mobile internet use outgrowing PC internet in Japan

When WAP fell flat on its face in the UK, the idea of using a mobile phone for email and internet access being more popular than PC internet access seemed absurd. They are over two years ahead in Japan and according to this guardian unlimited article email and internet access via mobile phone is becoming more popular than PC internet. When you look at the price of a wireless equipped PC compared to that of a state of the art 3G phone it suddenly makes sense. Sure many people use PCs for more than email and internet, but if you don’t, why go to the trouble of purchasing and looking after a large power hungry unreliable, noisy PC when you can do it all from a phone?

I suppose many people were disappointed by the WAP experience, because they had already used the internet on a PC and the monotone/slow/unreliable/non-existent alternative was a flop. Even the 3G experience may seem lame to regular PC internet users, but the difference in Japan is that many people have only ever used the mobile phone versions, because they are more affordable and convenient than PC’s.

I’ll always have a PC because I need it to make a living, but it still seems absurd that I have at home a noisy, slow old dinosaur of a PC humming and crunching away in the corner which I only really use to check my email and look at the news headlines while I eat my breakfast.