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From: sajima@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu (Takahiro Sajima)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple Computer in Japan
Summary: There are few Macs in Japan, but they're not the mainstream
Keywords: Macintosh Japan Software
Message-ID: <1990Mar29.022747.7038@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 29 Mar 90 02:27:47 GMT
References: <16908@well.sf.ca.us> <1990Mar28.154025.15315@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Sender: news@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (The Daily News)
Reply-To: sajima@cunixd.cc.columbia.edu (Takahiro Sajima)
Distribution: soc
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 59

In article <1990Mar28.154025.15315@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> cmm1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Christopher M Mauritz) writes:
>In article <16908@well.sf.ca.us> jng@well.sf.ca.us (James N. Gershfield) writes:
>>
>>Articles have appeared in the press recently stating that John
>>Sculley intends to make Apple Japan a one billion dollar (revenues)
>>company by 1993.
>>
>>I am interested to hear what the current feeling is in Japan toward
>>the Apple Macintosh computer. Who is using the Mac? What is it being
>>used for? Is the Mac really growing in popularity in Japan?
>>
>Well, I cannot speak for Japan, but I work for a large Japanese bank on
>Wall St. in Manhattan.  As near as I can tell, our office is equipped 
>in much the same manner as our head office in Tokyo.  The Mac is much
>more widely used than MessyDos machines.  The execs find it much
>easier to use and more reliable.  However, this might have something
>to do with the fact that all of our Macs are Mac IIcx's with internal
>hard drives 5mb RAM, 19 inch mono monitors and 1 laserwriter IInx
>for every 3 Macs.  I would say that in an office of 250 people,
>we have about 80 Macs and about 30 PeeCee's (Compaq 386/20mhz).
>Besides, the macs are much more easy to network than the MS-Dos machines,
>and that is a very important consideration in an office environment.
>

In Japan, Apple Macintosh computers are sold through Canon (I think -  I
know that NeXT machines are sold through them).  They are very VERY
expensive - far more expensive than the price one would have to pay in
the US.  Hence, only a small minority of people use Macintoshes.
(However, that doesn't necessarily mean very few people; it's all
relative).

As much as Chris would like to criticize MS-DOS machines, I must
disagree with few of his views:

	(1) The mainstream personal computer in Japan is the NEC PC-98
	    series machines, and they run MS-DOS.

	(2) Macs are just as much pain to network as any other machine.


My feeling is that almost all of the Macs in Japan are used by
researchers in labs, but this view maybe biased since I was one of those
researchers in one of those labs (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.
Software Laboratories.  Tokyo, Japan).  

The office (about 10 people) has about five or six Mac IIs with various
kinds of monitors.  Quite a few researchers have grown to hate the
bitmapped displays of Macintosh (blurry letters).

/Takahiro Sajima
sajima@watsun.cc.columbia.edu





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