Cellphone as Wallet: Forget the iPhone

I've been a bit hard on technology lately because of all the problems with my computer, so I decided to take a break from that and discuss all the cool things that Japanese phones can do that my American cell phone can't.

I got a phone a few weeks ago and picked out the absolute cheapest kind, the kind that came free with my plan. It's a shiny red razor-style phone that I'm still trying to figure out, but it was free! (My first 'free' American cell phone looked kind of like a metallic brick. When it broke, someone on my hall wanted to start a riot by throwing it through a window.)

-My phone has about 30 different alarm sounds, including my favorite, "tequila" which sounds like a bunch of happy people interupting a vaguely South African song.
-You can insert over 500 pictures and images into text messages and emails.
-People check the internet routinely through their cell phone and even have special separate email accounts attached to their phone.
-Ads/billboards have an embedded code so if you point your phone at them and press a button, your phone opens up the website affiliated with that product so you can learn more/buy it.
-Video conferencing is a standard feature on free phones.
-Free streaming of weather reports, news headlines and sports statistics (This was the case in the UAE too).
-MP3 capabilities
-Instant Messager
-Ability to watch TV or movies for a fee
-You can pay your bills through your phone.
-Phone as ID
-A prepaid rechargeable train pass embedded in your phone so you can swipe your phone where others would insert a ticket.
-The ability to use a phone like a credit card, swiping it in restaurants, grocery stores, and bars.

I think the e-commerce (i commerce? cell commerce?) function impresses me the most. I held off on getting a cell phone until January of 2005 when a friend convinced me I was inconviencing others. I think I should avoid sharing this, lest I seem like a technology-barbarian.

I still have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with the cell phone. I like to be with the people I'm with and not feel obligated to answer a ring. I usually keep my phone on vibrate. One thing that impresses me in Japan is that people very rarely talk on phones on the train or in restaurants. I guess there are enough other things to do with your phone here.

I don't understand why the US is so far behind in terms of affordable cell phone technology. It's not just the phone-- my reception was more consistent in the Serengeti than it is fifty miles out of Burlington.