Speed Bumps Just Don't Excite Me

Jun 5, 01:00 PM  

I confess: I’m not excited about the upcoming 3G iPhone release. Not at all. The relentless march of tech rumors and speculation about the iPhone’s speed bump has turned into a monotonous drone, where it’s all 3G, all the time. Ugh.

Partly, it’s because I’m not impressed with 3G as a technology. While I won’t say no to faster network speeds, they don’t allow me to do new things. Faster bandwidth allows me to do the same things I already do, only … faster. It’s equivalent to an incremental increase in storage capacity or processor speed. That’s just not sexy.

The counterpoint to this argument, of course, is that the introduction of high-speed broadband allowed applications that couldn’t exist before to thrive: streaming HD video trailers, video-conferencing and VoIP just aren’t possible in a 56k analog modem world.

But: the iPhone already has Wi-Fi. The high-speed capability for new applications already exists — just in a limited geographic area. Introducing 3G extends the range of high-speed applications from the hotspot to the 3G coverage area, which remains limited. (I barely have voice service in my neighborhood!)

So, 3G iPhone: Improvement? Yes. No argument there. But exciting?

Not so much.