Goin’ Geeky in Tokyo: Satisfaction and Regret
First, let’s get the satisfaction out of the way. By far, the electronics purchase that has pleased me the most this year is the one of my iPhone 3GS. And, I just bought the damn thing a week ago! That’s how cool it is. A few of my good friends picked up their iPhones the first week they went on sale in the Big Mikan, but I balked. I don’t know, something about the hype put me off. Maybe if I’d bought one then too, I might not have been as into it as I am now. Either way, I’m here to say, iPhone, you complete me. OK, maybe not, but you help shave some dead minutes off my days with your cool applications.
iPhone in Japan is offered only by Softbank, the mobile phone carrier with the best rates in Japan. With the exception of an eight-month period, I’ve been with Softbank/Vodafone all my years in Japan. The nice thing about having waited to purchase the iPhone with Softbank is that I didn’t pay the ridiculous amount some people did to get it when it first came out. Nowadays, you can get a 3GS 16GB model for like 780 yen per month with a two-year contract. Of course, if you blow the contract, then it’s like 2700 yen per month for the remaining period of the contract. I was just finishing up my most recent contract with Softbank and felt like upgrading my phone, so I figured, Why not?
OK, now on to the regret.
My work promotion at the beginning of the year had me traveling to various parts of Japan and sometimes remaining for up to a month. I was always given an apartment to use, but internet service wasn’t provided. And I need internet service, geek that I am. Well, I decided to go with Emobile’s mobile internet service plan. I also picked up a cool-looking little Dell notebook PC with the deal. I even wrote a post here at 7:10 at the time because I was all geeked-up at the prospect of being constantly mobile and constantly wired-in.
You can sign up for Emobile at any of the major electronics stores in Japan, like Bic Camera, Yodobashi Camera, Yamada Denki, as well as at a host of other stores. When I signed up at Bic Camera in Shinjuku, I was told that with minimal use, my monthly fee would be just under ￥4000, while it would max out at ￥7000 yen. Seemed fair to me. I didn’t plan on using it when I was at my own apartment since I already had hikari fiber high speed internet service, so I didn’t think I’d be paying the maximum amount most months.
Well, I was wrong. It turns out with Emobile that minimal use is like 5 minutes or less. Any use over 5 minutes puts you at the max. No Shit. The first six months of billing had me paying the max each time, even though I’m positive that for three of those months, I used the service for less than 30 minutes because I ended up not traveling a lot with that job. While I was out of Japan for a couple of months, my bill naturally went down to around ￥4000 because I didn’t use the service at all. However, when I came back, I used it for about an hour or so during the month and guess what? Max payment time, biyatch!
All I can say (other than Fuck Emobile!) is that the service sucked for me, always slow and with occasional dropouts. The Dell PC that came with the deal was such a dog-ass-slow piece of crap, that it sits in its original box in my closet to this very day. To be fair, others I know who use Emobile don’t feel the same way I do, so take what I say with a grain of salt. In fact, take most of what I say with…
Uh, nevermind.
This post was submitted by Billy W
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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One Good and One Bad Electronics Adventure in Tokyo…
Nothing spectacular here, just a couple of bits about two electronics purchases in Tokyo during 2009, one good and one bad….
[...] BlogLinkJapan Goin’ Geeky in Tokyo: Satisfaction and Regret [...]
Apparently the data plan offered with these “free” netbooks is differently structured, presumably so they have a chance of recouping their costs. I signed up through my internet provider and pay a flat rate of about 5,000 yen a month (some of that is refunded by my employer as I use it for work too). The connection is good enough for me, at least in the greater Tokyo area.
There is a newer, higher-speed service from a different company, I forget the name, but at the time the data cards weren’t compatible with my eclectic selection of mobile hardware / operating systems so I went for e-mobile.
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@ThePenguin:
Yeah, according to my friends who didn’t take the “cheap” netbook, the monthly fee is reasonably based on their usage. Damn that crappy notebook!
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“something about the hype put me off”
I REALLY fu__ing hate long lines filled with fan boys and girls so I get exactly what that sentence implies.
If it’s an OS I’m waiting for an SP1 before I buy and I never buy 1st gen or “G1″ crap. That’s my angle anywayz.
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Internet/phone service providers tend to be assholes that push packages that are designed to screw you over.
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Well, I am still holding on to the first phone I got when I arrived in Japan. Although, when my contract is finally up I really want to get an iphone. It has got a lot of apps which are perfect for work.
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@Chris B:
Although, when I took a look at that line on TV, I saw that, even though Japanese people tend to be slaves to the hype, the gaijin geeks can definitely give them a run for their money.
@Blue Shoe:
But it’s funny, at Docomo, they do it with a you’re-gonna-bend-over-and-take-this-cuz-any-real-Japanese-would-only-have-a-Docomo-phone-right?- smile on their faces.
@freedom:
Get it, man! They’re so affordable now, there’s no reason not to.
[Reply]
Billy Boy!
I bought the iPhone 3GS and it’s been great for the most part. Some of the applications are genius. But twice since I’ve owned it, I’ve gone to dial a number, went to my contacts page and realized that every phone number and name in the list were erased. A complete blank phone! Ouch.
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