wibble comments

'Kindle Killer' I don't think so. For a start, there is a kindle app already for it, 10 hours battery, backlit bright screen and 1.5lb is not very nice for extended reaading. Kindle is actually pretty good. Oh, and $800+ (that the US price) for a 3G vervion vs. $260 for a kindle. No thanks.

Ah, it can do so much more you say, sure, can it do more than an iPhone? No, I didn't think so.

What about a netbook killer? Well, my netbook has 160GB HDD, a keyboard and mouse built in, 10 hours battery life, wifi, wired network, usb ports for peripherals and bluetooth. Oh it only cost $340 or so...

The iPad is cool, its a gadget, heck, I want one. No idea what I'd use it for though, it wouldn't replace my other devices at wha they do.

I have a Nexus on the way from the US, it supports 2100mhz 3g (UTMS) so should work in Japan. I have the HT-03a currently and although good, the Nexus will be very good. Taking a bit of a leap that I can get it running but should be straight forward coming from the HT-03a.

Advantage of being unlocked, whilst paying more upfront, is that I can use any SIM in it. I will be on Docomo's network here where I get the best coverage, and can use local provider SIMs when I travel rather than roaming.

The Google Android / Gmail / Google apps tie in is very, very effective and the HT-03a - aka Magic is already very good. Docomo's data plans are more expensive than Softbank's (almost ¥6000 is the cost cap for Biz Hodai Double) which is about 9MB I think. After that you don't pay more.

If the Nexus works here (hey it is only a $529 bet) then I will be a very happy camper!

android (google) has a fast growing app store as well. iPhone definitely is better populated right now, but there are many strong additions coming into marketplace now they support paid apps - i.e. commercial development.

LostinNagoya - if they give it away free - er what are they going to make money on?

I just bought the HTC Magic in Japan - aka HT-03A on Docomo, and it runs Google android OS. It, quite simply - rocks. I think Google are going to be strong in this space.

SiouxGirl, medievaltimes and others - "I agree with medieval - a lot of ppl probably tune out during the vows, in the back of their mind thinking, "I look great! I wonder what kind of gifts we'll get."" "Thanks SiouxGirl. But when you decide to get married, you surrender the right to change your mind.

Otherwise, why take the vow?"

Um - what vow in particular are you describing? I certainly don't recall any vows when I got married to my wife in Japan, the employee at the Ward Office just wanted the bit of paper. Different cultures don't forget.

I have no knowledge of the system in Japan, but I'm pretty certain the jury members don't get a right to cross-examine the witnesses or defendant. It is up to teh prosecutor and defense to put the cases forward.

In the US certainly, I'm sure this would be sufficient to force a mis-trail, or at least replacement of the jury member.

WilliB - huge differences between McD, BK and Wendys.

McD - king of all breakfasts - sausage egg McMuffin heaven. BK - Flame grilled burgers - double bacon cheese or the whopper - best of the chain fast food burgers. Add onion rings and you are good to go! Wendys - what you eat when you cannot get to a McD or BK. Square burgers that have the texture of shoe leather.

ca1ic0cat - I don't think you've actually seen or used an ebook right? the e-ink is exceptionally contrasty and paper/ink like. very readable in all lighting (except dark - like a book) and at angles too. Systems use very little power, e-ink is a semi-stable display requiring almost no power except a page refresh.

Battery is good for over 4 days of reading and, it doesn't die at unpredictable times, there is a battery meter telling you when it will die. It can power and charge off any USB socket. Would your laptop power run for a flight from Tokyo to NY or Lon? Doubt it (some netbooks would now) but their reading experience is very sub that of a true ebook.

pawtan, cannot disprove a negative - I'm relatively confident about Amazon. BTW - you can backup any or all books to a PC or MAC hard drive over USB. You don't have to carry all books at all times on the device.

pawtan, yes it does, in Japan the International kindle has free internet browsing.

Azreal - who said anything about replacing paper books? Also, what about the 3rd world laptop projects? The ability to construct cheaper versions of these (with their minimal battery requirements and e-ink technology) and store thousands of books could be a liberator for developing countries, not an elitist gadget only!

Still nothing on Burger King. I was in Shibuya BK the other evening and no kidding 1 in 2 people were buying the Windows 7 Whopper at ¥1450 each no less. BK must be raking in a fortune on this and the really funny thing? The BK Win 7 Whopper only sells the first 30 a day at ¥777. Then they go to ¥1450 - which is the price of a Whopper and 6 extra meat pattys. i.e. typical Japan - it is no saving at all, just a marketing way of bundling it up into something 'now!'

Go Haneda! With new transport links and fast shuttle between Narita and Haneda

please don't give the kindle whistles and bells. It is a book reading device, and pretty cheap for it. 4 days battery life, immediate on, bookmarks etc. the kindle is considerably cheaper than other options.

The new kindle and ebooks will be huge. As with all things, there are still wrinkles to iron out over publishing rights and distribution but I think they are the way forward.

I got my 'International Kindle' as soon as it was announced and have been very happy.

helloklitty - Obsolete in 2 years. Yes, so what?

nightvision - the kindles are already very practical for educational texts. What needs to be done is similar publisher agreements for educations texts - which are very expensive - to provide the content.

Potentially in boh price, but more importantly convinience, the kindles beat a backpack full of hardcover educational texts any day.

I ordered my Kindle when it was announced. Had been hovering on eBooks for a while and $279 was too good to pass up. I buy many books each year and shipping from the States is expensive, but not as expensive as buying here. I believe I'll save a lot of money given the eBook version is usually 40% cheaper than the paper one and I don't pay shipping.

Also the ability to read newspapers and magazines is very attractive. These devices are so different from NetBooks and Laptops it isn't worth comparing them. From a functionality, battery life, speed to operate and ease of use perspective they win hands down - and you have Amazon with the content....

As Mikekchar says - how is this SLAPP? It points out that SLAPP can happen, but in this case, it seems the OP has been represented as saying something they did not, then had a case raised against them. The OP it seems needs to then sue the publisher for whatever to recover costs.

smithinjapan "and companies like amazon has contracts with Japan not to export DVDs, etc. " actually they don't. Amazon freely ship any movie you like from the US to Japan, as does AtlanticDVD in Australia, Amazon in the UK etc.

How would Amazon have a "contract with Japan"? The film studios and promoters in Japan are the key players here, who direct distribution and import process. Companies like Toshiba EMI who contract a lot of the dubbing and promotion of overseas content. The work isn't straight forward always because often companies are bidding for the work and distribution rights in countries which cause delays.

that is 38,000 per person of course...

How much salt does it contain? Many cereals tend to be very bad for you due to added and included salt.

"And Rohypnol now contains a dye so you can see if someone has put it into your drink." unfortunately a canned drink would make that feature less useful.

onewrldoneppl - who cares if they have a branch in the US - what does this article have to do with the US in any way?

There definitely is an issue of this, but more now it is about threats and such. Places that you shouldn't be in forcing you to sign for 150,000 bottles of moet etc. Ironically the police have fuelled the fires as that standard like has changed. Now the bar owners just threaten to take you to the koban and report to the police that you are behaving erratically and maybe using drugs.

With the current anti-foreigner drug testing clampdown in the pong lots of people - guilty or not, aren't taking chances.

That said, as a regular in the pong, I worry very little about that. My face is pretty well known by most of the regular hawkers and such and they know well enough to leave me alone.

The Potsdam conference held Germany to pay $20bn to the Allies. The Treaty of SanFrancisco took >$25bn from Japan.

Oh, something else I did not know until checking out - that 4,000,000 German POWs were used as forced labour after the war to meet obligations.

Actually - I do find this an issue. I have pretty good spatial hearing however a hybrid rolling up behind you is basically inaudible over Tokyo's noise...

I recently picked up an Asus 1000HE, it is really sweet. XP home and performance is good, 160GB HDD and an unkillable battery

pawatan, timeon, the point of the survey is to compare like for like.

Sure you can live in a 2DK 45 minutes train commute from work, but that probably doesn't compare well with raising 2 or 3 kids and putting them through school.

This is an expat survey, where companies take an employee from one condition in their own country and ask them to live for two or three years in another country. Why would they downgrade their lifestyle to do that?

Compare your costs for your quality of life with that where you originated to decide if the cost of living index is justified.

LFRAgain - very well said.

Brunobear - much of the Jewish community litigation is aimed at recovering pre-war community assets that were raided by the Nazi and collaborator parties.

Much of mainland Europe mysteriously emptied holdings and accounts (even in 'neutral' Switzerland) from '39 and before. Recovery of stolen assets is a little different from punitive damages.

Something else to think about also, the Treaty of San Francisco was signed by many international countries, but who represented the Jewish Community? They were, at the time, citizens of many countries, yet were compensated (if at all) the same as any regular citizen, not reflective of the genocide that took place.....

"neverknow2" sexual assault? Really?

It is a completely ridiculous idea to have government caps on pay - the markets don't work if you do that.

If you cap, how do you distinguish between good and top performances? How do you compete with other countries who don't cap?

Let the shareholders decide executive pay based on their experience of coporate and executive performance. Government - keep you nose out.