I remember when I had a vacation to Tokyo, it was interesting to see everybody on the subway playing some video games on their phones. Now gaming on the phone is very common, and it also seems like everywhere I look people are using facebook on their phones to look at pictures of their friends. However in Taiwan there is another thing that most people on the subway use their phones for, PPS.
PPS is a chinese website that essentially streams (illegally) tv shows and movies from all around the world. Depending on which story you choose to believe, it started as a site for chinese students studying abroad to be able to watch tv shows from back home. Regardless of however it started, it is now a site where you can watch american, british, chinese, korean, etc. movies and tv shows soon after they have aired, been released in theatres, out on dvd. All with fan made chinese subtitles which vary widely in quality.
It is quite popular in Taiwan and continues to grow as it becomes easier and easier to use. For years it was just relegated to computers, with only savvy young people using the site. Then as better/faster/safer ways of getting media from the internet came out, pps was mainly only used by those people who weren't so tech savvy. However it has found new life on cell phones and tablets. As I mentioned before the subway is full of people using it to watch tv shows on their daily commute.
Again this is especially because of it's ease of use and not needing to figure out how to download something and get it on the phone. In some ways the phone app is even easier than the computer. I have been to more than one home where the whole family is sitting on the sofa in front of the big hdtv, but it's turned off. Instead each one of them from the youngest child to the grandmother has a cell phone in their hand and is watching a show on through pps on their phone.
One fascinating thing about PPS is that it shows the true power of word of mouth. there are so many american tv shows that people will tell me about that I had never even heard of. When I ask how did they find this show, the answer is always PPS. One person finds a show they like and then tells their friends who watch and tell their friends, and so on. All without advertising. It actually seems like a fascinating research project just to see what shows rise to the top in a place where there is absolutely no advertising all, it's strictly word of mouth.
