アップグレードしなさい (Upgrade You)
In the US AT&T was the exclusive carrier for the iPhone up until Verizon got it's own version earlier this year. In Japan it's been much the same way. Softbank, famous for their commercials featuring a wacky family consisting of a black dude, some Japanese people, and a white dog as father of the household, has been the exclusive iPhone peddler since the phone launched a few years ago. Back then, iPhones were so unpopular in Japan that they gave them away for free. Oh how times are a-changin. The iPhone's popularity started to rise a bit with the release of the 3Gs, and really started to take off when the iPhone 4 dropped. Now there's the 4S, and unlike previous models it's no longer exclusive to Softbanks network. AU, my carrier and the preferred carrier down here in Okinawa, is finally getting the iPhone. Huzzah! Will I get one? That depends...my iPod Nano kind of got washed in the washing machine multiple times last year, and the iPhone 3G i was using mysteriously fell off the balcony, so even though I have terrible luck with Apple products (I lost a 3G iPod Nano and an iPod Touch at a bar before I came to Japan, the MacBook I'm using is still broken) it would be nice to have an MP3 playing device up in here again. One that I could also incessantly play Angry Birds on and look up all the Japanese words I don't know at a moments notice. However, I just paid off the phone I already have at the end of last year (which cost me around $550), and I've gotten used to paying my lowly 4300 yen a month cell phone bill. Buying a new phone wouldn't be cheap, and having a data plan would definitely jack up the bill. Hmmmm....me thinks it's time to do some investigating. To the AU store!