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Permalink Reply by Hugh Ashton on July 8, 2009 at 11:23am

Does that include iTunes and the estimated 1m iPhone handsets? Or doesn't this make a dent in the total?

I'm starting (after 20 years) to appreciate the Japanese disdain for computers (I'm speaking very generally and painting with a very broad brush, so bear with me). Japanese manufacturers have often pursued a "one task, one gadget" approach. A toaster that can toast bread and bagels? Hmm... Much better to have two kitchen appliances. Daiwa Securities is actually pushing as a sales point the fact that they have a limited range of product offerings – specialist, single-purpose financial instruments. Only in Japan would the lack of choice be a selling point from a broker... This country is still extraordinarily hardware oriented, and tends to value "invisible" software lightly.

So the open-ended nature of a PC baffles with its non-directionality. I'm often asked "what's the right way to..?" when it comes to computing tasks, and my stock reply that there are many "right ways" often results in bafflement (I now pick one method at random and designate it as "the right way"). A phone with no OS maintenance required, with only one way of performing each task, that forces a set pattern of responses, is likely to be more attractive, despite the inefficiency of the operation, and the (usually) appalling nature of the software.

Of course, I know there are other reasons for the statistics above (long commute times, etc.) but the old excuse of expensive communication charges no longer applies (I remember those uucp-inflated phone bills to pick up the mail).