Japan hates the BlackBerry

Posted
by
Steve St. Pierre
on October 5, 2006, at 8:57 AM
in News
.
Comments: 22 responses
22 Comments

“Hate” is such a strong word. But unfortunately, it’s true! C Net Asia has an article by Matsushita Shuji, who spits hatred against our beloved device. Low adoption rates and American-bashing are all contained within the story, and Shuji reports that the BlackBerry will be one of the biggest electronic disappointments in Asia – ever. He doesn’t use those words exactly, but we can tell he’s thinking it.

BlackBerry? No Japanese gadget freaks had shown the slightest interest in this small mail terminal..er, information terminal, so far. Even the business people who have a lot of dealings with Americans were not very enthusiastic. Simply, everybody felt sort of pity to Americans who proudly show around their BlackBerries as the most classy business tool.

“Poor people! Since their K-tai system is so primitive and hopeless, they have to compromise with that toylike Blackberry thing. It hasn’t got even a camera in it!”

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  • George

    What’s K-Tai? Also you would think that Japanese people would be keen adopters of the Blackberry because in the west we see them as workaholics but there’s an obvious cultural difference somewhere. Maybe they tend not to bring work into their homes.

  • George

    What’s K-Tai? Also you would think that Japanese people would be keen adopters of the Blackberry because in the west we see them as workaholics but there’s an obvious cultural difference somewhere. Maybe they tend not to bring work into their homes.

  • moog

    Yes…we should all judge mobile devices by their camera features.

    And he called BlackBerry a “toy”…what are camera phones if not high-tech toys?

    Amateur.

  • moog

    Yes…we should all judge mobile devices by their camera features.

    And he called BlackBerry a “toy”…what are camera phones if not high-tech toys?

    Amateur.

  • http://www.blackberrycool.com/ Steve St. Pierre

    George – from all accounts, that seems to be the big difference (leaving work at work). I’d imagine that their work days lack coffee breaks and visits to addictinggames.com and more noses/ears/whatever to the grindstone.

  • http://www.blackberrycool.com Steve St. Pierre

    George – from all accounts, that seems to be the big difference (leaving work at work). I’d imagine that their work days lack coffee breaks and visits to addictinggames.com and more noses/ears/whatever to the grindstone.

  • Jim

    Ha.. I am using a Blackberry evaluation unit from NTT Docomo in Tokyo. Finally… Blackberry has arrived in Japan. Japanese phones & mobile services are far over-rated and primarily appeal to teenagers and young women. I bet that once Japanese business people get their hands on a blackberry, with Japanese language support next year, they will ditch their cute little pink flip phones…

  • Jim

    Ha.. I am using a Blackberry evaluation unit from NTT Docomo in Tokyo. Finally… Blackberry has arrived in Japan. Japanese phones & mobile services are far over-rated and primarily appeal to teenagers and young women. I bet that once Japanese business people get their hands on a blackberry, with Japanese language support next year, they will ditch their cute little pink flip phones…

  • Aeromarine

    I am Japanese and I use the Balckberry Pearl 8100 in the States. I would “love” it more if it could ready Japanese emails without paying extra for the special Japanese language pack. RIM offers other asian languages packs for free except for Japanese….and guess who we have to pay extra for the Japanese language pack & input??? NTT Commuinications(NYC), a subsidiary of NTT Domoco.

  • Aeromarine

    I am Japanese and I use the Balckberry Pearl 8100 in the States. I would “love” it more if it could ready Japanese emails without paying extra for the special Japanese language pack. RIM offers other asian languages packs for free except for Japanese….and guess who we have to pay extra for the Japanese language pack & input??? NTT Commuinications(NYC), a subsidiary of NTT Domoco.

  • Frustrated RIM user

    I have been seeking just to be able to read emails in Chinese and Japanese… NO LUCK with BB 8830.

    If you cannot produce a smartphone which can read most popular langauges around the world, including Chinese and Japanese automatically… DO NOT CALL IT WORLD EDITION.

    It is so deceiving! Just kindly get the patch done for us VICTIMS or let us know where to download it if you have any…

    Otherwise, I love it and has been loyal customer for a long time!!! Thank you.

    Take Action or competition will eat you up.

  • Frustrated RIM user

    I have been seeking just to be able to read emails in Chinese and Japanese… NO LUCK with BB 8830.

    If you cannot produce a smartphone which can read most popular langauges around the world, including Chinese and Japanese automatically… DO NOT CALL IT WORLD EDITION.

    It is so deceiving! Just kindly get the patch done for us VICTIMS or let us know where to download it if you have any…

    Otherwise, I love it and has been loyal customer for a long time!!! Thank you.

    Take Action or competition will eat you up.

  • Frank Avalos

    Just for the record,Blackberrys are Canadian gadgets!!!You should also be able to download the pack from your mobile provider,and try begging!!!

  • Frank Avalos

    Just for the record,Blackberrys are Canadian gadgets!!!You should also be able to download the pack from your mobile provider,and try begging!!!

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.

  • Rogue

    I just lived in Japan for a while, and it’s obvious to me why the BlackBerry would be laughed at.

    My Japanese phone allowed me to watch TV in real time. Not kidding. Futhermore I could RECORD PROGRAMS onto to, like TiVo. And lastly, it has a tilt screen to full qrty keyboard. I used it like a laptop for work.

    The CHEAPEST phone you can buy from SoftBank (phone company) was about $60 and it had webbrowsing, camera, and email support.

    Part of living in big Japanese cities as that you gotta take the train everywhere. Basically all people, from kids to the elderly, sit on their phones during that travel time. People watch TV, play high quality video games, or learn english from software.

    BlackBerry is a wonderful phone. I used a Pearl in the US. But really its functionality is no where near the levels of the high end Japanese phones.