What is the promise of a 5G network?
If you listened to everyone from this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), the hyped promise of a 5G network will mean you can download and food-print a 7-course gourmet dinner through your phone and serve it piping hot to your guests in 30 seconds.
The dizzying swirl around 5G is not just putting the cart before the horse, it’s like putting the wheels before the cart before the horse… pretty much all we have is a number and a letter, and a whole lot of future tripping in between.
But that is exactly what makes the race fun! Let’s call this year’s MWC as the official starter’s gun toward 5G. Here are some broad swipes on what being reported of what it might all mean.
When is it coming?
Not sure, but everyone is really excited for it to get here. It’s being reported that experts are predicting maybe a 2020-2024 release…in a few cities…on a couple of platforms…to maybe just a few people…hopefully.
What will it mean for us exactly?
No one really knows. We do know, however, that devices—both useful and useless—will continue to multiply as the idea of IOT spreads and mobility becomes the norm. We know there’s a lot of cool-looking, driverless cars eerily creeping around Silicon Valley and getting ready to take us to work while we can keep looking at our phones. We also know that our homes are begging to become connected in brand new ways to our devices while we are away.
Some say a 5G network means 1GBps download speeds (that’s a Gig-per-second) delivered to your device. That would mean a feature-length, HD movie at 1080p would download in 6 seconds, btw. Nuts, huh?
Others say 5G will have a much different impact and behave differently than just providing fast connections. Last year, Qualcomm said 5G was going to be like the “new electricity” and would alter how we live in some major ways.
What do we do in the meantime?
Well, keep doing what you’re doing and keep dreaming about 5G!
However, know that as any new technology, platform or network rolls out, it will add complexity to your technological life and usually doesn’t work as advertised. Technology and connectivity gaps will remain.
Even as we are all currently in a 4G-LTE world (at least that’s what the carriers say!), those connection speeds are not available everywhere and we are still not in control when accessing our content (not to mention the data charges we incur). Maybe 5G will be more pervasive, but we just won’t know until it arrives.
Yet, talking about our connection to the content that’s important to us still begs some interesting questions.
Since June 2007, when the first iPhone came out, we have been creating a ton of personal content: pics, chats, snaps, posts, vids, etc. That means we have at least 10-years worth of our life being on record in some fashion.
Do you ever wonder where it all lives? Or if you can access it? Or who owns it? Is it secure? Have you ever tried to find the first photo you ever took on a smartphone? Try to find it.
For most people their “digital life” is scattered and fragmented and difficult to access because of the connection gaps that exist. We believe LINK provides a way to keep us connected to what matters—any time we want, on any type of network, or any kind of hyped awesomeness that’s promised for tomorrow.
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LINK is an ultra-portable computer built for the connected age. It keeps you connected to everything that’s important, whenever you need, wherever you want. Find out more at http://CES.LINK
Great article. I’d be happy to just live in an area that offers fiber optic internet access. 5G sounds like a dream, especially when I rarely have 4G.