3G : The Emperor's New Clothes?
by LifeStyle+Travel Magazine
lifestyle + travel’s guest technology editor Callum Laing attended the recent 3G World Congress in Hong Kong to see what all the fuss is about. Here, he provides a summary of global communications and asks whether this new technology will benefit our lifestyles.
Caution: this tale contains imaginary kingdoms, fictional emperors and pots and pots of gold! Once upon a time, lots of telecom emperors were sitting around counting all the money they had made in the last few years. They were a vain lot and were discussing what they should do with all this new-found wealth when into their council came an enterprising tailor.
The tailor explained to them that in a few years time all of their businesses would disappear unless they bought the finest fabric in the kingdom. This fabric was called 3G and would be woven in colours and patterns just for them. In fact, this 3G was so beautiful that it would appear invisible to people who were stupid or incompetent.
Well the emperors were beside themselves with excitement and got into a bidding war for this fabric. Billions and billions of dollars were bid against one another in order to own this 3G, and when their coffers were finally empty the emperors returned to their thrones, tired and happy, but slightly disconcerted that they couldn’t actually see this 3G they had just bought.
Don’t worry, claimed the shrewd tailor, everything will be fine, and he pointed to emperors in Japan and Korea who were already dressed in this amazing 3G. Duly a parade was called for all the people of the kingdom who wanted to see what it was all about. The parade was called the 3G World Congress and was held in Hong Kong. Everyone here knew that only stupid people could not see the point of 3G.
What is it?
3G, or ‘third generation,’ networks allow you to have up to two megabits of data traffic streaming constantly to your phone.The Emperor’s naked! The Emperor’s naked! Not so fast. In order to understand the concept behind 3G it is necessary to have a quick look at two separate technologies that have been steadily evolving over the last 20 years: the mobile phone and the Internet.
The Internet
In the dark old days of the Internet, people started using phone lines to send small text files to each other. This was pretty clever stuff and academics around the world relished the opportunity to collaborate on scientific documents. However, it wasn’t too long before the scientists realised that the real benefit of the Internet came from sending bad jokes, photo’s of kittens and even video’s of people running into walls. As the office workers of the world also realised the importance of forwarding on chain letters and funny PowerPoints, lots of people behind the scenes were working frantically to make sure there was enough network capacity to keep it all running smoothly.
Mobile Phones
Meanwhile, as the first photos of kittens traversed the world, a stockbroker in red braces strapped on a big battery pack, picked up a brick with a Motorola logo on it and strode out of the office. He proudly walked through the streets shouting at his important client on the other end. Oh how we laughed! Who is so important that they would need to be in contact all the time? Who would want to be contactable all the time? A few years later, we bought our first mobile phone, but only for ‘emergencies.’ Now the only emergency is when we leave the house without it!
3G and Travel
With the evolution of both phones and Internet, it doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to reason that the two merging would make sense. After all, the reality is that the ever-important picture of a kitten is not meant for the office or for the broadband connected home. It is meant for us, and as this magazine is testament, we like to travel. In fact, although it doesn’t always feel like it, we are spending more time out of the house and out of the office than ever before, yet we also need constant access to information in order to manage our lives effectively.
3G in Your Hand
The 3G Congress in HK brought together 5,000 delegates from some of the most influential companies in the world to answer, among other things, the question of what 3G means to us. Let’s start with the handset (note that your phone is no longer a phone, it is a handset): firstly, the handset is going to get bigger because we want to be able to see images clearly. Secondly, the handsets are going to get smaller because… everything does. The battery life will get longer, the weight will get lighter, there will be more memory, more features and more functionality than you can shake a stick at. And you will still buy it because you like the colour.
3G and Lifestyle
Music Madness
From the old wireless, then vinyl, then tape, then CD’s, iTunes and now back to wireless; music is being held up as one of the most important ‘killer apps’ (very popular application that will cause you to upgrade your service) of the 3G lifestyle. Rather than carry around a phone and an iPod the argument goes, why not combine it on one device? Spend hours preparing your favourite play list on your computer or just use your phone to query a giant jukebox in the sky? With the music industry in turmoil over file sharing and illegal CD copying, expect 3G firms to wade into this area and promote it heavily.
Video Killed the Radio Star
Nobody really expects you to sit and stare at your phone through an Oliver Stone epic, however news clips, goals, and straight-to-3G content is likely to make a big appearance. One innovative concept around ‘reality TV’ shows is where you the viewer will be able to check out other camera shots from your phone while watching the main shot on TV. In the US, they are even shooting sub plots for popular shows like Fox’s 24. These sub plots will only be available on your handset.
But let us not forget that the handset is only so popular because we are such a social bunch. So what about actually seeing the person you are talking to? You will now be able to see in full glorious colour the person on the other end of the line. That means no more calling in sick from the golf course, but it does mean that that you will be able to share those one-off moments with friends and family right as they happen. Just pull out your phone, dial them up and point at the action. You need never worry about missing your first born’s first steps again.
3G for Adults
Always the innovators, the adult industry wasted no time plunging in. Whether it was driving the growth of home videos in the 80’s or boosting the bandwidth of the Internet (at one time it was estimated that 70% of all Internet traffic was pictures of… well not kittens), the adult industry has never been shy about looking for new ways to reach its audience. Expect all sorts of double-speak from companies trying to profit from this while not being seen to be associated with it.
The Future is Now
Last year, 3G really started to take off, and if you are reading this there is a good chance that you are in a country where 3G is already a living, breathing entity. As Perry La Forge, Executive Director, CDMA Development Group states: “With 127 million users around the world and growing at five million a month, the success of 3G has finally made the mobile industry a fun place to be again!”
It looks like 3G is here to stay, so start thinking about upgrading your handset and expect the mobile emperors to spend plenty more on telling you how beautiful their new 3G clothes are.
Pictures of kittens can be sent to Callum on +66 6 777 7350, or Emailed to callum@lifestyleandtravel.com.