One Day More!

August 28, 1998

Today's the eve of TWO BIG EVENTS in all of Japan, and one of them is Maikoru Jackson-san's hitting the big four-zero tomorrow. But while the self-styled King of Pop is slowly fading into HIStory, a new star is in the wings getting ready to make its historic debut in the Land of The Rising Sun. And like the Once-Loved One-Gloved Wonder, it is certain to garner a whole new legion of loyal Japanese fans. And how so!

'Japan' and 'technology' are two words that are virtually synonymous. But what really separates the country from the rest of the world is its prodigious talent in combining artistry with technology, and in doing so, presenting to the world products of sheer innovation such as the ubiquitous Walkman - music that goes wherever you go, and plays only for you. (What do you mean, you've never owned a Walkman?)

But I suspect it isn't just pure diligence that drives the Japanese to come up with the ideas that they do. I think it is more than that. It is the joy that they derive from being able to create technological products that come to life and, by knock-on effect, enhance our lives. Here is a country that created the sensational Tamagotchi, a cute, multi-colored, sometimes translucent, egg-shaped virtual pet that drove millions of people wild all over the world. Probably no big deal in terms of technology, but look how far it's gotten.

More recently, they came up with the Lovegety, which basically is a beeper you carry on you that beeps if you happen to be walking down the street, and someone comes along and passes you by. Well, not anyone that passes by, but someone of the opposite gender who's carrying a similar Lovegety beeper which is fed with data compatible with yours. Again, no big deal, technologically. But in a conservative oriental culture such as Japan's, love isn't won through less than subtle pick-up lines. And so, the Lovegety is literally a godsend to the shy Japanese. Sheer artistry where form meets function, and function seals fates.

So what happens when your typical Japanese techno-junkie wakes up one morning and realises that it's Saturday, August 29th? He or she will rush out the sliding rice-paper door, dash to the nearest train station, and get onboard the next bullet train that will take him or her to one of the four major venues (in Tokyo, Sapporo, Osaka, or Fukuoka) where Apple's new iMacoru will be launched in a big way. And if he or she is lucky enough to be among the first few thousand in line, another iMac would have found itself a new owner.

Happily, the new iMac owner returns home, and proudly displays the latest acquisition together with his/her collection of Tamagotchis, Lovegetys, Walkmans, et cetera. However, I hasten to add that soon enough, the new owner will realize that the iMac is no Tamagotchi, and that hidden beneath that delightfully translucent and tactile eggshell lies a full-blown Godzilla of a machine that probably eats Pentium II chips for lunch. (Burp!)

Well, it might not happen exactly as I've described it - what I've written is after all pure conjecture. But one thing's for sure: if anyone recognizes artistry in technology when they see it, it's the Japanese. And to them, the iMac is IT! And to be paid homage by a people who live and breathe technology as the Japanese do will indeed be a fitting tribute to a "non-expandable computer without a floppy drive that runs on an obscure OS".

Related article: Enter The iMacGotcha (July 16, 1998)

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