They're called oyayubizoku - the thumb tribe - and they crowd the trains, streets and schools of Japan as well as a growing number of countires across Asia and Europe. Why are so many happily pecking away at their handsets? In large part, this phenomen is due to NTT DoCOMo's i-mode, a wildly popular bundle of services and applications that transform a cell phone into a handheld entertainment center.

Japan's more than 17 million i-mode subscribers have fueled a revolution from the keyboard to the phone keypad. Through a continuous mobile Internet connection, they can read the news, check the weather, play music, and download cartoons and games from around 50,000 i-mode-compatible web sites. Text messaging is very popular in every age group and extremely profitable for DoCoMo and other service providers ­ 30 billion text messages are sent a month to the tune of $30 billion in revenue.

And while the profits mount up, expanding technology is taking text messaging beyond the boundaries of shorthand email. In Europe, some vending machines and car washes accept payment via text message, and the coming thing worldwide is further integration with the Internet to allow messaging to web sites and PCs.

LESS WIRELESS

The United States has historically lagged at least a year behind Europe in adopting mobile technology. According to a 2000 study, Americans subscribed to mobile phone service at the rate of 40 percent of the population, compared with Britain's 70 percent and Italy's nearly 80 percent. Differences in use of text messaging are even more dramatic: 47 percent of Swedes and 39 percent of Italians use it versus 2 percent of Americans.

In part, the big difference in numbers is due to economics. PCs are inexpensive here, so many if not most Americans have access to them. Landline phone service is relatively economical, at least when having to pay for incoming mobile calls is factored in. Internet access is readily available and budget friendly. Not so in Japan, where fixed phone lines cost far more than mobile service and Internet access is a substantial expense, or in several European countries, where subscribers have to wait weeks or months to establish new landline service. So practically everyone in Europe has a cell phone, and in Japan the mobile phones outnumber both PCs and landline phones. With handsets already purchased and mobile accounts in place, Asia and Europe are primed to embrace the mobile Internet in a way the United States just can't or won't, at least yet.

Still, plenty of us have cell phones, and some of us indeed use text messaging on the job, but as a nation we're not eager for the wireless web. So why is the mobile Internet explosion a mere flutter in the states?

"Latest-generation handsets are expensive," explains Samantha Lammy, a Robinson College CIS student who is employed in telecom. "Though monthly service averages around $40, a phone with the latest features sets you back $400 or more." And even though it's a vital consideration, price may not matter as much as performance. "Text messaging is cumbersome and time consuming. Messages take a long time to send, and the web interface is awkward," Lammy continues. "Also, you're billed for unsuccessful log-on attempts."

Upkar Varshney, assistant professor in computer information systems, is involved in ongoing research in wireless issues and teaches specialized courses on mobile technology through the College. He notes that i-mode users pay under $3.00 to subscribe and monthly bills range from $20.00 to $30.00 for both voice and data. Subscribers pay by the packet: each text message and download is billed according to the amount of data sent or received, not minutes used. While this may not result in smaller monthly bills, users feel the pricing model is fairer; there's a return for every dollar spent.

Packet pricing could make a big difference in mobile Internet use in America as well, especially while subscribers wait for the technology to catch up to expectations for content and speed. Then, even if it takes forever to download a big file, subscribers aren't penalized first by a long wait and then by cost. Unfortunately, U.S. providers are set up to charge by the minute, and legacy billing systems prevent most from quickly adapting to pricing by data.

WHERE WIRELESS IS GOING

Enough about price. What about the user experience? "From my perspective in the industry," says IT consultant and RCB computer information systems student Sue Kripalani, "refinements to existing technology are occurring, not inventions." WAP (wireless access protocol), which is what Americans currently use instead of i-mode, may be the most in need of refinement. Marketers promised a snazzy interface to the mobile web, but the reality via WAP was sluggish connection and sparse content that had to be WAP enabled, a grave disappointment to consumers used to fast DSL lines and flashy animation.

"Like any other technology, the wireless web's value is in its usefulness," comments Grant Gandy, a Georgia State graduate student in CIS. "On the job, wireless works well for accessing databases and sending messages to an entire mailing list. Messaging also beats voice for secure communication." Here in its infancy, WAP already delivers some powerful positives: it's supported by nearly every wireless carrier, optimized for wireless devices and immediately available. Though it certainly has problems, WAP proponents see it as just a step on the path to truly user-friendly wireless content delivery.

However, DoCoMo has been busy laying bigger plans. It partnered last year with AT&T Wireless, bringing to the table $9.8 billion and gaining an important foothold in the U.S. mobile telecom market, the world's largest in terms of sheer subscriber volume. Though sidetracked for nearly a year by the launch of its 3G service, which promises speeds up to 40 times faster than what's currently available, DoCoMo is poised not only to introduce i-mode here through a license agreement with AT&T but to help ramp up WAP as well.

Though DoCoMo has proved a hands-down mobile web winner in Japan, there are doubts about whether the i-mode platform is appropriate in America and whether the company understands the content needs of a vastly different audience. Others greet this approaching mobile wave with enthusiasm.

"There's a real market here for i-mode, especially if providers focus on younger subscribers," Lammy notes. "That age group wants new devices and is ready to take them on. Also, good content would go a long way toward gaining acceptance."

It's clear that U.S. subscribers - both consumers and businesses - will need compelling reasons to move beyond the current state of wireless Internet indifference. I-mode - or something very like it coming your way soon - may just do the job.

Loraine Fick

SOME WIRELESS STATS:

China - the single largest untapped market for wireless - will have 350 million mobile users by 2005

Also by 2005, wireless subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region will top 575 million

Mobile phones will reach 70 percent of the U.S. population over age 14 by 2005

DoCoMo is the fastest-growing Internet service provider in history and may outpace America Online by 2003

In 2001, DoCoMo added new subscribers at the rate of 50,000 per day