info-mac@utcsrgv.UUCP (info-mac) (05/02/84)
Date: Mon 30 Apr 84 20:42:45-PDT From: uw-beaver!ERIK@SRI-AI.ARPA Subject: Japanese Macintosh To: Info-Mac@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA Cc: Erik@SRI-AI.ARPA The Japanese Macintosh indeed poses a set of problems different from the modifications required for European products. We want to find the best way to make Macintosh approachable, attractive and affordable to Japanese customers. Xerox J-Star, IBM 5550 and NEC PC-100 are some of the systems we have evaluated in our quest for solutions and models. The phonetic input method is indeed becoming a standard way to tackle the problem of Kanji. Better solutions (such as Xerox's J-Star) do grammatical pre-processing before conversion into Kanji, thus significantly simplifying the task of the typist. Meanwhile, Apple will put out a Kana Macintosh as a stopgap solution until the full blown Japanese (Kana/Kanji) system is ready. The majority (if not all) of the Japanese MANAGERS do not type and prefer to handwrite their notes: a keyboard is still associated with a typist or secretary. Simplifying the typing process will certainly help in making computers more appealing to managers. I hope this answers some of the questions raised by the Macworld article on International Macs. Joanna K. Hoffman International Marketing Manager -------