Japan embraces the iPhone
In some ways, the iPhone is a step backward for Japan, where the masses are accustomed to using their mobile phones for everything from watching television to buying Royal Milk Tea from vending machines. But the iPhone 2.0’s lack of such modern conveniences failed to deter the more than 1,000 people who waited patiently overnight ...
In some ways, the iPhone is a step backward for Japan, where the masses are accustomed to using their mobile phones for everything from watching television to buying Royal Milk Tea from vending machines. But the iPhone 2.0's lack of such modern conveniences failed to deter the more than 1,000 people who waited patiently overnight outside the Softbank Mobile store in Tokyo to get their hands on Apple's latest device for the first time. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, the richest man in Japan, hailed it as "a historic day."
In some ways, the iPhone is a step backward for Japan, where the masses are accustomed to using their mobile phones for everything from watching television to buying Royal Milk Tea from vending machines. But the iPhone 2.0’s lack of such modern conveniences failed to deter the more than 1,000 people who waited patiently overnight outside the Softbank Mobile store in Tokyo to get their hands on Apple’s latest device for the first time. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, the richest man in Japan, hailed it as “a historic day.”
It’s hard to tell from the photo below, but it looks like this guy is so excited, he’s made himself an iPhone hat. Either that, or he’s wearing a visor and leaning against a very clean glass window:
TOKYO – JULY 11: A man waits to buy the newly released Apple iPhone as he queues on the first day of its Japanese launch outside SoftBank Mobile’s flagship store. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)
Blake Hounshell is a former managing editor of Foreign Policy.
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