The Japanese have done it again. They managed to take downloadable
books and make a €57m business out of them. As reported in April's Monocle, downloadable novels have proved a massive success in Japan while sales of traditional books keep falling.
So how did they manage to make reading novels on tiny mobile phone screens the in thing to do in Japan?
Apart
from the fact that over 75% of the population own a mobile phone and
subscribers in Japan have been surfing the internet for years - i-mode
after all is a Japanese invention - there are certain elements of the
service that have made the user experience not simply bearable but
exciting:
- Content written with the medium in mind. No more long and complicated sentences. The novels are written specifically for mobile phones. Sentences are kept short and dialogues are preferred to long descriptive paragraphs.
- Brief reading. Novels are provided in installments and are brief enough to be read during the morning commute.
- Overcome cultural taboos. Some novels contain erotic elements catering for women who would otherwise be embarrassed to buy such titles from a bookstore.
- Easy payment. No credit cards are required since charges are added to users' mobile phone bills.
Well there you have it... a prime example of how a service can be successful if it is designed around customers' needs. So, Shakespeare on your Nokia anyone?
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