because japanese wireless technologies are so much further along than ours in north america, we can look at japanese youths to see how our social interactions may be shifted by our technologies. i don’t think it’s actually a glimpse at our distant futures but more of a look at what we’re capable of, as it takes awhile before everyone accepts the technology into their daily lives. on the other hand, we can see what may be the more common ways to use the technologies we have, namely always-on(-you) messaging. it’s unfortunate how two-way text messaging hasn’t caught on as much in north america, because i do find it as useful as the article says. it just seems to be stuck at the same evolutionary stage as blogging; it’s still a geek thing, but like instant messaging, there’s a chance it might catch on.
March 10, 2003