- Oct 2, 2008
Everyone enjoying CEATEC JAPAN 2008 is there for different reasons
October 1 saw over 34,000 visitors to the venue, and we asked some of them for their impressions. Everyone attended for their own reasons, but they all appeared to enjoy their day at the event.
CEATEC Japan directly coupled to business
--This is a place to gather information. Tokyo translation company staff (40, 25)
They normally work in translation, handling a variety of requests from IT companies. The reason they came here was apparently to visit some of their clients' booths.
They said "at present, we use translation memory (TM), with the aim of putting as much as possible of our translation material into databases. We have found it very beneficial to visit and get some hands-on experience with the products for which we normally provide translations, while having technical terms explained to us. In particular, the Electronic Components, Devices, & Industrial Equipment Stage has a lot of booths, which made visiting a number of clients easy. This significantly simplified the creation of an accurate TM.
--Experiencing the power of Japanese brands. A Tokyo real-estate company employee (24)
He heard about the world's largest IT event on the news, and is interested in this type of event. Luckily, he got to visit and take a look around with a client. Visiting the site in person, and seeing booths from Panasonic and other major Japanese companies impressed upon him the power of Japanese brands. He was impressed at the number of Japanese brands that are held in high regard around the world.
--There's lots for businesses to get out of CEATEC. Tokyo semiconductor company employees (20, 30)
The two women took their time visiting the work-related Electronic Components, Devices, & Industrial Equipment Stage, but were very interested by the video booths, featuring technologies such as Blu-ray.
"As always, we checked out the products in which are parts are used, but there are a lot of new parts we'd like to handle as well. But we can't tell you what they are..." they commented, laughing.
CEATEC JAPAN, encouraging students
--Letting students see the latest technologies up close. Students at a Hiroshima IT Vocational College
Being in charge of 39 students meant that their 36 year-old teacher was unable to see very much, but he said "I was surprised at the progress of the display technology, both for use in the home and otherwise."
Comments from the students included "the organic EL displays were thinner than we expected, and I was impressed at how advanced they were;" "the high-definition, high-precision microscope technologies were amazing;" "I was very impressed by Murata Manufacturing's Seiko-chan;" "I was happy to experience the surround sound system that will be released in November;" and "I was impressed by the latest technologies from Microsoft and NEC."
On the other hand, in the Electronic Components, Devices, & Industrial Equipment Stage, several of the students commented that "there were many parts companies, and it was hard to take it all in."
--Visited as a part of social studies. Students at a Tokyo Vocational School
The teacher stated "at first, I was interested in the embedded robot technology, but I was surprised at the number of sound-related exhibits. I was unexpectedly impressed by being able to handle the various acoustic products that make use of the latest technologies."
The two students agreed that "we were impressed by the organic EL televisions, and the latest mobile phone technologies. Today, we were amazed at the mobile phone which can separate the screen from the keypad," a comment in line with their ages.
CEATEC Japan, useful to ordinary businesses
--Panasonic's display, popular with both parents and children. Father and son, with 40 years of experience running a former "National Shop" (ages 71, 41)
The father (71) first opened his National Shop in Saitama Prefecture 40 years ago. "I was a bit sad at the change in September from the brand name that I had become so used to, but I guess that times change. Back in my day, we sold a lot of white goods, but this is now my son's generation, and he handles computers," he said thoughtfully.
His son is 41, and he said "I'd like Panasonic to use effective advertising to create a strong brand image. Additionally, elderly citizens are important customers for small suburban electronics shops like ours; therefore we'd like the company to strive to make IT products that anyone can use, such as the "easy-phone" mobile phone."
--Came because of an interest in eco-technology(Waste-disposal company employee, Yamanashi Prefecture)
He visited to become more familiar with ecology-related information for his work. He is very interested in the fields of renewable energies, such as solar heating, hydro power, and wind power. No exhibits in particular drew his attention, but he was able to obtain a variety of information.
