Okay great, the US is finally upgrading service-wise, but our cell phones are still crap. I wish cell phone manufacturers would give the US all the sleek, sexy, hi-res, 5+ mp camera, feature-packed clamshell phones that they make for Japanese carriers :( It just ain't fair
personally, i dont think any provider should have exclusivity, i think i should buy my phone from whichever company i wish, and go pick out a service provider to use that phone through.
you dont buy a car from a gas station, you buy a car and use whatever gasoline you wish
@LucilleFerret: Now see, Why cant everyone see it like this? that would be awesome. the only problem with that is the fact that cell phone prices would skyrocket,because service providers are able to subsidise cell prices because of the money they make off the user on the plan. But I mean, why cant all carriers have all phones. why cant we atleast make it so that all the phones can work on all the networks. then if you want to pay the premium on a phone, you can go ahead and use it on whatever provider can give you the best savings/ customer care/ reception
Verizon needs to stop worrying about their coverage, and start worrying about how all of their phones suck.
Where I am from (Northeast), no other carrier even comes close to Verizon's coverage. For example, my friend with at&t who lives across the street from me gets full signal in his house, and gets no signal at my house (he literally lives across the street). A kid I know with Sprint at my college doesn't get good reception in buildings. T-Mobile doesn't have 3g in our area. Verizon's coverage is far superior in my area.
At&t has the iPhone, T-Mobile has the G1, Sprint will have the Palm Pre, and Verizon has the... drum roll ... Blackberry Storm.
Sigh.
As much as the geek in my wants to switch networks, I can't justify having poorer quality signal for a better phone.
@Merton: I agree completely.. My wife has ATT and I have VZW (don't ask why), and I mock her poor service constantly. Fortunately she is also afraid of smartphones, so I also have a better device.
Though that new BB Bold/Pearl hybrid sounds promising (I forget what it's called).
@Software_Goddess: Wow. Your comment aside, the mere fact that your profile picture is a deliberate focus on your titties WREAKS of attention-whoreism. So sad.....How about this....How about, you go do cartwheels down the beach yelling "LOOK AT MEEEEEEE!" and we'll all promise to give you attention, however short lived it may be, mmkkkk?
@TheSonOfKrypton: Aaaaand speaking of attention whores: your little outburst is necessary because?
Software_Goddess has been consistently posting intelligent and witty comments since day 1. If she wants her icon to be a little risque, I think she's allowed.
@closhedbb: @FredicvsMaximvs: @Kaiser 'Wants the Clown Back' Machead: It's not worth arguing over. People who make personal attacks like that are really not the effort. I suppose it is fitting that a man that would verbally attack a woman like that is also wearing a 'wife beater' T-shirt. But thank you all for defending my honor. I am pleased that you all know the brand of humor I bring to the table.
@Software_Goddess: Yes, because the package of "A-shirts" that I buy at Walmart or wherever don't actually say "A-shirts"....No, they say are instead named the colloquial "Wife-Beater". Yea, and I actually took that up to the register and it rang up like that.....Puhleez.....
@TheSonOfKrypton: To be fair, wife beater is the more popular term overall. I don't think I've ever actually called them A-shirts. Even the girl at the Modell's that I go to calls them that. har.
This is a nice writeup Matt, but you missed an extremely important element. The main problem with cellular network broadband is not the max burst speed but latency. So, you can download at a billion megs per second -- that is nice if I am downloading a movie. That that does not help is if I am actually trying to get work done. To truly replace a broadband connection, the latency response rate needs to easily be under 100ms, and under 50ms for many applications. I am not saying whether 4g has that, but I know for a fact that 2.5g and 3g are not really cutting it on latency rates.
I think the major problem with latency on these networks is the distance the signal has to travel before it hits a cell tower. I hope they have found a solution to this (like sending the packets at faster than the speed of light?), but if they haven't, I still think 4g may only be marginally better than what we have now for people who issue laptops running Citrix / Terminal Services or trying to play video games through one of these connections.
@mathew: Damn you, Mathew. I just wrote up all of this nice text about the problem of latency, and you summarized my whole statement in a couple of sentences. I officially do not like you now. Where is the button for 'enemy'? Oh well, I will just click the friend button instead.
So, on 3G, I will resemble a middle aged woman in the throws of passion, and then with a switch to 4G, I somehow turn into Sloth from the Goonies?
Is there any option wherein I get to be a tall, kinda gangly guy in my early thirties? Because out of the three options, I want to go with what I know.
07/27/09
07/27/09
07/27/09
http://gizmodo.com/5318626/japanese-cellphones-as-mysterious-super...+gadgets-2009-edition
4G is a pretty large step from where they're at now too.
07/27/09
you dont buy a car from a gas station, you buy a car and use whatever gasoline you wish
07/28/09
04/02/09
Where I am from (Northeast), no other carrier even comes close to Verizon's coverage. For example, my friend with at&t who lives across the street from me gets full signal in his house, and gets no signal at my house (he literally lives across the street). A kid I know with Sprint at my college doesn't get good reception in buildings. T-Mobile doesn't have 3g in our area. Verizon's coverage is far superior in my area.
At&t has the iPhone, T-Mobile has the G1, Sprint will have the Palm Pre, and Verizon has the... drum roll ... Blackberry Storm.
Sigh.
As much as the geek in my wants to switch networks, I can't justify having poorer quality signal for a better phone.
04/02/09
Though that new BB Bold/Pearl hybrid sounds promising (I forget what it's called).
04/02/09
No. Let's just leave it at that.
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
Software_Goddess has been consistently posting intelligent and witty comments since day 1. If she wants her icon to be a little risque, I think she's allowed.
Oh, and it's "reeks."
04/02/09
you mean like, run out of battery after 2 hours?
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
Oh wait, I mean, hey Lois: Diarrhea.
04/02/09
None of this ship nonsense.
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
04/02/09
03/11/09
I think the major problem with latency on these networks is the distance the signal has to travel before it hits a cell tower. I hope they have found a solution to this (like sending the packets at faster than the speed of light?), but if they haven't, I still think 4g may only be marginally better than what we have now for people who issue laptops running Citrix / Terminal Services or trying to play video games through one of these connections.
03/11/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
Web 1.0b was so much faster.
03/11/09
03/11/09
Is there any option wherein I get to be a tall, kinda gangly guy in my early thirties? Because out of the three options, I want to go with what I know.