A quarter of survey respondents think 4G is the fourth generation of the iPhone

2. Galen20K posted on 12 Jan 2011, 07:58 2 0

Ignorance!! gotta love the "average" knowledge of the common person in America. Of course not talking about us tech heads who bore them with our knowledge constantly ; D

3. Slammer posted on 12 Jan 2011, 09:26 0 0

This was totally expected. Carriers are the blame but so is the ITU.

The ITU initially created the issue by ignoring the fact that "G" stands for generation and "4" stands for fourth. In the states, Verizon and Sprint have built an entirely different network to separate them from the 3rd generation networks. This creates a "new" generation of network. By definition in any other industry, this would be considered the next generation. HSPA+ is an extension on 3rd generation technology which in reality, is still 3G. This is why the ITU has really messed up on their lack of substance in defining the 4G standard. So while Verizon and Sprint have new generations of networks in the making, the others are using 3rd generations with just increased speeds. Technically, not a current problem? It is when you have 3G networks claiming 4G speeds. Now it technically renders 4G networks with 3G speeds. If you build a completely new network, it is a new generation. If you don't, it's still the same generation.

The ITU has retracted their definition to hopefully remove confusion amongst the wireless industry, but the damage is done.

I have written on this subject before. It is crucial that current 3G networks are capable of more than just speeds. I made iterative posts a year ago that the future broadband services and products are going to undergo extreme demands from far more than just browsing internet pages and streaming videos.

New generations need to be built to accommodate these demands. Some may argue that LTE and WiMAX are pre-4G or prototype. I disagree. These are New networks with capabilities to advance and accommodate. If 3G networks can equally define as a 4G network, why even bother shopping for spectrum for, or upgrade to LTE or WiMAX? Because they know the truth yet convey the opposite.

John B.

5. messiah posted on 12 Jan 2011, 11:18 1 1

The same 27% couldn't find Alaska on a map either. Don't be so hard on them. No one likes to see a fat kid cry.

7. ReaverSpark (unregistered) posted on 13 Jan 2011, 14:13 0 0

God, we're stupid in this country...stop playing football and do something useful with your life.