Computing in Japan: from cocoon to competition

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Abstract
In broad terms, adoption of new technologies by Japanese computer manufacturers and the expansion of the Japanese market for computers have until recently lagged behind the US and the rest of the industrialized world-usually by two or three years, sometimes for longer periods. Until only a few years ago, computing in Japan was still defined primarily by mainframes and proprietary systems. Prices remained high. Competition and innovation took place within accepted limits. My research has led me to conclude that part of this reluctance is actually a calculated caution. Delaying the adoption of new trends avoids the mistakes and costs of immature technologies. Equally important, Japan has become accustomed to a comfortable computational culture, highly profitable for computer vendors and tolerated by customers. Now computing in Japan is undergoing a belated transformation as the mainframe culture wanes. Vendors are competing with less politeness, prices are dropping, demand for PCs is surging, and the Internet is being embraced with noisy exuberance. There have been periods of rapid change before, and they are frequently offset by a subsequent reassertion of traditional patterns. But there are signs that the recent transformation of computing in Japan will be sustained.

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