Tokyo — Some reaction from attendees of Macworld Expo Tokyo 2002 directly from the show floor.
H. Sato, a businessman, was looking forward to purchasing the new iMac. “The iMac price increase is real unfortunate. I was hoping to buy more RAM and I may have to put that off. The new 10GB iPod is nice although I want to buy something for less than 50,000 yen so I think I’ll get the 5GB model. The new Contacts feature is nice but I have all of my phone numbers on my cell phone so that feature isn’t necessary at all. I look forward to using OS X but I don’t think I can afford to upgrade all of my apps to OS X like the new Photoshop and Office Mac X.”
M. Kusunoki, a freelancer, states “the new iMac was too expensive and now with the price increase, forget it!”
Mr. G. Van Horn, a language teacher, was expecting to see more small business oriented software on OS X. “I was hoping for a G4 iBook announcement. The Japanese market is a prosumer market for mobile laptops. Seeing salarymen and students carrying their 12 inch iBooks in bags and commuting with them on the train, I thought that Apple would be showing some new mobile device at this Expo, although this is my first Mac trade show I’m attending.”
H. Ichimaru, a businessman, noticed that the Mac Expos were getting smaller every year. “I’m a Windows user now but I used to use the Mac. But recently I noticed that Apple was coming out with some neat looking products so I came out to take a look. The new iMac is a great design! The price increase is unfortunate but understandable. Component prices are increasing everywhere and the price increase is not that drastic. The iPod is neat but I think that the design is not all that impressive. I have a lot of products that tried to use mainly one button or dial and they all failed.”
Y. Taniguchi, a sales promoter, loves the 12″ iBook. She mentioned that the price increase for the iMac is okay as long as Apple properly supports its users. “Apple has done a fantastic job with their brand image and I love their ads!”
A. Iijima, a businessman, attended the keynote and thought that the Bluetooth announcement was the best part. “But Apple didn’t mention anything about the Bluetooth-Airport conflict. Bluetooth will take over in the same environment. When Sony came out with their Bluetooth Vaio, they specifically stated that Bluetooth and Wireless LANs will conflict. Apple should make this clear. I don’t want to see users getting a bad impression of Airport and Bluetooth.” “The laser engraving service is great for iPods as gifts for birthdays or special occasions! This service means that the iPod is selling well and that’s good! I wish in the future that they would come out with a Network iPod accessory that lets you listen to Internet Radio via an Airport type accessory that pops into the FW port! I don’t need the Contacts feature of the iPod as I already have everything in my cell phone or PDA. The 14 inch iBooks are too big for most users in Japan. That’s why the old iBooks didn’t do too well here. The 12 inch iBook is great and I’m sure Apple will sell a lot here. But lastly, the price increase of the new iMacs is just ridiculous! And why $100 in the U.S and 20,000 yen here? Why not just 15,000 yen if at all?”
N. Hayashi, a businessman, also attended the keynote. “I was most disappointed that there was no announcement of QuickTime 6 and MPEG 4. Not even a mention! Apple made an announcement I believe back at NAMM in Los Angeles months ago. Apple has to address new markets faster. There’s a great market for content producing on mobile phones as well as for broadband use here. And Bluetooth now? Too little too late!”
Y. Takimoto, a graphic designer, loves the new Cinema HD Display. “Wow, look at that thing! I can use all of my major apps at that resolution! And I love that silver logo!” He’s also a Palm user but mentions “Bluetooth is neat but I can’t justify the cost. Getting a Memory Stick Bluetooth module is 19,800 yen and Apple’s USB module is 6,000 yen. That’s a lot of money to spend just getting your Palm to sync! Until many more devices support Bluetooth like my TV I’m not buying anything!”
