Moshi Moshi, an "On the Media" podcast from January 30, 2009
"Moshi Moshi" (the Japanese phrase used for answering the telephone), is an NPR story by Mark Philips who visits Tokyo's Akihabara and views the future of cellphones (keitai). For the Japanese he visits, the cellphone is the primary gateway to the internet - it is an always on, always connected link to texting, blogging, email, television, direct commerce, ... a far, far away future here today in Japan.
The story is available in audio and text. It includes interview bits with Professors Mim Ito and Daisuke Okabe, art student Momoko (Naninani), graduate student Kunikaza Amagasa, business man Yata Suzuki, and a few others.
It's a interesting presentation, covering the major bases and scoring a few hits. For all of the Americans who can't break the QWERTY keyboard habit, there are Japanese for whom this is a pain, and for whom the cellphone thumb board is the best way to enter text, e.g. for email and novels. Instead of the 160 character text message limit, the Japanese phone has a 10,000 character limit !.
It falters abit when it takes the obligatory journalistic "on the other hand" ...
Found at http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/01/30/07
Image credit: "Ruiko and her keitai" at the Oregon: Bar & Grill on Shiodome City Center's 42nd floor. Taken by w00kie. http://www.flickr.com/photos/w00kie/462923051/
