It was just three years ago in February that I got an iPhone. It will soon be 4 years old.
The changes over the past three years have been really significant.
When I got my hands on this tiny device, the size of the palm of my hand, I couldn’t even imagine how much it would influence my way of thinking and lifestyle.
I used to be a Docomo user until I got an iPhone, and I think I’ve been a Docomo user for a long time.
というわけで、iPhoneにするにあたり、メアド変更などいくつかの悩みもありましたが、当時の日記を読み返すと、決断した最大の理由は「Skype」だったようです。
実はものすごく悩みました。ドコモからもいろいろとスマートフォンが出ているし、今日に至っては欧米で大人気のブラックベリーが出るし、その他ウィンドウズモバイル搭載の携帯もあるし。
There were a few deciding factors.
The first is the ability to read Google Reader. I’m sure the Google App on the Blackberry had Reader, but Windows Mobile’s didn’t seem to be online yet, so here goes Windows Mobile.
２つ目は、skypeが使えるかどうか。とりあえず真新しさでだいぶ前にskypeのIDを取得していたのですが、特に使い道もなく放置していました。しかし、完全旅行対応用のネットブックも買った影響で、これからはもっと海外旅行で活用しようと思っていました。そんなこともあって、skypeが使えるのは結構大事。ブラックベリーはここがNGで、よってこの理由がもっとも決定的要因となりました。
Third, ease of use and display readability. This is because the iPhone is still by far the best.
Fourth, you’ll have to change your phone’s email address either way, and it will cost you money whether you get a new one or a new model.
（※ 3年前の日記より：http://www.yuu-koma.jp/?p=848）
Now that I think about it, “not being able to use Skype is out of the question” is a very typical reason for me (laughs).
Even back then, Skype was usually available on smartphones. At least the BlackBerry had a Skype app. But Docomo went out of their way to make it unusable.
ちょっと前までは「Skype=禁断のアプリ」なんてキャッチフレーズを使っていた通信社があったくらいですから、当時のDocomoが同様の考えを持っていたことは容易に想像することができます。
In fact, this was written in the notes that I checked before purchasing. It said, “Some apps may not work.”
As you can see in the excerpt from the diary I mentioned earlier, Skype was very important to me, and I still remember how I took the trouble to check with the clerk.
It’s been three years since then, and the mobile phone environment has changed dramatically. We don’t need to explain Docomo’s struggles and Apple’s success.
そんななか本日はてブなどで話題になっていた「 高くついた反アップル戦略NTTドコモで通信障害続出の真相」という記事がとっても気になりました。
Some of the contents are excerpted below.
関係者の一人は、「それまでドコモにとって、アップルはそれほど意識するような会社ではなかった」と当時を振り返る。
This was because, despite the success of the iPod portable music device, the iPhone 3G introduced in 2008 did not sell as well as it had been advertised and was not of interest to Docomo. In fact, the early launch of docomo’s version of Blackberry was more important to DOCOMO’s smartphone strategy.
But then they approached Apple about handling the iPhone, which is gaining more and more presence with every version upgrade, and each time they were turned away and embarrassed by the iPad. Now Docomo’s pride as the strongest mobile phone company in Japan has been seriously damaged. Of course, DOCOMO must have been proud of the fact that as the wireless division of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation, it had led the world in the development of communications technology. And they decided to compete with Apple.
Reading this article reminded me of a lot of things that happened back then. The reason I’m writing about this today is because of this article.
As I mentioned in my diary a little bit above, three years ago was the time when I had started “de-newspaper, de-TV life” and also when I read this book and learned the concept of “cloud computing”.
クラウド・コンピューティング ウェブ2.0の先にくるもの (朝日新書)
Sochika Nishida
朝日新聞出版 2009-01-13
Sales Ranking : 237372
I think the term “cloud computing” itself has been heard a lot since about the year before.
This book was released in early January 2009, just before I bought my iPhone. I still think it’s a great book and very accurate about “cloud computing”.
Even though it was released three years ago, it still hasn’t faded, and I think it still contains enough content to help you learn about the future.
こちらの本において、「iPhoneの魅力はタッチパネルでなく”な同期”であるということ」をいち早く主張していたことも大変評価できますが、それよりも素晴らしいのは、まだ当時は登場していなかったAndroidに関して、
「なぜGoogleがモバイル端末用のOSを無償で提供するのか」
I believe that this was a correct explanation of what I was talking about. I’m sure I’ll mention the answer to this question in more detail below, but I hope you’ll read this book to find out.
いずれにしても、本書は来るべきクラウドの時代、その鍵を握るのは携帯端末だと。そして、「その携帯端末の鍵を握るのが”モバイル用OS”である」と3年前に主張しているのです。
Now, iPhone, let’s call it iOS, I think that the strength of this is definitely the high frequency of application updates.
GoodReader, for example, is definitely one of the top quality iOS apps. Of course, the quality and ease of use of the application itself is what makes it great, but I think the frequent and quick update support makes it even more attractive.
※goodiware.com :: products :: GoodReader http://www.goodiware.com/goodreader.htmlより
Moreover, iOS apps are exposed to global competition in the middle of the day. Since they have survived in such a situation, the quality should be high.
I think this is one of the great things about the iPhone.
So, once again, I would like to remind you of the article in “Gendai Business” that I mentioned earlier. Again, let me excerpt some of the article.
スマートフォン向けの携帯OSに関して、アップルのiOSに対抗できるものが、グーグルのアンドロイドぐらいしかなく、これがドコモにとって予想外の大きな負担になったのだ。
This is because while Google allows handset manufacturers and mobile phone companies to customize Android to some extent, Google itself rarely helps with customization.
Moreover, even if DOCOMO is the strongest in Japan, it is unprofitable for Google to customize for DOCOMO, which only has a small Galapagos market unlike mobile phone companies in huge emerging markets such as China and India, and it looks like a waste of time.
こんなことは、先程紹介した「なぜGoogleがモバイル端末用のOSを無償で提供するのか」ということを理解すれば直ちにわかることなわけです。同じく同書にも書かれていますが、「どうしてGoogleはクラウドに力を入れているのか」ということを理解すればすぐわかることなわけです。
In addition, I will excerpt the article.
加えて、ドコモは、音声携帯電話時代に大成功を収めたビジネスモデルと決別する覚悟が十分ではなかった。アンドロイドとは互換性のないSPメール(スマホ版のiモード)、ワンセグテレビの視聴機能、おサイフケータイ機能などをスマホに移植することに固執してしまったのである。
The group explained that the reason they were so concerned about porting them was that they “absolutely did not want users to complain about the loss of functions that they had used before.
Here’s a further excerpt.
ドコモ･ファミリーの各社からは、「採算が合わず世界市場に投入できないカスタマイズに追われた」との悲鳴も聞こえてくる。ドコモも、ドコモ･ファミリーも、乏しい技術者を、益の少ないカスタマイズに割かされた感は否めない。公にはしたがらないが、メーカー各社は、経営の弱体化に拍車がかかる問題に直面していたのだ。
As a result, DOCOMO’s mainstream smartphones were not made by family companies, but by Samsung of South Korea, which was not keen on customization, and Sony Ericsson, which was a joint venture between a European manufacturer and Sony.
(omitted)
This means that every time U.S. companies such as Apple and Google change their version of the mobile OS, Japanese mobile phone companies, manufacturers, and users are doomed to have the risks of the U.S. companies passed on to them and verified.
(※ 高くついた反アップル戦略NTTドコモで通信障害続出の真相 http://bit.ly/yqK8dLより)
I think that’s exactly what the new book released three years ago was talking about: the importance of mobile operating systems.
こうした記事、そしてこの3年間の流れを顧みると、本当にあらためて「クラウド・コンピューティング ウェブ2.0の先にくるもの
It was very fortunate for me that I learned this way of thinking three years ago, before I actually picked up a smartphone, instead of being carried away by the words “cloud” and “smartphone,” which have since been used carelessly in newspapers and other media without knowing their essential meanings.
そして、このような誤った戦略を見抜くきっかけとなったのは、あの「Skype」だったわけです。
I wonder how the mobile phone manufacturers would be doing today, and how my own current lifestyle would be different, if they had realised the potential and made Skype available on the BlackBerry back then.
興味深いところです。
