For all those wanting 4G: study says most people don't care

[tigress666]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/smartphone-buyers-dont-care-about-4g-yet-study-shows/

Just an article done about one study that is saying that 4G is not a big selling point (yet) for consumers.

Just thought it would be interesting as you see people on here saying it is a big mistake for apple not to put LTE on the iphone.

Maybe once again proof that you can't go by what people on here want cause we are not representative of your average consumer (though honestly I'd say 4G is not a selling point to me, in fact, if AT&T makes you go to a different plan to have a 4G phone, I would explicitly not want it cause it's not worth losing my unlimited over).

 

[vincenz]

That plus it would probably cost more anyway. I don't think I'll be willing to shell out another 10-15 a month for 4G. They'd have to really impress me.

 

[Small White Car]

Yeah. Pretty much.

I mean, I'm a geek. I WANT to want faster speeds. But then I think about it. I can watch Netflix and Youtube on 3G. When the speeds are good the quality on both is fine. I don't download much else that's that large. Maybe apps would load a little faster but it's not like I'm doing that all the time. When I send someone a large file from my Dropbox account I'm just generating a link. The file never actually downloads to my phone. Most of the 'big file' stuff is like that.

Uploading videos I shot on my phone? Well, AT&T restricts them to SD so I wait until I'm on wifi anyway.

In other words, I say I want 4G but I can't think of too many reasons why it'd make a difference in my life.

Once there are iPads with iOS 6 or 7 I'm sure I'll have more use for 4G. But right now, with an iPhone, I'm not coming up with much.

 

[Tones2]

The "general" population NEVER cares about newer technology when it first comes out. It's only the more technical users. But that's usually a fairly intense group that drives innovation, and the more LTE is delayed the more this group will turn to another solution.

Tony

 

[LinksAwakener]

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/smartphone-buyers-dont-care-about-4g-yet-study-shows/

Just an article done about one study that is saying that 4G is not a big selling point (yet) for consumers.

Just thought it would be interesting as you see people on here saying it is a big mistake for apple not to put LTE on the iphone.

Maybe once again proof that you can't go by what people on here want cause we are not representative of your average consumer (though honestly I'd say 4G is not a selling point to me, in fact, if AT&T makes you go to a different plan to have a 4G phone, I would explicitly not want it cause it's not worth losing my unlimited over).

As a selling point, I would fully agree with your find. It's very costly to implement a budding technology, and it rarely sees a return on investment. That being said, I'm feeling a bit dragged down by the lack of speed on 3G so I can't wait until Apple joins the bandwagon.

I have to say, though, that I'm much more interested in screen size than network.

 

[flipster]

Wow, for me it's the main reason I am still on verizon.

I went to a verizon store in my area the other day and tested their 4G for myself. 40 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up.

Anyone who has a smartphone should be aware of how fast 4G is over 3G, and these speeds are pretty good considering the flood of 4G phones on Verizon's network now.

Pricing for 4G is the same as 3G on Verizon too.

 

[genexrocket]

Honestly, I think 3G is fast enough, it streams music well, GPS map downloads work well, streams video pretty smoothly. Sure, it could be faster at some times, but overall, I think it's fast enough right now. I mean, 3G is fast as first generation cable internet back in the day according to speedtests.

 

[Tones2]

Yeah. Pretty much.

I mean, I'm a geek. I WANT to want faster speeds. But then I think about it. I can watch Netflix and Youtube on 3G. When the speeds are good the quality on both is fine.

Exactly. How OFTEN is your 3G speed good enough to stream quality video? For me it's hardly ever on my iPhone, and pretty much NEVER on my iPad. 4G gives you the headroom such that the signal can degrade somewhat and still be able to stream at fairly high quality.

Since there seems to be almost no incentive for Apple to increase on device capacity, streaming video from a home server or a cloud service seems like the only alternative, and that can only be done with any consistent quality using 4G.

If you don't believe that, TRY a friend's 4G Android phone - 4G make a HUGE difference.

Tony

 

[Biolizard]

The problem with 4G is that it's been left to the people selling 4G to define it. They decided they didn't like the ITU's definition of 4G because they won't have networks capable of those speeds for some years, so they just went ahead and started marketing new products as 4G.

For Verizon, fair enough to a degree. LTE will, with evolution, fit the ITU's definition. But now AT&T are trying to sell HSPA+ as 4G, so the hell with it, I'll go out there and call my carrier pigeon 4G and sell it to anyone who is also interested in a bridge I'm purveying.

So before we can ask mainstream consumers about whether they think they need 4G, we can't even give them a consistent definition of what it is, which is part of the answer to the even more important question: "Why do I need this?"; because the capabilities of 4G vary depending on who you ask, and makes me wary about surveys like this.

Just my 2 pence.


Aside: When 3G first hit the UK early last decade, its killer feature was video calling (yes, FaceTime was 6+ years late to the party, nothing original about it). If 4G doesn't have a killer feature that you can market to ordinary people, then it will mean nothing to them.

 

[soco]

I once read a study that said once you turn 70, eat nothing but hard boiled eggs, drink nothing but Jack Daniels.

That guy lived to 104, but that's not my point.

 

[Reach9]

Yeah. Pretty much.

I mean, I'm a geek. I WANT to want faster speeds. But then I think about it. I can watch Netflix and Youtube on 3G. When the speeds are good the quality on both is fine. I don't download much else that's that large. Maybe apps would load a little faster but it's not like I'm doing that all the time. When I send someone a large file from my Dropbox account I'm just generating a link. The file never actually downloads to my phone. Most of the 'big file' stuff is like that.

Uploading videos I shot on my phone? Well, AT&T restricts them to SD so I wait until I'm on wifi anyway.

In other words, I say I want 4G but I can't think of too many reasons why it'd make a difference in my life.

Once there are iPads with iOS 6 or 7 I'm sure I'll have more use for 4G. But right now, with an iPhone, I'm not coming up with much.

I agree.
I have absolutely no need for 4G network, i'm perfectly content with 3G. It's not a dealbreaker for me. Although.. if there is a 4G network and majority of the people move to 4G, then my 3G speeds will be pretty damn good right?

 

[Small White Car]

If you don't believe that, TRY a friend's 4G Android phone - 4G make a HUGE difference.

Tony

All I know is that I have 25 Mbps on my wifi at home and usually about 2 Mbps on AT&T. So what is that...more than 10 times as fast, right?

But due to the fact that much of what you do depends on the iPhone's processor to render out the information it's getting, I'd say that my wifi "feels" about 10-20% faster than the 3G speed.

Ok, that's better, but it's not earth shattering. Won't 4G be the same? Double the speed, a slight difference in loading times?

I mean, load a website on your iPhone and your iMac on the same wifi network. The iMac will smoke the phone and eat it for breakfast. The network speed just isn't all that important on phones at this point in time.

I'm absolutely looking forward to 4G in 2014 or 2015 when the hardware is that much more advanced. I just don't think it matters that much today.

 

[wordoflife]

This is the problem with "4G"
1) It takes too much battery

2) Speeds still suck besides Verizon's LTE. My friend gets 6Mb/s+ down on 3G on his iPhone 4 (not AT&T ... don't remember the carrier) almost every single time, .... but T-Mobile and Sprint have a hard time doing that on their 4G networks consistently. And, well, 6Mb/s is almost nonexistant for AT&T 3G and 4G as well.

3) Carriers might just charge more money for having a 4G phone, even if you aren't in 4G coverage. Sprint does this.

4) Decent 4G coverage is bad. And I'm not talking about T-Mobiles or AT&T's HSPA+ networks ... neither am I talking about Sprint WiMax where it only hits 2Mb/s. I mean DECENT.

5) Data rates are getting MORE expensive with lower data allowance.

6) We can't tether without paying additional fees.


On a phone, you won't notice the difference between 3Mb/s and 10 Mb/s when loading weather.
I'm fine with 3G, especially with all these restrictions we have (mainly: expensive 4G, no tethering without paying more, tiered data).
Just to reiterate, I'm not against 4G and I'm not saying that it isn't useful for everyone. I just don't see the big push with the way carriers want to function at the moment.

 

[Tones2]

All I know is that I have 25 Mbps on my wifi at home and usually about 2 Mbps on AT&T. So what is that...more than 10 times as fast, right?

But due to the fact that much of what you do depends on the iPhone's processor to render out the information it's getting, I'd say that my wifi "feels" about 10-20% faster than the 3G speed.

Ok, that's better, but it's not earth shattering. Won't 4G be the same? Double the speed, a slight difference in loading times?

I mean, load a website on your iPhone and your iMac on the same wifi network. The iMac will smoke the phone and eat it for breakfast. The network speed just isn't all that important on phones at this point in time.

I'm absolutely looking forward to 4G in 2014 or 2015 when the hardware is that much more advanced. I just don't think it matters that much today.

If you are consistently streaming VIDEO is certainly matters a whole lot right now. That's the main thing it's needed for. Other than that, probably not so much. But I happen to stream video a lot.

Again, I'm taking about TRUE 4G (as in LTE).

Tony

 

[kre62]

This is the problem with "4G"
1) It takes too much battery

2) Speeds still suck besides Verizon's LTE. My friend gets 6Mb/s+ down on 3G on his iPhone 4 (not AT&T ... don't remember the carrier) almost every single time, .... but T-Mobile and Sprint have a hard time doing that on their 4G networks consistently. And, well, 6Mb/s is almost nonexistant for AT&T 3G and 4G as well.

3) Carriers might just charge more money for having a 4G phone, even if you aren't in 4G coverage. Sprint does this.

4) Decent 4G coverage is bad. And I'm not talking about T-Mobiles or AT&T's HSPA+ networks ... neither am I talking about Sprint WiMax where it only hits 2Mb/s. I mean DECENT.

5) Data rates are getting MORE expensive with lower data allowance.

6) We can't tether without paying additional fees.


On a phone, you won't notice the difference between 3Mb/s and 10 Mb/s when loading weather.
I'm fine with 3G, especially with all these restrictions we have (mainly: expensive 4G, no tethering without paying more, tiered data).
Just to reiterate, I'm not against 4G and I'm not saying that it isn't useful for everyone. I just don't see the big push with the way carriers want to function at the moment.

Your freind must be using his iPhone 4 in a country other than the USA, because those kinds of speeds on iPhone4 are only available on 1 of the 2 carriers that have the iPhone 4: AT&T.

 

[wordoflife]

Your freind must be using his iPhone 4 in a country other than the USA, because those kinds of speeds on iPhone4 are only available on 1 of the 2 carriers that have the iPhone 4: AT&T.

Yeah. He's not in the United States.

 

[nateo200]

I agree.
I have absolutely no need for 4G network, i'm perfectly content with 3G. It's not a dealbreaker for me. Although.. if there is a 4G network and majority of the people move to 4G, then my 3G speeds will be pretty damn good right?

Lol I was at a big football game surrounded by AT&T iPhone users with iPhone 3G's a while back. Well of course the network was just jam ****ed with congestion over 3G. They couldn't even make phone calls or receive text messages! Anyways I told them to turn off enable 3G to drop it down to EDGE and they had damn near the fastest theoretical speeds for the specs of the EDGE network (yeah I tested that **** haha)! I wouldn't rely on that idea though because as carriers moves into the future they are going to put less focus on older tech. Like allot of EDGE spectrum is being replaced with 3G to the point where EDGE is only for legacy devices and dumb phones that don't need "ZOMG 3G SUPER SPEEDZZ!!!!111" for SMS/MMS and voice.

 

[err404]

I don't stream much data over 3G today mostly because of data caps. If 4G still has caps, nothing will have changed. My usage will stay the same and focus on lower bandwidth applications. Therefore 4G is more of a negative than a positive right now; I'd be trading battery life for little change in my overall experience.
3G will be fine until battery life improves or data becomes cheaper.

 

[pmz]

Just thought it would be interesting as you see people on here saying it is a big mistake for apple not to put LTE on the iphone.

People on here are ridiculous, why would you care? This is a forum, not the real world.

No paying customer anywhere in the entire United States is going to opt for a generic "4G" phone over an iPhone anytime this year, next year, or the year after.

I'm pretty certain iPhone will be LTE by fall/summer 2012 (assuming AT&T meets Apple's expectations), but even if its not, people will still buy iPhone, because 4.0Mbps 3G is fast enough for 99.999% of people.

 

[sbddude]

I would much rather see reliability and capacity improvements in the current 3G network (cough-Las Vegas-cough) than upgrade to 4g where only a subset of users would notice and/or care.

 

[D1G1T4L]

Right now I don't care about 4G. Live in an area that has 4G and tried out the Droid Charge for a few days. With the 4G on battery life was HORRIBLE. Yes it was really fast but if the phone can't be powered......well it is useless. I'll wait till they can get better battery management and then maybe try again.

 

[bossxii]

Until the carriers offer reasonable data caps, LTE is pointless. 12mbit down will give you a nice smooth video, and in a few hours you data just blew by your cap. 2gigs is retarded for any LTE enabled device. As I've stated several times before...it's like a Ferrari you can go fast as hel in but only have 2 miles of road to drive on. Fast, short ride on day one, sit for the next 29. Pointless.

 

[erayser]

Wifi is available at work and home, so I don't burn through my data. My wife and I both connect our iPhone 4's and iPad to 4G LTE in the car and sometimes when AT&T 3G coverage is bad in certain locations... and we stream a movie every week on date nights, and I still haven't reached 4 gigs of data in a month. My Verizon 4G LTE mifi is very good battery life, and it seems like it helps my battery on my iDevices last longer in a day. 4G isn't a selling point for me in a new iPhone, but Netflix sure streams really nice with 4G LTE.

 

[yodaxl7]

Cost, availability, practicality, and usefulness are the issues on LTE, WiMAX,etc. You would shell out more money per month. Plus, data caps would make it harder. Most people are at home or at work. In between, you can find wifi at mcdonalds, starbucks, etc. In the car, is the only main place.

4g is nice but not a game changer. Just a check mark.

 

[Michael CM1]

Our brand new computers at work were bought just before the latest iMac update, so they don't have Thunderbolt. Not a big deal, some may say, but what if in five years it's just standard for cameras and stuff to have that port and we're stuck on USB 2.0? We're still running Mac OS 9 apps and can't upgrade above Tiger on our NEWEST computers, which are G5 Power Macs. A bunch of our computers are G3 Power Macs with like 12-inch CRT displays.

So in other words, not a big deal now, just as I didn't think 3G was a big deal on the first iPhone if it killed battery life. But now a smartphone without 3G would be a joke. I think Apple is smart to skip 4G LTE right now if the battery life isn't there yet, especially if the iPhone 6 will have some universal cellular radio that works on a crapload of bands on all sorts of networks.