And so here it is. 4G. It was always ‘just around the corner’ and now it’s finally arrived in all it’s speedy glory. Not that any of us can actually receive it as of yet, unless you’re on an EE monthly plan… Which… Aren’t available just yet. (Baffles me, they’ve “launched” the service, yet their website still reads “Give us your e-mail address and we’ll let you know”)
But is this really something we’ve come to ‘need’ at this point in time? Internet available on our phones has only recently just passed from ‘gimmick’ to ‘necessity’, however there are still plenty of areas in this country that can’t receive 3G, or even 2G! Remember 2G? That’s the annoying thing that happens when 3G doesn’t work – pain in the arse isn’t it.
So anyway, 3G, yes it’s been around for quite a while now. I guess we are due a new technology right about now, and yes it is going to deliver, from the sound of it, quite exceptional internet speeds to our handheld devices. But do these handheld devices really need it?
Yes, it most likely will rid the dreaded ‘buffering’ symbol from our YouTube videos forever! But doesn’t 3G already handle video buffering at a steady pace already? I don’t think I can recall a moment when I have had to buffer a 3G-equipped video on my iPhone or Android? (Not that I ever really do it – damn data costs – but that’s a different story).
4G is just going to be the angry dog that’s pulling at the master’s leash trying to run for it, while the master grips tightly and goes along at their own steady pace.
Then I suppose it would be great for downloading – films and games would be downloaded in seconds rather than minutes (or hours), not that we don’t already have home broadband to do this for us. I assume broadband is pretty much everywhere now? I know fibre optic certainly isn’t, but alas that’s the way of the world now. Technology is improving before we’re perfecting it.
I know this is a ‘moany-old-sod’ style blog today. More likely when 4G is in our grips I’ll have a completely different view on the matter. But just brace yourself for a (likely to be) expensive and frankly, unusable data connection service. Wait for the NEXT generation of phones to be released (iPhone 5s/6?) and we’ll start seeing something really pretty.
Superher0es.
jabberingattheworld 