Tech writer explains why she gave up her iPhone

[Mulboyne]

A Japanese technology media editor called Ayano Yoshioka has written a column (Japanese) explaining that she loved her iPhone for the first year and would use it alongside an au Exilim keitai. However, she recently decided to switch to one phone, electing to keep her Softbank number but getting a new model from Docomo. When she went to a Docomo shop, the staff at the counter seemed visibly surprised she was changing from an iphone, a reaction she got the next day at work. Many people in IT media own one and they wondered why she hadn't just upgraded to a 3G version. This is a quick summary of her piece.

Since it is around a month since she made the switch, Yoshioka thinks there are five main reasons why the iPhone alone didn't work for her:

1. You can't use it with one hand.
2. The speed and accuracy of map and navigation programmes lags behind other providers.
3. It has no osaifu keitai function.
4. You can't see flash media on mixi and Gree social network services
5. The touch panel keyboard on the iphone 3G doesn't give you the satisfying sensation of pressing buttons.

She writes that she could imagine life without an iPhone but couldn't live without an ordinary keitai so it was a no-brainer when she switched to using only one. She admits the iPhone is great fun, and she loved downloading new apps, but in the end it didn't have all she needed to rely on it alone. She also concedes that the one thing she does miss about his iphone is the ease with which she could check work email and reply to it as if she was in front of his PC (She adds that, while some ordinary phones offer similar functionality, they don't work in tandem with the IT set-up at her office).

In the end, she decided she could rely on his PC to do things she used to do on his iphone. As an IT media editor, she carries a notebook PC around anyway and can access the web with a data card or bluetooth connection to her mobile so she can still do these things on the move to a limited degree.

Her colleagues argue that you can use the iPhone one-handed but it is a skill she couldn't master. As far as the maps go, she says that they are probably sufficient for many people but she has a particularly bad sense of direction and so needs as much help as she can get, especially when in a hurry. She also relies on traffic and commuter reports which aren't available on the iPhone.

Other iPhone users get around the osaifu keitai issue by slipping an IC card next to their iphones and putting both in a case. This is fine for light users but Yoshioka says she needs more functionality so this is not a good workaround for her. The inability to view some mobile phone sites is another serious deficiency given that the Yoshioka uses a number of services (such as mixi and Gree) for both work and private communication. Her final gripe about the keyboard she admits is just a personal preference unlikely to be shared by many.

When Yoshioka originally wrote his reasoning and posted it online it provoked a number of reactions. Many declared they couldn't give up the iPhone while others agreed with some of her points. Yoshioka stresses in this piece that she isn't trying to make a stand against the iPhone because he likes it. However, the only real loss she still feels is the email functionality. Some other applications which she used heavily in the past, she doesn't miss so much now that she can no longer use them. All in all, given her need for one contract and one phone, she is happy he made the right decision.

Edited following a clarification from BigInJapan

[FG Lurker]

There's a good chance that I won't buy another iPhone.

I love the product but hate Apple's desire to lock everything down. My 3GS is jailbroken but Apple is slowly winning the cat & mouse game with jailbreakers... It is likely that future phones will be much, much harder to jailbreak.

I really like the direction Android is heading and some of the Android phones I have seen are already nearly as nice as the iPhone. I expect I'll be happy with the 3GS for another year or so and will quite likely buy an Android phone after that. (As an added bonus I can shitcan SoftBank and go with DoCoMo.)

[GuyJean]

.. but Apple is slowly winning the cat & mouse game with jailbreakers... It is likely that future phones will be much, much harder to jailbreak...

Different product but still Apple. I've sworn off and will probably never use Japan iTunes again;

- they charge 150 yen per song, no matter the exchange rate
- they lowered the default bit rate to 128k (used to be 256k)
- if you want 256k, you need to purchase the 'premium' version (or whatever it's called)
- you have about 30 total premium versions available in Japan iTunes (exaggerating)

I now order all my music, in CD form, from Amazon.co.jp. International versions of CDs are around 1,600 to 2,000 yen, and it's delivered next day or sometimes even same day..

I'm not paying 1,500 yen for albums at 128k from iTunes that I end of burning to CD anyway. (Yes. I'm old-school backup guy. I still like the sense of owning something physical. I think I cherish it more..)

US iTunes is probably a bargain. It's a TOTAL rip-off in Japan.. But a lot of things are like that.

GJ

[wuchan]

[quote="GuyJean"]Different product but still Apple. I've sworn off and will probably never use Japan iTunes again]
Pay for downloaded music

If you have to spend the time and money to back up the music.... er, data, why not just buy the hard copy.

I was always amazed that people pay for data. Shit, before I came here I didn't even bother to pay for internet access. I only pay here because it is worth the money, here I get 1G up and down for the same price as comcrap's 4Mb down and less than one up.

[Number11]

Thanks for the summary and for posting this, Mulboyne.

The day that the iPhone for Japan was announced, I mentioned to an acquaintance that 1, 3 and 5 would be create some issues for people here. I thought the Japanese affection for biting on shiny lures wiggling at them would overpower the issues, but those issues would be raised, eventually.

[BigInJapan]

[Mulboyne]

[GuyJean]

:rofl: Pay for downloaded music

If you have to spend the time and money to back up the music.... er, data, why not just buy the hard copy.

I was always amazed that people pay for data. Shit, before I came here I didn't even bother to pay for internet access. I only pay here because it is worth the money, here I get 1G up and down for the same price as comcrap's 4Mb down and less than one up.

I think most people pay to download music for a few basic reasons:

- convenient
- cheap (except in Japan)
- consistent quality
- legal

I also don't mind supporting artists, albeit a small cut from the label..

You only pay for Internet access because it's worth the money? You must listen to awful music if you pay nothing for it..

GJ

[wuchan]

I think most people pay to download music for a few basic reasons:

- convenient
- cheap (except in Japan)
- consistent quality
- legal

I also don't mind supporting artists, albeit a small cut from the label..

You only pay for Internet access because it's worth the money? You must listen to awful music if you pay nothing for it..

GJ

I buy CDs but the stuff I can't find in the stores or on amazon is always on the net.

or I go here:
http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/

[FG Lurker]

I think most people pay to download music for a few basic reasons:

- convenient
- cheap (except in Japan)
- consistent quality
- legal

I also don't mind supporting artists, albeit a small cut from the label..

When I pay for music it is always in a physical format. I have no interest in paying the same (or more) for compressed tracks and no physical media.

[Ganma]

When I pay for music it is always in a physical format. I have no interest in paying the same (or more) for compressed tracks and no physical media.

Right on.
One word. DISK UNION. If you're buying music in Tokyo that is.

[Doctor Stop]

That's two words.

[Ganma]

That's two words.

Yes. I realized that somewhat later. DISKUNION!

[Midwinter]

Like a woman's opinion on technology really matters.

[Takechanpoo]

Tech writer explains why she gave up her iPhone

Boyne's title is inappropriate. Accurately she just abandoned it, not gave up because that U.S ultimate weapon is damn useless in most informationized society.

[wuchan]

in most informationized society.

?

you mean "most people here don't know there is a world out side the borders of japan"

[Coligny]

A Japanese technology media editor called Ayano Yoshioka has written a column (Japanese) explaining that she loved her iPhone for the first year and would use it alongside an au Exilim keitai.

Argggl... Exilim... Mediocre camera, ABSOLUTELY impossible to use the camera interface without losing your sanity... For the keitai interface... counter intuitive at best and the GPS is not what I would call a marvel. Even my PSP with Maplus is 10 times better... (and usable in car)

[6810]

I think most people pay to download music for a few basic reasons:

- convenient
- cheap (except in Japan)
- consistent quality
- legal

I also don't mind supporting artists, albeit a small cut from the label..

You only pay for Internet access because it's worth the money? You must listen to awful music if you pay nothing for it..

GJ

Free is music is probably easier to get. Ever used a search engine? So, convenient? No.

Cheap? Nothing beats free...

Consistent quality? Huh? Ever heard of FLAC? Most mp3s are now ripped at 320k anyway...

Legal? Err, you got me there.

That said, most of the money I used to spend on CDs now goes to independent labels and Amazon - cos they sell vinyl!

[GuyJean]

Free is music is probably easier to get. Ever used a search engine? So, convenient? No.

Cheap? Nothing beats free...

Consistent quality? Huh? Ever heard of FLAC? Most mp3s are now ripped at 320k anyway...

Legal? Err, you got me there.

That said, most of the money I used to spend on CDs now goes to independent labels and Amazon - cos they sell vinyl!

So you make the illegal choice of Googling for free mp3s always burned at 320k. Most people don't.. And I'm glad; people who pay for music/data ensure the artists/programmers keep creating/programming. I don't laugh at people who pay for data. I thank them.

GJ

[GuyJean]

.. I really like the direction Android is heading and some of the Android phones I have seen are already nearly as nice as the iPhone..

(Anyway, back on topic).. I'm curious about the Android as well. Is there a place you recommend to keep up on it's progress?

Thanks.

GJ