Very disappointing that The Age decided to use online a syndicated piece on 4G.
The article itself is right to flag the fact that 4G for the existing mobile customers doesn't really do much except relieve capacity constraints for operators - but in reality that does mean stuff should happen faster for users. The real issue though is whether the existing paradigm of the mobile - a swiss army knife device mostly used for voice and text with a bit of data thrown in - or PDA which is the above plus synced e-mail and calendar (the extra size knife) is really the future.
Where 4G comes into its own is in really doing dta, when you aren't doing data to the hand-held phone like device but really mobile computing.
Where it all gets interesting is what happens with voice. Skype has been offering a Skype App for the iPhone but only for use via the WiFi link. They are now offering to use the 3G data connection. That starts to beg the question - is there any use for the heritage 3G infrastructure? Messaging by Facebook chat, phoning by Skype.
Now that is a generational change. But there simply isn't the capacity on 3G networks for that.
1 comment:
hI David - What the article on Skype over 3G on the iPhone you linked to did not mention is that, after the end of 2010, Skype will charge for Skype-to-Skype calls delivered thus. There is of course absolutely no cost basis for this as these calls make no more use of Skype facilities than any other Skype-to-Skype calls, but it marks an interesting shift of strategy by Skype. I suspect it will prove hugely unpopular - check the comments on Skype's blog posting. - Stuart C
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