世論 What Japan Thinks

The 50th installment of the regular goo Research mobile upgrade needs, reported on by japan.internet.com as usual, found that price was the most important factor, which goes some way to explaining the 25% drop in mobile sales last year.

Demographics

Between the 26th and 29th of January 2010 exactly 1,000 mobile phone-owning members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.3% of the sample were male, 1.9% in their teens, 12.8% in their twenties, 36.9% in their thirties, 29.8% in their forties, and 18.6% aged fifty or older.

I met a couple of guys from Nokia this week and they were carrying their latest model of smartphone, the N900, and I want one! I hope Japanese manufacturers can bring out a smartphone that works and addresses customer needs, not the carrier’s wishes.
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A recent survey from iShare into Windows and Mac usage revealed that Mac users were more interested in new computers and the design of domestic appliances.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 5th of February 2010 492 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.1% of the sample were male, 28.0% in their twenties, 31.1% in their thirties, and 40.9% in their forties.

I did work with Mac OS many, many years ago, but I found it rather disappointing. I felt it was being just too clever, or perhaps the secret to enjoying the Mac is to “Think Different”, and not expect it to be as awkward as Windows.
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I’ve previously looked at loud phone calls on the train, but this survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com found that many were annoyed by quiet phone calls too in this survey into train manners.

Demographics

Betweem the 10th and 12th of February 2010 1,080 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.7% of the sample were male, 16.3% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 16.0% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

I actually find quieter phone conversations more annoying, as people seem to make less effort to cut the conversation short, but instead imagine cupping their hands over their mouth masks the noise.

If I rode with other foreigners what I really want to do is to point at the person and talk in English about how bad mannered the person is, but as I don’t I have to make do with scowling at them.
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Watch any breakfast show on Japanese TV and you’ll often see lengthy segments where various celebrities from the A-List to the Z-List talk about their love life. This recent survey from iShare looked at this topic of celebrities pairing off and breaking up.

Demographics

Between the 28th of January and the 2nd of February 2010 511 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.0% of the sample were male, 33.1% in their twenties, 34.1% in their thirties, and 32.9% in their forties.

I must say I do find all the news rather tedious. Mind you, I certainly cannot curse at Japan as Google News UK’s Entertainment segment has been full of the worst sort of break-up news about people I know even less about than the average Japanese personality.
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Only one person has actually put their hand in their pocket, but a surprisingly large number of people would not be averse to sending some money to Wikipedia, according to this survey from iBridge Research Plus and reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

On the 8th of February 2010 300 members of the iBridge monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16.7% in their twenties, 26.0% in their thirties, 29.7% in their forties, 21.3% in their fifties, and 6.3% in their sixties.

I wouldn’t give Wikipedia a penny.
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With a couple of digital SLR makers advertising the benefits of movie taking with them, this recent survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into digital cameras found that about three in five saw this as useful to some degree.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 5th of February 2010 1,093 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the sample were male, 16.6% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

One of the benefits being pushed for SLR movies is that one doesn’t need to carry a video camera around as well when on holiday. However, the benefit of a dedicated video camera is that they are easier to hold for a longer time, I would guess. Hmm, I wonder if that’s a business opportunity, a handle add-on for SLRs to allow you to hold them one-handed like a video camera.
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This survey by Media Interactive, reported on by japan.internet.com, into Q&A sites found that most people find them reliable enough.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 4th of February 2010 1,000 members of the Media Interactive monitor group who had used or even just viewed Q&A sites completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.4% of the sample were male, 1.3% in their teens, 17.6% in their twenties, 32.9% in their thirties, 29.0% in their forties, 15.0% in their fifties, and 4.2% in their sixties.

I did use Yahoo! Answers in English for a bit, both asking and answering, but… The answers were mostly OK, but auite often I’d see incorrect information being promoted, making it even worse than Wikipedia for reliability.
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Or indeed, what you wish she didn’t, or what women wish their boyfriends would or wouldn’t do, the subject of another entertaining ranking survey from goo Ranking.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 22nd of January 2010 1,071 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were female, 19.9% in their teens, 29.5% in their twenties, 30.5% in their thirties, and 20.1% in their forties. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

For men’s second choice, getting their woman to email once a day, I don’t know it that implies at least or at most once per day…

You’ll notice that for the men, the two answers at number six are contradictary, and 14= explains why she does 12 and 13!

The sticking a photo on a battery refers to the habit of getting photo seals from puri-kura machines.

My wishes would be to stop asking me to talk to her while she’s emailing and to properly use her unlimited plan or switch to another.
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goo Ranking recently took a look at which fortune telling methods people think are the most accurate. As the survey is a bit short, I’ll leave in the Japanese terms as a little bit of education.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 22nd of January 2010 1,071 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were female, 19.9% in their teens, 29.5% in their twenties, 30.5% in their thirties, and 20.1% in their forties. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Previous fortune telling-related surveys have been undesirable palm reading lines, horoscopes versus blood typing, and blood typing.

The six planets divination is the speciality of the evil witch Kazuko Hosoki, a Guinness Book record holder as the best-selling author in the world. Thankfully, about two or three years ago she disappeared from the television screens (there must be a story behind that!) but recently she’s made a comeback on adverts for her mobile phone site.
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On television last night I watched my favourite program, “If I were Prime Minister”, which instead of the usual format of debating a political topic of the day, decided to run a vote by the public of the top ten people who have ruined the Japan of today (the translation of the key term is rendered by one online dictionary as buggered up). They also did a more positive who has made the Japan of today better survey, so I will present the results of both surveys here.
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