Thinking of upgrading to one of those dynamite new 4G smart-phones? Well too bad. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) says 4G doesn’t exist yet in the U.S. So why does every cellular carrier claim to be able to offer “4G” or “4G speed” (which is like offering processed pasteurized cheese-like substance instead of, you know, cheese)? The answer: it turns out that lying to millions of cellphone users is good marketing. The reality behind the hype is explained succinctly in this article from ZD NET, which explains that in order to reach the coveted 4G level, AT&T and T-Mobile just said they were. Way to display integrity, telecom industry. You’ve really earned my loyalty.

But since “real” 4G networks built for data and voice traffic won’t be here for nearly a decade, you might as well go ahead and get that upgrade. Just don’t believe the hype.

Posted via email from practice (redux)