Japan to License Cellphone Sommeliers
Japan will start licensing cellphone “sommeliers” to help guide consumers through complicated functions as mobile telephones become ever more advanced. The communications ministry said it would support a private-sector plan to launch an exam to license specialists who sell cellphones.
According to this post on AFP:
“We hope they would be able to explain complicated functions and charge systems to consumers, much like wine sommeliers guiding you,” a ministry official said. The private sector will administer the exam and the government does not plan to restrict who can sell cellphones, he said.
While this may sound funny at first but with a dozen different handset makers, and over 100 new models coming into the market last year, most 3rd party retail shops cannot really demonstrate the ‘complicated functions’ for their customers. We’re betting that “Keitai U” will have lots of applicants!