Re: WAP STRUGGLES TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE

Hi Sandeep,

Sandeep Hundal wrote:
> 
> I think that would probably be because Europena companies have been at the
> forefront of developing and pushing WAP, 

but: one of the key companies in developing WAP is phone.com which is
a Silicon Valley company.

> whereas the Japanese have been the
> best at implementation.

Counting the numbers right now that's true. But it could change in the
future.

> But why is WAP much more popular in Japan than Europe? Can't be entirely due
> to the compaatively more time the Japanese spend on the trasin is it?

There is no one single reason. The time on the trains is certainly one reason,
but there are many more, e.g. different marketing, different business models,
different technical implementation. You can find some of the reasons in our
imode-FAQ: http://www.eurotechnology.com/imode/faq.html

Best regards,

Gerhard Fasol
Eurotechnology Japan K. K.
http://www.eurotechnology.com/
fasol@eurotechnology.com

> /sunny
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gerhard Fasol" <fasol@eurotechnology.com>
> To: "Lisa LaNell Mauldin" <lisamauldin@earthlink.net>; <www-mobile@w3.org>;
> <fasol@eurotechnology.com>
> Cc: <auldin@earthlink.net>
> Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2000 12:47 AM
> Subject: Re: WAP STRUGGLES TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE
> 
> > Why do all the people focus on Europe, when looking at WAP?
> > - The main company in WAP is phone.com, which is a US company
> > - 55% of WAP users are in Japan - 13% of WAP users are in Europe
> > - 82% of wireless internet users today are in Japan
> >
> > I think today people need to focus on US technology (phone.com) and
> > Japanese + Korean market when assessing and discussing WAP.
> > (see our FAQ: http://www.eurotechnology.com/imode/faq.html )
> >
> > Also all this can change in the future...
> >
> > Just my 2 cents...
> >
> > Gerhard Fasol
> > Eurotechnology Japan K. K.
> > http://www.eurotechnology.com/
> > fasol@eurotechnology.com
> >
> >
> > Lisa LaNell Mauldin wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > WAP STRUGGLES TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE
> > > WAP (the "wireless applications protocol" designed to reformat Internet
> > > information for cellular phones) is still not widely accepted in Europe,
> > > and the German cellular company D2 has said its average WAP customer
> uses
> > > the service less than a minute a day. One observer says of the protocol:
> > > "It is so hard! You go down, down, down all these menus, and you wait,
> > > wait, wait each time. You're straining to read text on this tiny screen
> on
> > > the phone. Eventually, people just give up." Adds technology usability
> > > expert Jakob Nielsen: "WAP was supposed to be the great European
> > > breakthrough that would leave Americans trailing in the dust. But the
> > > people who have used it so far have decided that WAP stands for 'Wrong
> > > Approach to Portability.' There's a valid question today whether the
> > > Europeans have just raced off in the wrong direction." (Washington Post
> 15
> > > Sep 2000)
> > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8390-2000Sep14.html
> >

Received on Saturday, 16 September 2000 20:00:47 UTC