so ever. I've had them come up to me and ask about my motorcycle. Or ask me about my home country. Or do I like sushi. But not one question about my e-reader. The Japanese are voracious readers, and as Canuck said, the isles of bookstores are always jammed with people browsing. There are huge bookstores everywhere you look, the sort that take up two floors or five... or large single-floor places. These, besides the little back-street book stores. No question about their love of reading, but at the same time, there is a love of pocket-sized gadgets, so the mobile phone became their reader-of-choice. On the trains and buses, most working Japanese must make a daily 60-120 minute commute, and they do so with their eyes glued to their mobile phones. I've taken some photos showing virtually every person on one side of a rail car with a phone in front of their face! Every one! And 3/4 of them also had wires running up to their ears, but that's another thread. The manga business is suffering because of mobile phones, not because of e-readers. The manga racks in convenience stores have reduced in size over the past 10 years. As Lefty said, if an e-reader came out that could comfortable deal with manga, it would be a huge success. Stitchawl |
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#25 |
non-techy
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: wherever I can afford to get laid and eat vegetarian
Device: Sony pocket edition and Kobo touch both died - looking at Kindles
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A friend in South America uses his kindle for Japanese and Spanish manga. For whatever that is worth.
I do not understand why anyone would want to do anything with a mobile phone other than make telephone calls and maybe text. But I am an 'old' man. I prefer a hammer to hammer, a saw to saw and a typewriter to type. Although the concept of having a 'do everything device' is appealing, in my experience this means huge compromises in functionality. For example, just yesterday I asked a salesman whether he had any telephones that provided camera/video functions as good as a dedicated camera/camcorder. Nothing close. The only advantage to multiple-function devices, and a significant one, is portability. But, I presume because of marketability/profitability devices are not made that do them all well. For example, I am shopping for a very portable camera that has maximum optical zoom, waterproofness, image quality, and simplicity of buttons/functions. Such glorious features do not exist in a camera, and if they did it would cost $1200 instead of under $400. An additional problem is that if such a wonderful camera did exist (at essential a 'price doesn't matter' price) because it would be portable, I would lose it! I concur with the gentleman in Sapporo (where I worked for a summer) - the Japanese are voracious readers. This may in part be because a large percentage of the population has a college or university degree, no? This literateness absolutely does not translate into English conversation however. I have travelled all over Asia and Japan is the only nation where I felt I was not on the planet earth, that I was totally apart, something to be analyzed, and viewed and understood maybe, but rarely interacted with emotionally/socially like people do in China, Thailand, Cuba or England. The inscrutable/distant Asian is not so much an Asian thing as a Japanese thing. Despite almost every middle class person being able to read the classics of English literature, few would risk making a mistake in pronunciation in having a casual conversation. Japan was thus the most bizarre nation I have ever visited on the planet. It makes China or Bangladesh look easy. I would not dream of trying to do business in Japan. BTW, Japan in the 80's had, except for a few easy-to-underestand and follow limitations (no pubic hair, no inner labia, penetration had to be blocked out), sexually explicit and uncensored nude photography and cartoons. You like comic books of raped children? Transvestites in bondage? Octopuses exploring orifices? No problem. The (to me) bizarre combination of sex and violence or youth seemed to be the focus of the Japanese erotic aesthetic. And regarding nudity, the most niche market coffee table books had sections in classy bookstores and porno ones too truly pushed the envelope in 'adult' ones. Japanese and European erotic photographers sold tons of books to the Japanese market. Whatever one's imagination could concoct was sold openly, sometimes literally at corner store news stands. Police had more important things to do (like going after real rapists) than controlling fantasy. Images were viewed as private matter. Then under US pressure that all changed in the nineties. The world's most pure supply and demand market in art and porn was destroyed by foreign influence. Now, politically correct cartoons are prosecuted because they offend sensibilities. My argument is an laissez faire economic one - if you don't like it, don't buy it. If the book has no value there will be no buyers. If no one is hurt how is it anybody's else's concern? If no fraud/theft/coercion is involved and a price is negotiated between buyer an seller for private use, it is none of your or my business (literally). Or mine. But, according to my observation the world is going backwards in personal freedoms. I measure almost everything to what was possible in 1973 to 1981. It depresses me! |
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#26 | |
Wizard
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Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA
Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2
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#27 | |
Wizard
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Device: PocketBook 360, before it was Sony Reader, cassiopeia A-20
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I do not make notes of opening hours, wiring (before taking something apart), bus schedules, device parameters, odometer status at company car, measurements, and many other things. I snap a picture. And much later I can find it in my phone - unlike a slip of paper I would have used before to take a note. And I have my phone with me 99% of times. For taking scenic pictures when I go for a trip, or for documenting family holidays I usually bring "proper" camera. |
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#28 | |
Grand Master of Flowers
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Naptown
Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)
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There is usually a tradeoff between cost, convenience, and functionality, and for most people, functionality is just one aspect of a camera. You can buy a Nikon D3X for $8,000 and get tremendous functionality. But you also get a very expensive somewhat cumbersome camera. Or you can buy a Canon SX30 for $500 - much smaller than the Nikon, but with reduced functionality and picture quality, although a 35x (optical) zoom. But it's not pocketable, and it's $500. Or you can buy a Canon elph/ixus for $200. It is pocketable and has 5x zoom, but still has reduced picture quality and functionality compared to the above cameras. Or you can buy a cell phone with a decent camera, like an iPhone. Cost is essentially 0, and convenience is very high, since you will probably almost always have it with you. But there's no optical zoom, and picture quality and functionality are lower than the above cameras. But because functionality/price/convenience are on a scale, there is no reason to treat camera phones as a completely different animal than a dedicated camera. They are simply a camera with a different place on the functionality/convenience/price scale. Good photographers have managed to take excellent pictures with camera phones, for example http://www.photoble.com/photo-inspir...n-apple-iphone *While camera phones generally have reduced functionality when compared to dedicated p&s cameras, there are two exceptions: (1) the ability to instantly e-mail your picture to anyone; and (2) the ability to use certain software filters as you take a picture (i.e., Hipstamatic, Tilt/Shift, HDR, etc). |
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#29 | |
Lucifer's Bat
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Earth/Berlin
Device: Kobo Libra Colour
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![]() ![]() What do you want me to buy now? An ereader that phones my camera? I don't have a camera. Do I have to talk to myself now while reading??? ![]() |
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#30 |
Witless protection Agent
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Location: Los Angeles
Device: Kindle
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Back in the 70' or 80' a guy wrote an interesting article about how the Japanese market had much higher prices for identical items that were exported, and had cutting edge devices (like handy-cams with burnable CD-ROMS) that never seemed to be sold outside Japan.
He investigated and found that the Japanese electronic companies often sold new devices only in Japan for a year or so as a 'test market'. If it does not sell well in Akihabara - it does not ship overseas. If it does well in the first year, any defects or problems are fixed and manufacturing ramps up for export. His other finding - the Japanese government organizes product development to a huge degree. You basically have to obtain a license to develop a new product. If Sony and Pioneer already have licenses to develop Plasma televisions - you cannot. This prevents too many Japanese companies from developing competing products and letting the market (or the marketing) decide who wins. But it is very efficient. http://www.happyjappy.com/tokyo/akih...nics_town.html |
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