I think what's important to most users is what they can do with the machine, not the technical specs. There's not much you can do with a brand new midrange computer that you can't with a midrange computer from three years ago. Graphics-intensive games are the only mainstream consumer application that comes to mind. Until a year ago, my main computer was a laptop made in 2000. The main limitations that prompted me to replace it were its low screen resolution (1024x768) and maximum RAM (512M).

One of the biggest reasons any non-geek in the US gets a computer is for email. In Japan they all have phones with email. I think long-term it's probably a real problem for Japan that an awful lot of people aren't PC users.