Power of Thought

Steve Jobs’ new iPhone, expected to be unveiled Monday, is headed to Japan by the end of the year. But the device’s famed ease of use may actually be a put off in Japan, where consumers want features, not simplicity.

 Indeed, Japanese handsets have become prime examples of feature creep gone mad. In many cases, phones in Japan are far too complex for users to master.

“There are tons of buttons, and different combinations or lengths of time yield different results,’” says Koh Aoki, an engineer who lives in Tokyo.

Experimenting with different key combinations in search of new features is “good for killing time during a long commute,” Aoki says, “but it’s definitely not elegant.”

Japan has long been famous for its advanced cellphones with sci-fi features like location tracking, mobile credit card payment and live TV. These handsets have been the envy of consumers in the United States, where cell technology has trailed an estimated five years or more. But while many phones would do Captain Kirk proud, most of the features are hard to use or not used at all.

“Some people care about quality, but first and foremost it’s about the features,” says Nobi Hayashi, a journalist and author of Steve Jobs: The Greatest Creative Director. He estimates that the average person only uses 5 to 10 percent of the functions available on their handsets.

Japan is a culture of spec sheets. When consumers go to electronics stores to buy a cellphone, they frequently line up the specifications side by side to compare them before deciding which one to buy.

Hayashi owns a Panasonic P905i, a fancy cellphone that doubles as a miniature but crisp 3-inch TV. In addition to 3G and GPS, the device has a 5.1-megapixel camera and motion sensors that enable Wii-style games to be played sitting on the train.

“When I show this to visitors from the U.S, they’re amazed,” Hayashi says. “They think there’s no way anybody would want an iPhone in Japan. But that’s only because I’m setting it up for them so that they can see the cool features.”

In actuality, Hayashi says, the P905i is fatally flawed. The motion sensors are painfully slow, and the novelty of using them is quickly replaced with frustration. And while being able to watch TV anywhere is a spectacular idea, there’s no signal in the subways, and even above ground, the sound cuts out every few seconds.

“There’s nothing more annoying than choppy TV noises,” Hayashi says.

Aoki, who carries two phones, a Sony W44S and an iPhone for accessing the web, has only a vague idea of all the things the Sony cellphone is capable of doing. “Every once in a while, you find an incredible function via the complicated menu,” he says.

The manufacturers, who realize the absurdity of piling on features that don’t work well, are caught in a vicious cycle of materialistic consumers who always want the newest high-tech handsets, and carriers that have complete control over what products and services are provided to their customers.

“The most important thing for us is to provide our end users with a unique user experience through our products,” says Toshi Kawamura, a spokesman for Sony Ericsson Japan.

They’re also at the mercy of the all-powerful carriers, like NTT DoCoMo — the company that created the localized 3G network that makes Japanese handsets virtually obsolete in the rest of the world — who get to decide what applications and functions are compatible with their networks.

“The flashy little functions are cool, but they’re carrier-specific,” Hayashi says. “Once you take this out of Japan, it’s just a piece of metal.” Japanese companies only make 5 percent of global mobile phone sales, and all of those sales are domestic.

Neat-looking gadgets are also a core aspect of one’s identity. Daiji Hirata, chief financial officer of News2u Corporation and creator of Japan’s first wireless LAN, admits to changing handsets more often than is probably necessary.

“Cellphones are always part of any conversation,” he says. “People are always using them and holding them, even in the middle of a meal, so they might not think you’re hip if you’re carrying an old one.”

However, it’s unclear whether Japanese consumers will ditch their complicated cellphones for Apple’s easy-to-use iPhone, which will be sold in Japan by SoftBank by the end of the year.

A survey conducted by Japan Railways showed that just more than half of those polled were interested in buying the iPhone, but that less than one-fifth really knew what the iPhone was.

“It doesn’t have 3G, the camera is only 2 megapixels, and it lacks fun little features like mobile wallet functions and an LED flashlight,” Hayashi says. “It may sell modestly as a smart phone or as an upgraded iPod, but it’s not quite cutting it as a competitor in our mobile-based culture.”

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The US space agency is exploring the possibility of developing a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.

The virtual world would be aimed at students and would “simulate real Nasa engineering and science missions”.

The agency has published a “request for information” (RFI) from organisations interested in developing the platform.

Nasa believe the game would help find the next generation of scientists and engineers needed to fulfil its “vision for space exploration”.

“A high quality synthetic gaming environment is a vital element of Nasa’s educational cyberstructure,” the RFI reads.

“The MMO will foster career exploration opportunities in a much deeper way than reading alone would permit and at a fraction of the time and cost of an internship program.”

Space mission
Nasa already has a presence in the 3D virtual universe.

The agency owns an island in Second Life where individuals and groups with an interest in the space programme can meet, share ideas and conduct experiments.

CoLab, as it is called, is the brainchild of scientists at the Nasa Ames Research Center in San Francisco.

The agency hopes that the environment could one day be used to allow the public to take part in virtual missions.

“We at Nasa are working hard to create opportunities for what I might call participatory exploration,” the director of the project, Simon Worden, has said.

“We are looking at how this island can be a portal for all to fly along on space missions,” he told delegates at the National Space Society’s (NSS) conference last year.

“When the next people step onto the surface of the Moon in a little over a decade, your avatar could be with them,” he said.

The latest proposal was published by Nasa’s Learning Technologies Project Office which supports and develops education projects to promote science and technology.

Job seeker
The document says that games are becoming increasingly important in education and could be useful for teaching a range of skills.

“Virtual worlds with scientifically accurate simulations could permit learners to tinker with chemical reactions in living cells, practice operating and repairing expensive equipment, and experience microgravity,” it says.

The document calls for a game engine that includes “powerful physics capabilities” that can “support accurate in-game experimentation and research”.

“A Nasa-based MMO could provide opportunities for students to investigate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics career paths while participating in engaging game-play.”

Other organisations such as the US armed forces already use online gaming as a recruitment tool.

America’s Army for example introduces players to the “seven Army Core Values” and now claims to be one of “the most popular computer games in the world”.

Nasa has asked for interested organisations to respond to the request by the 15 February.

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Interesting post written by Sid over at rev2.org lists his top eight predictions for 2008:

1. Acquisitions: The following startups and companies will be acquired (and two most possible buyers in that order):

• Twitter (Yahoo! [the Yang revival?], Microsoft [the Ballmer promise?])
• Digg (New York Times, Microsoft)
• Technorati (Google, Yahoo!)
• Techmeme (New York Times, Yahoo!)
• Pownce (Microsoft, Yahoo!)
• Tumblr (Yahoo!, Microsoft)

2. Facebook: Facebook won’t die. The new Facebook is Facebook. Instead, it will continue to grow and grow — internationally more so. How will they do that? Simple, like they’ve always been — introduce revolutionary new features, fail, fail, fail, jackpot, fail, fail, fail (note that I use the term “fail” very loosely — a more appropriate phrasing would be “wen’t nowhere” or even “didn’t make the NYT.”) Contrary to many of the skepticisms over Facebook’s revenue model, Facebook will find a revenue stream and thus a way to keep its $15b valuation. If 2007 was a sky-rocketing year for Facebook this year, 2008 will be a period of steady growth, where things get a little more settled and stable. Less valuation talk, more actual work done.

3. Google: The number and rate of new Google products introduced will decrease. Instead, what will increase is the quality and reach of them — Google Reader will very possibly be among the first RSS readers to make the mainstream, the Google Office suite products (i.e. their eventual “release” updates) will continue to offer unique and interesting functionality pushing some consumers to ditch the Microsoft, Google Video will branch out into a niche: video search and attempt to do it in an awesome way, and lastly, Google News will turn into an AJAX startpage-esque product (or opt for some of that functionality). Oh, and speaking of startpages, iGoogle will either hit the mainstream jackpot or die in the minds of its current users.

4. Yahoo!: 2008, in general, will be a huge test for Yahoo! and its revival. For years they’ve been thriving on the old mainstream model, and as the web’s current highest trafficked website, they’ll be needing a Plan B to keep it alive, or simply put, hit a few jackpots from their current 10 - 20 “lab tests.” I’m not sure what to think of Jerry Yang’s recent 60-day revival strategy period and it’s fairly difficult for anyone to predict what — if anything — came out of it, but surely, Yahoo! doesn’t seem like one that is going to go away anytime soon. They won’t grow as fast as they’ve been, and at worse mostly irrelevant to the Internet industry, but as a company I think they’ve got some big challenges ahead and the advantage of playing a contender where failure isn’t a possibility but success is the golden cookie. And one of the things that’s going to be trivial in their revival strategy, I think, is going to be acquisitions and lots of them. (read: point #1)

5. Microsoft: As if Steve Ballmer’s Web 2.0 keynote wasn’t enough to say it, 2008 will be a big year for Microsoft. Obviously, we’re looking at a lot of acquisitions, products, and murders (yes, I’m talking to you, the 5 or so Live products that no one uses.) In any case, I think 2008 will be the year we know Microsoft’s stance on the web. We’ve been trying to figure it out for years and it always seems like there’s something right around the corner that is going to make it for them (remember the new MSN Search, anyone?) In any case, Bill Gates’ exit — for the good or the bad — will mean that there is increased activity in Microsoft’s Web properties. And will we find out whether the Web Office is Microsoft Office? I don’t think so, I think we’ll be needing two or three more years for that, but this won’t be stopping them from trying.

6. Buzzwords: “AJAX” will die. “The Long Tail” will die. “Folksonomy” is dead. “Crowdsourcing” hasn’t really gone anywhere, and it may or may not. “Web 2.0″ is at its peak, so I think next year is going to be when its use really reduces, and 2009 when it dies completely. RSS will be replaced by “feeds”, and the buttons with simply “Subscribe.” “New media” will survive for a couple more years. “Podcasts” will survive. “Social Network” will survive to refer to anything not Facebook, and “social graph,” until Facebook is alive, will be used to refer to Facebook. And lastly, “Web 3.0″ is the most unoriginal and ambiguous word that ever exists, so it’s NOT going to be the successor of Web 2.0. At least, I hope so. Need I say more?

7. iPhone: If 2007 was a big year for the iPhone, I think 2008 will be when its survival is really tested. That 10 million mark Apple’s aiming for? They’re going to get it, and not only that, I think they’ll surpass it. And with more iPhone users comes increased activity on the mobile web, which, iPhone user or not, I think is good for everyone. Of course, with the web apps not really getting anywhere among users web developers have something to cringe about, but native apps coming February and more iPhones in circulation will in the long run will prove best for all developers — web or not. And what about iPhone 2.o, you’re wondering? I’m not one to predict specific features, but I think the web experience will continue to get better and better and I can imagine a day where I’d opt for the iPhone because it’s close to me than open my Macbook and wait for Firefox to boot (yes, I know the iPhone has a great web browser interface already, but I’m still really attached to the traditional Firefox on my traditional Macbook. Either I’ll change, or the iPhone will.)

8. OpenSocial: I know you’re only reading this paragraph to find out where I think it will flop or not, so I’ll cut to the chase. I think OpenSocial has a lot to offer, but I think Facebook apps — and their usage — is more powerful that all the others combined, and there lies the future of OpenSocial. I think it’s a good attempt — great attempt — by Google, and better than any social network they could’ve built (or have), but it won’t be enough to bring down Facebook or even hurt it in any way. If anything, OpenSocial is going to validate Facebook’s model of social apps and attract more developers into the landscape. However, this doesn’t mean developers are going to not adopt it. They are, and many existing Facebook app developers are too, but what won’t equate to the Facebook advantage is the number of users and the usage.

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“w00t,” an expression of joy coined by online gamers, was crowned word of the year on Tuesday by the publisher of a leading U.S. dictionary.

Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster Inc. said “w00t” — typically spelled with two zeros — reflects a new direction in the American language led by a generation raised on video games and cell phone text-messaging.

It’s like saying “yay,” the dictionary said.

“It could be after a triumph or for no reason at all,” Merriam-Webster said.

Visitors to Merriam-Webster’s Web site were invited to vote for one of 20 words and phrases culled from the most frequently looked-up words on the site and submitted by readers.

Runner-up was “facebook” as a new verb meaning to add someone to a list of friends on the Web site Facebook.com or to search for people on the social networking site.

Merriam-Webster President John Morse said “w00t” reflected the growing use of numeric keyboards to type words.

“People look for self-evident numeral-letter substitutions: 0 for O; 3 for E; 7 for T; and 4 for A,” he said. “This is simply a different and more efficient way of representing the alphabetical character.”

One Web site, thinkgeek.com, already sells T-shirts with the word “w00t” printed on the front.

“w00t belongs to gamers the world over. It seems to have been derived from the obsolete ‘whoot’ which essentially is another way to say ‘hoot’ which itself is a shout or derisive laugh,” Think Geek said on its Web site.

“But others maintain that w00t is the sound several players make while jumping like bunnies in Quake III,” it added, referring to a popular video game.

Online gamers often replace numbers and symbols with letters to form what Merriam-Webster calls an “esoteric computer hacker language” known as “l33t speak.” This translates into “leet,” which is short for “elite.”

A separate survey of words used in the media and on the Internet by California-based Global Language Monitor produced a different set of winners on Tuesday. “Hybrid” took top honors as word of the year with “climate change” the top phrase.

Global Language Monitor, which uses an algorithm to track words and phrases in the media and on the Internet, said “hybrid” had broad connotations of “all things green from biodiesel to wearing clothes made of soy to global warming.”

Runner-up was “surge,” based on the “surge” of 30,000 extra U.S. troops deployed to Iraq since mid-June, followed by the word “Bluetooth,” a technology used to connect electronic devices via radio waves.

“The English language is becoming more and more a globalized language every year,” said Global Language Monitor president Paul Payack, noting that this year’s list included words also culled from India, Singapore, China and Australia.

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Most people consider themselves prudent when it comes to workplace activities, but actions speak louder than words—especially when it comes to computer security.

A large gap exists between what employees say about computer security and how they practice it at work, according to the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, which polled 301 white-collar workers at companies of at least 100 employees.

For example, 15 percent of workers had shared files over a peer-to-peer network, which “is opening a big door at a large corporation,” says Kent Anderson, a consultant who serves on ISACA’s Information Security Management Committee. “Most of these file-sharing programs by default scan available files and serve those out to anybody who wants them.”

Eleven percent of workers had e-mailed confidential documents to the wrong person—yet only 60 percent considered the behavior risky. And 35 percent had knowingly violated a corporate IT policy.

“They think, even if I make a mistake, nothing bad is going to happen,” Anderson says.

One reason for the risky behaviors may be that employees tend to take workplace IT security for granted. More than 90 percent told ISACA they considered their offices secure. While they worry about the security of their home machines, they feel somebody else has taken care of security on their work computers, Anderson says.

Another reason may be that employees don’t understand the risks they’re taking with what may seem routine tasks and use. Anderson says corporate IT departments tend to write overly long or technical IT policies, then stick those policies on a shelf and leave them unenforced.

Security policies must be simple, he says, and employees must be able to follow them and still do their jobs.

ISACA recommends corporate IT departments make security training routine. They should train new hires, update training frequently, and let employees know when there are specific threats.

ISACA’s recommendations reflect the results of a recent Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) survey that found 68 percent of businesses have no security training program, even though most are seeing an increasing number of security threats and incidents.

This is the first time ISACA has surveyed security practices at work, and Anderson wants to follow up on the results. He’s especially interested in how and why people knowingly violate corporate IT policies.

Checking personal e-mail at work may not seem like a problem, he says, but when you consider that 49 percent of workers clicked on a URL in an external e-mail and one-third downloaded files or software from friends, the risks grow quickly.

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