Uneasy Steps: Japan and the Development of the Digital Society

Ken Coates and Carin Holroyd
Additional contact information
Ken Coates: University of Saskatchewan
Carin Holroyd: University of Saskatchewan

Chapter 1 in Japan and the Internet Revolution, 2003, pp 17-40 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Fifty years ago, only the most visionary dreamer would have conceived of Japan as being at the cutting edge of the digital revolution. In the early 1980s, it would have been a relatively safe bet to guess that Japan would be a world leader in the evolution of computer-based technologies and consumer electronics. Both assumptions, ironically, would prove to be wrong. Through the 1960s, Japan emerged as a major innovator in retail and industrial technologies and played a critical global role in introducing the world to the opportunities posed by transistors. Having established itself as the leading producer of consumer electronics and as major player in the emerging field of personal computers, the country nonetheless reacted very slowly to the potential of the Internet and delayed the nation-wide implementation of this crucial technology. Continuing the unusual pattern of leading and then falling behind on technological innovation, Japan again reverted to its position in front of other nations in terms of the mobile Internet, becoming the first nation to establish cell phone-based Internet services as the key element in national innovation and transformation.

Keywords: Wireless Local Area Network; Industrial Robot; Japanese Government; Japanese Firm; Portable Computer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-4039-9007-5_2

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781403990075

DOI: 10.1057/9781403990075_2

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().