IT-Enabled Services - IT Enabled Services - page 6

into the lives of individuals. However, they did not focus on “ubiquity,” which is
now the central concept in analyzing ICT and business models using ICT.
The prediction “everybody has a personal communicator that localizes ”

(Reponen 2003b , p. 5) is correct to a certain extent, because it describes people's
use of personal devices in their daily lives and in various occasions. However, the
direction of the development of Japan's mobile phone market differs in many
aspects.
Mobile phones, in general, are considered products that have evolved from the
radio communication system. Therefore, their features are seen as extensions of the
radio communication system. However, Japan's feature phones are called
“Gala-kei,” a term derived from the “Galapagos Syndrome” (NRI). This is because
the phones now include so many service applications that are not needed in other
parts of the world. Such an evolution has turned phones in Japan into as if different
creatures.
More importantly, almost all the featured phones are equipped with a specific
prepaid type payment system, as Reponen predicted. The IC chipset dedicated to
this service is versatile enough to be used as a key, ticket, and identification device,
among others. However, within the first year of the introduction of smartphones,
their sales had surpassed that of “Gala-kei.”
When smartphones emerged in the Japanese market, they were initially not
capable of providing the services mentioned (e.g., payment) because they were
not equipped with an IC chipset. Hence, users' migration from “Gala-kei” to
smartphones happened quickly despite the initial inconvenience. Users sought the
flexibility provided by the smartphones and the variety of software that these
devices can handle. As a matter of course, the new design of the smartphones and
the factor of usability, such as the touchscreen feature, attracted great attention. Yet,
the deciding factor for most users is the large volume of downloadable applications.
The sheer number of downloadable applications is due to the large number of
production resulting from the shift in the role of users from consumers to producers,
as reflected in the concepts of “Web 2.0,” “Consumer Generated Model (CGM),”
and “prosumers.”
In other words, Reponen was unable to predict the Kopernikanische Wende ,in
that the traditional roles of “user” and “producer” became flexible. Thanks to
developed infrastructure, which includes open-source architecture, broadband
networks and the electronic marketplace for content, the transformation of said
roles has become easier than ever.
In sum, the studies of Reponen et al. ( 1993a ) can explain only certain aspects
of today's IT-enabled Services. It is important to incorporate the perspectives
mentioned above.

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